We have just arrived at Pondicherry central bus station. This is a town south of Chennai on the southern east coast. The bus that took us here used four hours. It was very crowded and noisy, with no windows, the dry hot, dusty air just went right through the bus creating sore throat and of course the lungs were not too happy about this condition. Pondicherry has a famous ashram, a center for meditation and concentration. That's where we are heading. The sun just went down. We are told to get to a local bus. The bus has the most beautiful, interesting Indian pop music on a very high volume. There is no seat. In the front the driver has created an altar of Ganesh, the elephant God, wit shiny beads, flowers and glittering phramed images. Our luggage is scattered around. Everybody accepts the music and even seem to like it. We are immediately deeply into the music together with the local people. We wonder if we will be able to get off at the right stop, and do not know if anybody has understood where we are heading. However it shows that a lot of people are actually aware of our destination and are eager to help us getting off at the right place. Even a few small items having fallen out of my bag (one wallet with no valuables, two kenyan shillings) are politely handed out to us from the overcrowded bus. We have been told that there generally is little street crime in India, and this episode confirms it.
We check in to the Garden guesthouse, a very cheap lodging connected to the ashram (50 rupees pr. night - equivalent of kr. 7,-). We start the day by visiting the ashram center. The place has been started by the meditation guru Sri Aurobindo and the woman called "the mother", and their burial ground is inside. The place is very sincere. Many Indians kneel down and kiss their graves, praying and meditating. People come from all over the world to visit this place because they had a vision on uniting people from all religions, races and in spite of all differences. The place is rather open and puts no rules to the ways of praying or meditating. We see the library, the photo collection and the buildings where thy used to work and live. In the room where the bed of the mother is placed I find a nice spot to do a meditation. It is a place of concentration and serenity.
Back to our lodging I suddenly find myself locked in at our room by Mari. Unconsciously she has locked the door from the outside and left for an internet cafe. I discover I am trapped for a couple of hours!! Later, after an apologizing session, we eat lunch at a nearby restaurant "Salt and Pepper" , also connected to the ashram. There we happened to meet a large group of young male, Indian students (and one female student engaged to one of them) coming over to the seaside from Bangalore. We were invited to their lodging, straw huts at the beach. They treated us very well taking us to the large waves of the beach, protecting us from groping locals and later making a social gathering in one of the huts. Suddenly I found myself sitting on top of a large double bed with all this young Indian men, Mari and one young women in eager conversations, drinking alcohol. It was a most unusual situation.
The nicest thing about it was that they apreciated so much that I was talking with them, asking them about their lives and reflections in an open direct way. This they had not experienced from any adult woman before before. This created a lot of contact and positive atmosphere and they really felt the same as me. It was a most special group encounter in spite of age, gender and culturally background. The young men has a chauffeur and he is ordered to bring us back to the town center. He is actually sleeping in the car, but he has to wake up and drive us. We feel this is not quite OK seen in a Norwegian perspective, but so much for Indian workers rights. "He is paid by us, then we may ask him to do what we want" is their answer.
Coming back to the town center we run into a wedding procession. The girl that is supposed to get married is sitting on top of a throne on a van, with neon lights moving around her. She looks very as as is the custom. The bride to be has to show that she is sad to leave her family. There is a local orchestra in the procession and some masked people dancing wildly, the gorilla and a kind of devil with a red mask. We take some photos, enjoy the wild atmosphere and I think " What a day, from the serenity of the ashram to the student party group on the beach to this crazy procession in one single day!!"
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