The Pursuit of Illusion

Hey thr
Long time no see

Actually, i have been quite busy of late....well thats a lame excuse -the truth being, there wasn't anything exciting in my life going on in past few months to induce my lazy ass to sit down and scribble down a few words.

Then why now? Fact is, Tata Steel -God bless the company -after seeing the unseen: zero attrition among graduate trainees in first six months of joining (a first since early nineteen eighties) decided to take us on an industrial tour to the Deccan.

And so we started off to the south. Our first stoppage was Chennai. A welcome change. After an industrial visit to Ford Motors, we were supposed to be off to Bangalore. However, a day's off was given before the next industrial visit in Bangalore. A sub-group of GTs had decided to drop by Puducherry for that day instead of spending it in Bangalore.

I sure wanted to see many places in the short period we were sent to the Deccan but had no special reason for joining the Pondicherry/ puducherry (from now on Pondy in my text) trip. Recollecting now, I think that was one good decision I took in my messy life.

To start with, the road journey was marvelous. We started in night in a Qualis. The roadside dhaba where I had my dinner, the beautifully lighted smooth road and the fun we had during the trip stay buried deep in my mind, because of my incompetence in expressing them here.

Auro's dad being an ardent devotee of Sri Aurobindo Ashram and a regular visitor, he had no problem in getting us accommodation in an ashram guest house made by Oriya devotees. We crashed into our beds as soon as we reached there at two in the night, soon to be woken up by Shoby (at half past four I guess). We hurried off to the sea shore for a rendezvous with the rising Sun.

The shore was in itself a great experience. The continental interface of sea in Pondy being rocky, there is no natural beach (as we later found out, there is a patch of natural beach on the wide coastline which is privately owned by Auro Villa members*). By the sea were cliffs and huge rock formations and just beyond that was the road. Seeing people jogging at early hours of dawn, I started wondering when was it last that I had woken up so early for some exercise. Occasional scenes of foreign babes (are they all born babes?) jogging down the road were feast for the hungry eyes. Srawan aka Mota especially relished on the view, laughing in his characteristic demoniac way, lascivious saliva dripping down his mouth and his belly making jugular leaps.

For those who, in this fast moving world, are getting frustrated with anything and everything, I recommend two medicines. Porn or a view of the ferocious Sun God rising over the sea on eastern horizon, having metamorphosed into a small cute red ball. Both are a feast to the eyes.

And if you are here, don't miss the beautiful church overlooking the beach. Its a magnificent piece of architecture of the colonial period. For all those who have been to Pondicherry but have missed it, pictures are attached.

Pondy the city's name is synonymous with Sri Aurobindo Ashram. Aurobindo Ghosh, a militant freedom fighter, running from the British, had taken refuge in French territory of Pondicherry. After coming here, he started having a spiritual outlook of life. With the passage of time, he started an ashram here devoted to some philosophy that in layman terms boils down to leading a contended and immaterial life.

The environment in Aurobinda ashram was serene and passive. The lunch we got at a paltry was also simple. In spite of the mysteriously pleasant feeling such an environment gives, I couldn't help imagining how people spend their whole life doing small selfless jobs like cooking, plantation and making handicraft products in the ashram. It was too passive. I then thought that only those who are frustrated with life come here.

It so happens that the ashram is famous because Aurobindo's most ardent disciple 'Mother', so also most other disciples and patrons are foreigners. Makes sense...only foreigners (aka rich people) have the luxury think about stuff like meaning of life, wealth, selflessness and salvation etc. There were many brahmins in 3td century BC but only princes -Gautama and Mahavira -started their spiritual order. You won't find many Indians in Auro Villa because poor dear Indians don't have the luxury to ponder on such philosophies and give up everything to stay here. We are happy with our belief in the metaphysical.

On a concluding note, I would like to say that the philosophy of Aurobindo indeed
makes sense. If every human satisfies his basic needs and just these (may be a little comfort too), this world's resources can easily satiate the needs of every individual in this vast population. But no. We need more. If I got a Jaguar, I would like to go for a Ferrari (not that I have any of these or will get any by selling myself off). It is all a pursuit of illusion.

But is it really a pursuit of illusions? Shoby argues that man yearns for more -for more power, prestige and money -because of insecurity or aspirations or both. There is a 'fear of getting lost' in this vast world. Everyone wants to make a status of himself...and this has given rise to a rat race. Ultimately one is either buried or blown to ashes and no one knows what happens to the soul, if there is one (religious leaders can only speculate...that too every religion has its own theory on life and death and religious conglomerates like Hinduism have quite a lot of theories).

Some gentleman has aptly said that even if you win a rat race, you are but a rat.

I am back in the real world (the world of rats, you and me) and have put all that nonsense behind me. Pondicherry has stayed on as a hangover. Alas! You can get vodka in any pub in Jamshedpur but not the flavor of Pondicherry.