Peace Abode in Pondicherry

24th Sep this year became a very special birthday as I had an invitation from a Swamiji Friend of mine who knows me as a writer and follower of "Mother" and Sri Aurobindo Society of Pondicherry. The invitation was so tempting that I had to break from a busy work schedule and disturbing health condition and drive down with my family to Pondicherry just to be there that evening in her abode of peace.

Kamalbhaii showed an amazing attitude to make us feel so comfortable and made all arrangements to stay in Ashram guest house, have the communal meditation in the Ashram Playgroud on the thursday evening at 7.45 and later have dinner in Ashram kitchen dinning hall and end up in a deep silence at Mother's samadhi. Tears rolled with the vibrations aroused due to the immense silence I had been experiencing after long many days and the mind, body and soul surrendering to nothing but my inner self.

No one preaches anything there. It is just a place where you can identify your inner consciousness, inner peace and inner urge. Receiving a birthday card and flowers from Mother's room could be the best blessing for a person who has this ardent search of self realisation. After long many days of travel, continious work, personal and professional priorities, attending friends and social events, doing hazar things at same time, retreating to one's inner self and just being you is a totally exhausting task.

The day was overwhelming with mails, calls and messages that I had to return with gratitude and thanks for the people who made my life. I am not a celebrity, nor deserving this care, but I think over the years I had been a good friend to lot of people and that was so visible on that day. Above all, being in the place and situation where I could just unfold to my other side of total seclusion and silence was truly overwhelming and I slept like never before in a kind of peace, happiness and with no dreams, no fears, no thoughts and no mid life crisis anxieties. That was the best gift of the day.

7 am next morning I woke up with a jerk as my mobile gave its biggest call cry. It was Kamalbhaii again asking us to rush up for the day. My husband and kid got ready quickly and encouraged me to muster energy to the most exciting place Auroville. We drove into the woods of Auroville, he took us to Pranati and other communities growing in Auroville over the years.

Auroville is a place that no country or religion can claim as its own. Its belong to one and all. It belongs to Humanity at large. There are no defined ways of living and no specific discipline to lead life. But every thing seemed so organized, silent and structured. All this is happening just some 180 miles away from the bustling routine of a city life. We walked for sometime in the mud roads slowly growing in the community, met lot of people from different nations, and went to Gandhi Bhavan to have food under the shades of the trees, having lunch in midst of the woods, with lot of foreign people, cooked in the solar kitchen, it was a totally different experience and finally reaching Matri Mandir was like seeing something out of the universe.

Being in the shades of the Banyan tree which is the centritude of the geographical area of Auroville, is like giving me more hope, peace and all sorts of good feelings that a human being can experience. My kid was enjoying the greenery, the silence, the beauty of the place and taking pictures to cherish her memories. Later in the evening we drove to the Pondicherry Lighthouse and the sea shore, a real treat for the little one. Driving down on the old port dock in midst of the sea to an adventerous and wierd trek was the amazing part of the trip she enjoyed. Later as the sun dipped into the sea, we drove to Panchavathi Hanuman temple.

Panchavathi Hanuman temple is located in Dhindivanam route from Pondy and has the idol of 36 feel made of one single granite stone with five different faces of Lord Hanuman. It was an amazing site to see the power of the god transforming into the visual retreat to us who looked tiny in our selves both in the physical form and mental strength. The floating rock weighting 8 kilos taken from the bridge of Rameswaram believed to be from the path laid by Rama and his crew on their way to Lanka as per the Ramayan is a sure catch of surprise and scientific questioning of the past. Sending flowers to Mother's room and visiting Ganesha temple near to Ashram added to our happiness and with that we also watched fisher men going against the tides, the early morning sun rise and the beautiful shores shinning with the rising sun.

As we drove back to Chennai, stopped for a while at Vidhya Ganapathi mandir on the way, which has got a beautiful white marble Ganesha making our trip so complete. It was the most unplanned but beautiful trip I had which rekindled my inner consciouness once again towards my self realization. This life should have a purpose. The purpose is to find happiness in giving hope and happiness to people around.