So, yesterday was a kind of culmination I think- or maybe just continuation- of this familiar feeling I have been having!
I spent all day at the Eco-Music fest in Solitude Farm. There were over 800 people there total, and many bands played!
I hung out with the other yearly student group that comes to Auroville: Living Roots. It is a US program that sends young people to different Eco-Villages around the world. Everyone on the program is really down-to-earth. We jumped into the deep well at Solitude, which was really scary at first, but it felt SO refreshing to swim in un-chlorinated water!!
We then played hackey sack and danced at the music stage. It was weird, I had this feeling of deja-vu that passed in and out of my consciousness the whole time. Maybe it was because being with a bunch of American hippie-folk dancing to live music in the sunshine felt SO familiar, and yet I would look around me and see banana fields, Indian people in saaris, and remember that I am in INDIA! It was a very interesting sense of community: many travelers were there, from around the world, just passing through this place. There was a feeling of new-ness; Auroville is only 40 years old, so it doesn't have that feeling of roots or history; it has fresh-roots, building roots. It is young. None of us have been here very long! SO it is a lot of very different, international people coming together to create community. It was a very unique feeling.
The music was great though, and I even added to it by - did I tell you I bought the guitar?? Yes, a cute little pink guitar named Lyla. She fits in my backpack! She has a BEAUTIFUL sound for such a teeny lady, and is a perfect travelling guitar. I sat up on a bamboo structure and jammed for a little while with some of the Living Roots girls.
I then had a BLAST helping to sell kombucha with Anandi and her helpers. I was kept very busy by people who wanted kombucha, and it was fun to tell people about it who didn't know! I felt like I was helping to share the living foods spirit by passing on information. :)
Then, by nightfall, there was an international jazz band playing: a tall-thin African bass player with dreads down to his knees, an old French drummer with a white turban, a rockstar Indian guitar player, and a European female singer in a wheelchair. I liked their diversity, and they were incredible! So, I GOT. DOWN. ;P It felt SO good to finally rip-roarin' DANCE it out under the stars: orion's belt was right above me!, and the tall banana trees, and so many dancing happy people!
Then an awesome Brazilian/Portuguese band played: "Yemadas" is their name. They used to be "Nomadas" because they are nomads, but wanted to be positive instead of negative so they changed the "no" to "Yeah". I liked that. ;)
Well, they had people dancin', and when later on they called out, "We are waiting for a samba dancer to come up onstage!", I bet you can guess who raced up there first! ;)
All in all, it was a great experience; I feel like I am getting more and more integrated into the community of Auroville. I am starting to recognize many people, and make connection between friends. In opposition to my usual 9 PM bedtime, though, staying out until 2 AM made me feel almost hungover this morning, and made me appreciate the more mellow lifestyle I have been living so far!
~*~*~*~
Ahhh, it is so beautiful here though, and it is hard to stay bad-feeling for long. I am now sitting at the American Pavilion, listening to the birds, hitting away the flies, enjoying a raw cacao-&-cashew bar, and feeling sleepy. Halfway through my Auroville trip, here I am. :)
I spent all day at the Eco-Music fest in Solitude Farm. There were over 800 people there total, and many bands played!
I hung out with the other yearly student group that comes to Auroville: Living Roots. It is a US program that sends young people to different Eco-Villages around the world. Everyone on the program is really down-to-earth. We jumped into the deep well at Solitude, which was really scary at first, but it felt SO refreshing to swim in un-chlorinated water!!
We then played hackey sack and danced at the music stage. It was weird, I had this feeling of deja-vu that passed in and out of my consciousness the whole time. Maybe it was because being with a bunch of American hippie-folk dancing to live music in the sunshine felt SO familiar, and yet I would look around me and see banana fields, Indian people in saaris, and remember that I am in INDIA! It was a very interesting sense of community: many travelers were there, from around the world, just passing through this place. There was a feeling of new-ness; Auroville is only 40 years old, so it doesn't have that feeling of roots or history; it has fresh-roots, building roots. It is young. None of us have been here very long! SO it is a lot of very different, international people coming together to create community. It was a very unique feeling.
The music was great though, and I even added to it by - did I tell you I bought the guitar?? Yes, a cute little pink guitar named Lyla. She fits in my backpack! She has a BEAUTIFUL sound for such a teeny lady, and is a perfect travelling guitar. I sat up on a bamboo structure and jammed for a little while with some of the Living Roots girls.
I then had a BLAST helping to sell kombucha with Anandi and her helpers. I was kept very busy by people who wanted kombucha, and it was fun to tell people about it who didn't know! I felt like I was helping to share the living foods spirit by passing on information. :)
Then, by nightfall, there was an international jazz band playing: a tall-thin African bass player with dreads down to his knees, an old French drummer with a white turban, a rockstar Indian guitar player, and a European female singer in a wheelchair. I liked their diversity, and they were incredible! So, I GOT. DOWN. ;P It felt SO good to finally rip-roarin' DANCE it out under the stars: orion's belt was right above me!, and the tall banana trees, and so many dancing happy people!
Then an awesome Brazilian/Portuguese band played: "Yemadas" is their name. They used to be "Nomadas" because they are nomads, but wanted to be positive instead of negative so they changed the "no" to "Yeah". I liked that. ;)
Well, they had people dancin', and when later on they called out, "We are waiting for a samba dancer to come up onstage!", I bet you can guess who raced up there first! ;)
All in all, it was a great experience; I feel like I am getting more and more integrated into the community of Auroville. I am starting to recognize many people, and make connection between friends. In opposition to my usual 9 PM bedtime, though, staying out until 2 AM made me feel almost hungover this morning, and made me appreciate the more mellow lifestyle I have been living so far!
~*~*~*~
Ahhh, it is so beautiful here though, and it is hard to stay bad-feeling for long. I am now sitting at the American Pavilion, listening to the birds, hitting away the flies, enjoying a raw cacao-&-cashew bar, and feeling sleepy. Halfway through my Auroville trip, here I am. :)
That sounds so fun Heather!! I know music fests HERE are mind-blowing, so i can't even comprehend the awesomeness of festin' it up in India. I'm glad you got a guitar; you'll have to show it to me once you return. I've been drinking kombucha by the boatloads as well cause helen's mom brews a ton of it. :)
ReplyDeletehello heather izz jack! wassup how r u doing oh thats cool so like guess what?? i learned how to play the hanukah song on da piano izz cool and also me and mis hommies r starting a movie making buissnes and we r pretty far into our first movie!! izz so cool ill send it to u!!!!i can not wait untill you see another cow!!! and post a pictur of it!!
ReplyDeleteHere is something to remember and reflect on:
ReplyDeleteWhen you travel...take peacemaking and friendship and learning and listening....as your sacred, God given duty...refuse to carry with you...an empty head or an empty heart...give thanks for every human encounter...every animal, bird, plant that shares this gorgeous planet...Thank them, talk to them, nourish them....Let no greed or selfish thoughts distract you....let no anger, anxiety or bitterness accompany you. Travel unencumbered by too much stuff or by too many preconceived ideas. Enter every new encounter with gratitude for another opportunity to learn and to listen..to be the happiest and best travel ambassador on Earth. Affirm your natural ability to balance out the injustices of the world. Know that hate crimes will cease when we listen to each other. When selfishness and envy are replaced with compassion and ......when enemies become friends. Hold in your mind a vision of a peaceful world.....where travelers are the sowers of the seeds of joy. - Sami Sunchild, Red Vic Inn, Haight Ashbury, CA
Love, Momma
P.S. I got your letter and loved every last word of love and joy you shared!