Day 1, Welcome to Auroville

December 1, Rise and Shine

After a much needed sleep, we began our day with a tour of Auroville. But not before Dan forgot which foods were safe and unsafe to eat and Caley, perhaps a little jet lagged, used a bowl for coffee instead of a mug.

Our project client, Lalit, was kind enough to give us a private tour of the Matrimandir, the "soul of the city". From its expansive gardens to private medidation areas, we were taken aback at how serene and peaceful the area was. The overwheleming quiet does lend itself to divine conciousnesses and attaining a medidative state. One would think that after months of pouring over pictures, reading background documentation and conducting interviews, the team would quickly find our footing in Auroville. But the reality is that nothing could prepare us this experience. 

From Auroville, we drove to Kuilappalayam. This village serves as our case study village for the 2024 project. We will look to measure what social impacts Auroville's presence/efforts are creating in this community. Moreover, our team is working to identify if these impacts align with Auroville's vision of human unity.

Today, we moved slightly closer to this goal by walking the streets, spatially locating key services and identifying stakeholders and businesses to interview. 

Needing a rest, we ate a family-style lunch at Aneetas Kitchen followed by coffees at Marc's Coffee House. Fueled by caffeine, we spent our afternoon and evening wrapping our heads around this fascinating project!

Quote of the Day:

Pitbull: Live life, don't let life live you.