We dropped in on Auroville during our stay in Pondicherry. Auroville is unique. There are 1, 700 residents and 35 nationalities spread over 20 km. It is an international experiment in human unity inspired by an Indian philosopher called Shree Aurobindo and founded in 1968 by a Frenchwoman known as ‘The Mother’. The original plan for the town shaped it like a galaxy and the community reject ownership of property. They intension is to live and work side by side for the purpose of human and spiritual development, rather than economic advancement. There are shools, health clinics, shops and a space age meditation centre. Residents do jobs they feel like doing as long as it is needed and can be of use to the community. After reading a bit about the community philosophy it seemed appealing to me but on further reflection I decided it was good for the people involved but too divorced from reality, from places where real human issues exist that desperately need addressing: poverty, crime, corruption, infrastructural deficiencies, violence and disease. Auroville does prove its worth as an educational centre and an example of a diverse group of people living together (or trying too) in harmony; and who says our consumption-competition driven societies show the only path to happiness?

Not far from Pondicherry is the World Heritage listed Mamallapuram. It was once the second capital and seaport of the Pallava kings of Kanchipuram and is famed for its stone carvings and temples. Nowadays it’s also famed for its excellent seafood! To this day one can hear artisans chipping away with their hammer and chisels. The rock carvings around Mamallapuram are unique because they depict scenes from everyday life rather than the usual gods and goddesses posing for the pilgrims.

By now, Laure and I were feeling quite travel weary; and viewing the temples and rock carvings through eyes that had already seen so many wonders of the natural and man made world, we failed to appreciate them as much. Maybe if we were fresh from Europe we’d have seen the rock carvings on show in a completely different light…..

We left Tamil Nadu via its capital: Chennai (Madras) and went to Hampi in Karnataka State by train. We stayed in a town called Hospet and spent a great day visiting the many scattered temples, ruins and statues by moped. This experience invigourated us and gave us the boost that we needed. Touring the area on a moped gave us a sense of freedom from our usual habits of using public transport. What really made it special was finding hilltop temples deserted, perched majestically above the surrounding bizarre boulder strewn landscape. The Tanghabhadra River carves lazily through this awesome scenery and is serviced by coracle boatmen who fill their rounded river crafts full to the brim with locals and foreigners alike.

We would have loved to spend more time exploring the ruins of Vijayanagar (founded by Telugu princes in 1336) but now it was time to catch our train to Goa State for a taste of Portugal (the Europeans certainly knew how to spread their wings in days gone by!!).

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Chapter 26 - Goa and Mumbai

We arrived in Goa State from the east. From Margao station we headed north to Panaji, the state capital that lies next to the gaping mouth of Mandovi River. Goa has India’s highest income per capita with tourism at the core of the local economy. This, like in parts of Karnataka and Kerala State was immediately visible in the form of better quality infrastructure, houses and less destitute looking people. The population of the state is 1.34 million and the main languages are Konkani, Marathi, English and Hindi. I was very surprised that Portuguese wasn’t included since Goa was a former Portuguese colony.

The Portuguese arrived in Goa in 1510, attracted by the natural harbours and wide rivers. Christianity and other aspects of European ‘civilisation’ were soon to follow. Of the European colonial heavyweights, Portugal was the first to arrive in India and the last to leave. Goa remained a Portuguese colony until 1961 (The rest of India gained independence in 1947!).

Just as in Fort Cochin, evidence of colonization abounds. There are dozens of churches, cathedrals, mansions, forts and residential areas that are relicts of this period. Panaji sports some quintessential exhibits of European architecture. The quaint streets around the Old Portuguese quarter are great to explore. We spent several hours wandering around this area, on one occasion to find accommodation, on another for leisure.

From Panaji we went on a short excursion to Old Goa, the now abandoned former capital of Goa. Here is a spattering of cathedrals and churches. Each one is impressive in its own right and brings back memories of the cathedral cities of Europe. Some of these still hold parts of the incorrupt i.e. not too decayed remains of the patron saint of Goa: Saint Francis Xavier.

After our short stay in Panaji we headed for the famous beaches of Goa. The particular beach we opted for was Palolem. This idyllic palm fringed beach is now very much geared towards the tourists. Densely packed beach huts are scattered throughout the palm trees, and seaside restaurants offer the many catches of the day.  Touristy, yes, but also very relaxing.

We stayed in a dirt cheap cabin on the beach and invested in a Frisbee. The sea was calm enough to swim in without being annihilated by the waves.  Our first couple of days there defined the word relaxation, our third day there also fell into this category except for the fact that we actually got off our backsides and explored a bit further than the nearest palm tree. By boat we visited Butterfly Beach seeing many dolphins flash their fins to us on the way. We had one hour to ourselves before the other tourists rudely invaded the cove. We went across to nearby Patnam, which apparently resembles Palolem 6 years ago. These days of total relaxation were another welcome break from the intensity and non-stop pace of sightseeing. The delicious salads and seafood and wine also helped the days slip by with ease. A couple of Goan musicians entertained us by playing songs on request. They were both extremely talented and deserve to be on a world tour.

On our last night we dined with Dan and Sarah (British brother and sister) and chatted about the benefits of body detoxification (Indian style!) and the indiscretions of Indian men towards western women!

Our last train ride in India was an overnight train from Margao to Mumbai (formerly Bombay). We traveled in a Sleeper Class (4th class) compartment. We got chatting to the other people in our compartment and each one was a character, from the man from New Delhi who was overly proud of his high connection and wealth to the naval submariner who wowed us with his self taught ability to play the harmonica; and the single German mother who was very brave to travel in India with her two young children (daughter of 10 and a son of 1 ½ years old).

Mumbai has in my opinion, the best examples of British colonial architecture- some streets almost feel Londonesque. The Gateway of India is symbolic as the last British soldiers departed through this archway, leaving an independent divided India in their wake.

We hired a taxi driver to take us on a tour of Mumbai and gave him a blank cheque to take us wherever he wanted. He drove us past Chowpatty Beach, a Jain Temple (spectacular- another reminder us of the Swarminarayan Mandir in London!) and the Hanging Garden on Malabar Hill (a wealthy area) with hedges shaped like animals. After this we asked to be taken to see the ‘real’ Bombay, to have a glimpse of life for most of the residents of this eclectic city.

The driver took us directly to the large Muslim quarter, past the cattle-drawn cart waiting next to a taxi revving its engine at the traffic lights, and into the red light district. Streetside curtains hid the activities in Mumbai’s underbelly. Luckily for the inhabitants of this particular street, it had the largest concentration of HIV/AIDS and sexual health clinics I’ve ever seen in one place- a testimony of the issues here. One stick waving midget pimp advertised the transgender prostitutes in his seedy enclosure as our taxi trundled on. Thankfully we passed through this area pretty quickly and then began to go through even poorer areas of the Muslim quarter, tenement block by tenement block. Each area was a real hive of activity. One thing about Mumbai (and most of India) is that the heat and the cramped space cause most people to stay outside as much as possible, hence the seething masses out in the streets until late at night.