Day 10, Ponchos, Pot bellies and Progress!

We woke up to cloudy skies after our long work day yesterday, ready for another long writing day today. The report is due in a couple of days so it is certainly crunch time here at the Atithi Griha guest house! 

After eating breakfast the group buckled down and continued to write all of our assigned sections. Maeve is on economics, Caley is in charge of education, Dan is all over community services, Tara and Chloe are co-tackling women's empowerment and Spencer has his eyes set on recommendations. Divide and conquer, it is the only way. 

The rain came back today. Those cloudy skies swept in and the weather forecast did not lie. This is the first rain since the day we arrived and we encountered the tail end of the cyclone. None of us really mind as we are in writing mode anyways, and who doesn’t like the pitter patter of rain to grind away to! 

After working steady all morning Ajay convinced us (with ease) to go back to Naturellement cafe for an extended team lunch. The gang gorged on brownies, eggs, curry and coffees to fuel us for the writing ahead. 



After a wet return we all buckled back down and got to work, now with bellies filled to the brim and caffeine swimming in our veins. Our only fear now is a power/internet outage. If Ajay’s weather predictions are correct (they always are) more rain is on the way and with that comes the potential for a catastrophic collapse of our infrastructure. Internet and power for our devices and AC and fans for our souls. 

Later in the day Tara and Dan had an interview… this time they were the interviewees! A local reporter from Auroville came to conduct an interview on our project… wow we are almost celebrities! Dan was not quite in his element but persevered with help from Tara and her history of journalistic integrity. 

After some furious report writing and on the spot trip planning, Tara taught an impromptu self-defence class. Do not mess with that women! 

We spent the rest of the evening writing and polishing our recommendations. After some deliberation the gang pulled together to format and consolidate! Leave it to master editor Maeve to bring us to reason. 


Maeve has fully settled in and has created a unique workspace which is so Maeve filled with blankets, diet cokes and puns, so many puns. 

Quote of the day: “It's very hype… I’m going to my corner.” Maeve 

Comments

  1. WendyDecember 11, 2024 at 12:56 PM

    Did I see an elephant? Maeve, I am so happy you have diet cokes again!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ArnavDecember 11, 2024 at 8:03 PM

      My little work buddy! She does seem much happier lately. Conscience? I think not

      Delete
  2. Dave GordonDecember 11, 2024 at 5:51 PM

    Good luck with the presentation....

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 1, Welcome to Auroville

Image
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 pres...
Read more

Day 0, Journey to Auroville

Image
This blog reports 2024 International Project team's everyday adventures in Auroville, India.  This year's team is comprised of seven students from Queen’s University. Unfortunately, only six -- Tara, Caley, Maeve, Chloe, Spencer and Dan -- could travel to India. We wrote this blog in part for our seventh member, Wendy, and in part to share our story with you.  Day 0, Journey to Auroville The team departed for Auroville after months of preparation. The six of us flew from Toronto to Dubai and finally Chennai. When we made it to Dubai, we were informed that a cyclone had touched down in Chennai. We pushed on, not knowing if the next time we got wifi we would be told to hunker down in Chennai or allowed to make the drive to Auroville.  We made the drive. But not without a few mishaps. From dodging animals, the sheer volume of traffic and vibrant sights and sounds, Nothing says welcome to India like a post- cyclone 3 hour adrenaline fueled car ride. Highlights include Caley p...
Read more

Day 2, The lizards are fans of Dan

Image
Previous Night Last night the team headed to Pondicherry to cheers to the kicking off of the 2024 project! Here we learnt that Dan is the king of good times – as stated on the Kingfisher beer logo. Most importantly the trip unveiled that Ajay is twins with Chloe as both of their Lord of the Rings Characters are Boromir! The rest of the fellowship is as follows: Daniel: Merry Spencer: Pippin Wendy: Legolas Tara: Frodo Maeve: Sam Caley: Gimli Day 2 – Tuesday December 3rd Day 2 started off better for some than others. Unfortunately, a member of the team caught a bad case of a tummy ailment, but things seem to be looking up and hopefully tomorrow is a different story! After a delicious breakfast and a quick team meeting, Tara, Maeve, and Chloe started the workday with the team’s first feedback presentation to our client Lalit, an architectural intern, and an Aurovillian civil engineer.  After practicing and perfecting the presentation for weeks, we were very happy to receive positive f...
Read more