I am staying in ‘Adventure’ community for five days with Horst, the cool german fellow I met in Hampi, and his assortment of comrades. Here is a haiku of the essentials in Auroville as I see them:

Hero Honda humping speedbumps
Sandy rings of Matri Mundir….. oh no, too poetic!

Ok, start over:

Tamil people here but not inside
Many nations but some natural breakpoints
Pride points but repetition fatigue.
Earthy yet intellectual, casual yet moral.
123 nations but 90% Euro, North American, and local.
Looks more like The West than anything else
Brainwork Indo-European, braunwork Tamil
This is no farm commune.
No money but most live off savings.
Alternative art and science is there
But behavior of audience is conventional.

Watching movies about The West
Feels like we are watching the world from a fishbowl.
When it is brutal we are glad for the glass,
When it is glad passion seems fishbowl water lacks fizz.
Sad that this is the largest and most successful of all
Planned communities – seems so much more
Might be possible with this medium.
What are my peers building?
Have they become intentional creators yet?

This place is BYOB, no fine ladies on offer
Feels a lot like Kansas Toto.

END POEM

I am excited I have found this place and am certain I could do great work here and benefit the community. Question is – does this place summon my best self to the table? Is it just another dinner party with my parent’s friends? Is the pain and the chaos of my ignorant community not the soil where beauty can take seed – is this place vital? It seems more stable.