A Week in Auroville — Part 2
Music
In the same Unity hall where I had danced to the tabla, I was told about a ‘sound journey’ taking place on another day. The sound journey was organized by Svaram (AV’s Centre for Music Research). There were several musical instruments kept in the center of the hall, a few identifiable, most others created in AV by musicians living in the town. Around these instruments, were chatais or mats placed like the rays of the sun jutting out of the center and people were lying on them, ready for the session.
I was immersed in different sounds, of bells tolling, of gongs at a monastery, of waterfall, pebbles and more, all produced live from the instruments kept in the center. As my eyes were closed, I couldn’t see which instrument was being used to produce what sound but I could sense that someone was going around the room, bringing these particular sounds closer to our ears. I also sensed a gong like instrument which when came near my face, blew cool air around my head and sent vibrations across my face.
I was in a deep meditative state (or was that half slumber?) for a short while during the session but then came back to the present. Almost near the end of the hour, the musician leading the session told us to chant anything, in any language, to connect with the vibrations of other people in the room. He then ended the session by asking everyone in the hall to chant Om three times. I woke up from this state of relaxation with a smile on my face. These sessions are part of an ongoing research and we were asked to fill an online feedback form to report our physiological and psychological states of mind, emotions, energy and bodily changes before, during and after the one-hour session.
Similar yet different was another experience I had in AV, which I hadn’t planned for but I went to anyway, because why not? I was curious how I would feel about it. It was the Vedic chanting session where shlokas from the Gita were recited by a group of people in a chorus, in a particular swara and even composition (as per the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram traditions). They chanted the gayatri mantra and the mahamrityunjay mantra as well among others, but in a different way than I was taught at home. Everyone in the hall (which doubled as a photo gallery of Sri Aurobindo) sat in a circle and a small, black speaker was kept in the center which was playing the drone of the tanpura. I took this opportunity to meditate and closed my eyes and could focus for about 30 minutes. After that, I would alternate between opening my eyes and observing the room and closing them and shifting my leg postures.
At the end of 50 minutes, the chanting ended with a kshama prayer or a prayer to apologize to the supreme power if any errors were made during the chanting. This whole session was very soothing but I would have preferred a shorter chanting session.
Art
I am not much of an artist. But I do enjoy painting and sketching when I am in the mood. The end result is mediocre but the process puts me in the zone for hours. AV had a couple of art workshops from kolam making, bamboo work to wood working and clay modeling, not to mention sketching and painting. I tried the clay modelling workshop, excited to relish the feel of the wet clay on the pottery wheel.
To my disappointment, the workshop didn’t have a pottery wheel :) it actually didn’t have much in terms of tools or equipment. There was just a low-lying table with a plastic tray filled with wet terracotta inside and a local teenager making clay models with his hands. Right behind him, was another wooden table displaying his art work of clay animals and deities. I thought I had paid for the workshop already, so I might as well try it out. I sat down on the chatai next to him and observed how he made his models. He taught me how to make clay models out of stone molds and I did. But I felt that was way too passive a process for me as the mold and the sun do most of the work. So I switched to making clay models with my hand and just observed how he did it.
Once I started, I was engrossed for the next one and a half hours and didn’t realize where the time went by. I was greeted by two Indie dogs looking to be pet, lots of mosquitoes and a few ants while I was busy making my “art”. There was also a cow grazing nearby. For a city woman like me, it felt like I was transported to a village scene in a movie and the whole setting was new and fascinating. I could have stayed there another three hours just making more clay models. A couple of meters from our work tables, there was a man making Django like drums from scratch and the whole vibe of the place was, come, immerse yourself in creation and just let go.
People and peace
Right next to the hall where I went to on a sound journey, is the Hall of Peace. The peaceful aura of the hall engulfs you the moment you enter. The room has huge glass windows with the view of the lush green forest outside and a humungous, extremely beautiful wooden table placed in the center. It’s a masterpiece built by a famous Japanese American woodworker named George Nakashima. This table is built with the wood of a 300-year-old walnut tree that Nakashima bought and wanted to use to build six tables as symbols of peace, one for each continent. There is one in the US, one in Russia and this one in India. While Nakashima is no more, a foundation in his name is working on building the remaining three tables to be placed in the other three continents of the world.
Given the 59 nationalities that live in AV, AV is in some ways a tiny world of its own. The top six nationalities (in number) are Indians, French, Germans, Italians, Americans and Dutch, in that order. AV’s current population is at 3273 with a vision to be a city of up to 50,000 inhabitants some day.
Curious about the residents of AV, I found out that there are a few distinguished architects living here as well as retired IAS officers, university professors, professional dancers and musicians, atleast one digital artist/technical director whose film credits include Man of Steel, Transformers 3, Maleficent and gaming credits like Batman, Tomb-raider, FIFA 2009. And then there are those who were born and brought up here.
I met a man who was a talented dancer but had developed an inferiority complex because of his darker skin color. I met a teenager with flaming orange hair styled in a beautiful French braid, wearing a bindi and a co-ord set. I met a retired, septuagenarian math-physics professor who in his own words, has a habit of saying inappropriate things. I met a man as tall as a skyscraper with a throaty, almost robotic voice and who by typical Indian standards would be considered very blunt (though not rude) who makes beautiful hand-crafted designer cakes.
I was also lucky to meet two fellow travelers who were just visiting AV like I was. One of them a multi sensory designer with a zeal for life like no other, who was learning silambam and analogue photography in AV. The other was a magnetic, political science student who consults with NGOs on emotional intelligence and sometimes works at an organic farm in Bir Billing. In almost every nook and corner of this town, there is a fascinating story waiting to be told. You only need to listen.
Nature and wildlife
I’ll miss cycling in AV, especially through the narrow bicycle trails created next to the ‘main roads’. These trails are surrounded by bushes or trees on one or both sides and the experience is rejuvenating. Not to mention — a wonderful workout for the legs and the core, though cycling on bumpy, kachcha roads was a bit traumatic for my city-dwelling glutes.
I felt more awake and aware living with the forest, which always happens when I am visiting nature (thank you to dad’s gardens as well). I felt my senses had become more sensitive to the small movements and sounds of leaves, the wind, the frogs and insects. I was more present in the moment.
During the Solitude farm tour on my first day in AV, Krishna had used a word — anthropocentricism — that had stuck with me since then. It’s the belief that man is the center or the most important element of the universe, as opposed to animals or trees or anything else. He was advocating changing our perspective from a place of superiority to equal dignity in every living being.
I heard a similar sentiment echoed by a horse trainer(whisperer?) I met in AV, who said being connected — with people, the horse, the tree, the spider on the wall — is one of the four traits of being a good leader. The other three traits being calm, kind and consistent. My trainer had studied human and horse psychology and she used that knowledge to help people understand and interact with horses.
My horse workmanship sessions with her were perhaps the most treasured times of my week in AV. She was like Mr Miyagi (if you watched The Karate Kid?) in some ways, teaching life lessons along with horse lessons. She said things like, “if you change the way you look at things, things change”. And shared the golden approach she uses to communicate with her horses: neutral > attention > intention. An approach that can be used with humans too :)
According to my very own ‘Ms Miyagi’, the horse’s brain — unlike the dog brain — hasn’t been domesticated by man over all these years. It’s only been ‘managed’ in some way, whether for war, transport or racing. Horses are an extremely intelligent and sensitive animal, with a lot in common with humans. They even like or dislike other horses as well as humans they interact with and wouldn’t hang out with those they don’t like.
Having the brain of a prey animal means that they will choose flight 99% of the times if they sense danger. Their eyes are always searching for an exit in the vicinity, so we need to give them a way out. Fighting is not a very common or prudent response for a horse to survive in the wild.
I also learnt that horses sleep for about 3 minutes on average, 33 times a day. They could sleep longer like 10 minutes, if they feel really safe. I actually witnessed one of the pony’s short sleeping cycles during my training class and it was rather funny.
My trainer also made another profound statement during her sessions, that I hope to practice more of, in my life as a human. She said we humans don’t always have our thoughts and actions in sync. When it comes to guiding horses, we have to show that consistency or the horse wouldn’t understand as there is no thought-action dichotomy in their world.
Also, horses, like dogs, cannot differentiate between positive and negative attention. I should know that, given that I have grown up with four dogs. Which is why, ignoring them when they don’t behave is better than ‘scolding’ them because scolding is still giving attention which they absolutely love.
After 30 minutes of theory, my trainer took us to the horses. She keeps eight horses including four ponies and all are rescued animals. I saw three brown horses hanging out together. One of them was Pebbles, the pony I trained with on the first day — who wouldn’t listen to me much. Either she didn’t like me or I was just too giddy with excitement to be near a horse and therefore wasn’t able to lead her with purpose. The other one was a gorgeous race horse named Happy who trains in advanced classes.
I also met another old, off-white pony named Flame who when saw me, came over to greet me, which was a lovely feeling. Flame has been my trainer’s childhood buddy for almost 12 years.
We took Pebbles out to start the session. I was supposed to follow the golden rule of a) stand neutral and mirror the feet arrangement of the horse b) bring attention to the present moment but don’t look at the horse and c) intention — decide where I want to go with the horse, how many steps and then give it cues to do it. You cue the horse in multiple phases until it understands where you want to take it. And once it does learn this, give it a pat or better still — a big warm cuddle!
I was a bit all over the place on day one because there was a lot of information and instructions to take in and follow while keeping my emotions in check. I gradually got the hang of it, though not with a lot of success. During our one-and-a-half-hour session, Pebbles got bored a couple of times and dozed off while standing. My trainer taught us how to wake her up when that happened. Just like humans, horses also need a lot of mental stimulation and if they are made to do the same thing again and again, they get bored. I learnt how to move the horse forward and backward while standing next to it — but just a few steps. At one point, Pebbles also lay down and turned around to give herself a good spine massage (very similar to what a dog would do in the grass). That’s an essential part of a horse’s body care routine.
On my second day with the horses, I was accompanied by the two travelers I had met the day before. This time, I was given another pony named Zoey who was in perfect tune with me, and I felt so relaxed and happy walking with her. I also loved cuddling her. My travel buddies though seemed quite comfortable with Pebbles on day one itself. Really made me think that Pebbles didn’t like me much :P
I could not have left AV without saying a final goodbye to my teacher and the horses and so one day before leaving, I visited them again. Though this time around, I wasn’t training, I was just observing how the kids in the workshop were communicating with the horses.
At the end of the session, Ms Miyagi showed off her skills with a beautiful, Marwari war horse named Monsoon (what a beautiful name!) and made her trot, run and jump over barrels. War horses are different from thoroughbreds and like to challenge you if they feel confronted instead of walking away like other horses would. It was exhilarating to watch my trainer playfully (horses love to play!) challenge Monsoon and Monsoon playing along. Some day, I’ll probably own a horse of own in my own farm.
In a spiritual place like AV, I found a lot of intellectual stimulation and pleasure for my five senses, whether it was in the study circles, the food, the dance or the music but I also felt a sixth sense awaken. My stay here was therapeutic and healing in so many ways after a mind boggling one and a half years. I was filled with a stronger sense of compassion and service for other living beings. I just hope these changes stay within me, wherever I go. But even if they don’t, I plan to visit AV for a spiritual rejuvenation every year, so I don’t forget :)
Read Part 1 of this post here
