Since time flew in Auroville, I have a difficult time remembering all the events chronologically. This itself is, I think, a rather peculiar and typical experience in Auroville.

Though the chronology is a little fuzzy, the time together with the people I met is not. So for this goddag letter, I focus on these wonderful characters.

The second time in Auroville was mainly shaped by my friendship with Ilona, Shiju, Sam, and a few other people.

Ilona I met on the third day or so of my stay. We got to know each other over dinners at Center Guest House. She was so well-read, free in her attitude, and did not give a shit about what others thought of her opinions. We talked about her time in Moscow, doing reports for the BBC, how she went to Victor Frankl’s family, or travelled through Iran. We also debated lots of worldviews and life paths. Almost every evening we would walk around the Crown Road in Auroville for long talks.

After a few days, Sam joined the two of us. A guy from a place in the south of Tamil Nadu, he is a dentist but came to Auroville to join acting classes. We joined a bonfire singing night and Universal Peace Dances at the Tibetan Pavilion with him. During one of our dinners we made the plan to go to Mahabalipuram. Sam luckily had his car with him, so we drove there. This is a place with loads of temples over 1400 years old. Unfortunately, it was super crowded, and especially Ilona was disappointed by the temples themselves. We had an amazing time hanging out though, we talked a lot about the unborn and sexuality. On the way back we stopped at a beach, where Sam and I took a plunge, and we saw many stranded seaturtles. Before I left Auroville, the three of us had a farewell dinner at the Spot and Catamaran in Pondicherry, where I drank my first beer in a while!

Another character whom I deeply value having met is Shiju. After the debacle with the Tamil teacher at the Language Lab of Auroville, Enzo had mentioned that a volunteer from Taiwan had come, her name was Shiju. Initially, she was simply to help me improve my Mandarin and calligraphy, while I would help her son Kuang with English. I thought this would be a good refreshal for the time I will spend in China (and Japan) soon. But the best thing was that we became friends. I would drive around with Kuang on my scooter in Auroville, and Shiju and I couldn’t stop talking about ideas around filial piety and how they relate to topics like the unborn (a very interesting topic to me hahaha), dementia, or traveling.

It was interesting to talk with specifically her about this because she had gone into the world on her own at age 15, but later came to deeply understand and value Confucius’ idea of filial piety. Now that she had a son, all such questions gained an entirely different light.

I’m also grateful to have met Auro from the World Union Organisation. This is an organisation I research for my PhD, and Auro was so kind to invite me to his home for food and to meet his family and other World Union board members.

Another fellow who left a mark was Anthon, an Austrian guy whom I kept running into at Solar Kitchen. We almost always talked philosophy or ethics, but I loved it. What I appreciated was his analytical rigor and how he did not mind thinking through any hypothetical, but still had a genuine heart to get at a good solution. Though he is a physicist and would describe himself as a utilitarian (a way of thought I could never abide!), he had the wisdom and sincerity of a Russell.

And many other lovely people, like Maja, Ishaan, and Anita, made these last two weeks in Auroville a gift!