Idly and Dosa

Idly or Dosa served with coconut chutney, sambhar (or sambol), vaadai etc. is a typical Tamil breakfast. Can be found in both Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu, India.

Dosa, (also spelled as Dosai, Thosa, or Thosai) is a pancake made of fermented rice flour mixed with coconut milk and spices according to taste. Idly (also spelled Ittly) is a steamed rice flour muffin of round shape. A similar muffin called Vapa is cooked in Bangladesh for winter breakfast. Vapa usually has a sweet core of coconut and jaggery which is missing in Idly.

Local restaurants in both Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu, India and serves these in breakfast. The chutney and sambar varies from one region to another, and from one restaurant to another. Curry dishes of vegetable, chiken, fish and mixed were found but not all at the same place.

In most places, Idly or Dosa breakfast was found to be quite cheap and filling. A filling Dosa breakfast can be no more than 150.00 LKR in Sri Lanka. This would also include a cup of fine Ceylon tea. Sri lankan grocery stores often sell break fast packs of Dosa. It contains three to four Dosa and a small serving of spicy sambol. A pack costs 40.00 LKR.

Language Barrier in Tamil Nadu

An unofficial flag of Tamil Nadu, in use since the early days of India when the dispute over official language started

Language barrier is a common challenge for traveling in many Asian countries and India is no different. But Tamil Nadu poses a greater challenge. The official state language and mostly spoken language is Tamil. It is one of the classical languages of India, belonging to the Dravidian family of languages. Which means its very different from the national language, Hindi which belongs to the Indo-Aryan family.

There is often a decent level of mutual intelligibility between Indo-Aryan langauges, for example between Hindi and Bihari and Bangla. But nothing like that between Tamil and the Indo-Aryan langauges.

On top of that a long standing notorious socio-political divide between north and south of India adds a political dimension to the communcation challenge. In the early days of India, the central government's attempt to promote Hindi as the official language was not received well by the Tamil speaking population. Incidents of violent uprising and revolts eventually lead to Tamil being given the official status and higher priority. As of today, many Tamils prefer English to Hindi as a lingua franca. But in the country side, English does not work with common people. Learning Tamil is therefore recommended for traveling in rural Tamil Nadu. At least a few basic words and phrases. Bellow is a list of useful words which I used in combination with sign language and English to communicate with local during my stay in Tamil Nadu.

Greetings : Vanakkam
Food : Sappadu
Watter : Tanni
Yes : Ya
No : Illa
Thank you : Nandri
I am not Tamil : Naan tamil illa

Somehow very basic phrases comprising of English and Tamil words made sense on a number of occasions. For example, to say that I don't have a scooter, "Scooter illa" works.

Transport from Auroville to Puducherry

Interior of the bus to Puducherry

Easiest way to reach Puducherry ( Pondicherry ) from Auoville is by bus. Bus from ECR near Auroville to the station at Puducherry costs 5.00 Rs. The last stop of this bus is the bus station at Puducherry.

On the way back from Puducherry to Auroville, one can get on a bus from the station. However, there are two different routes going towards Chennai and both pass through Auroville. One drops you off at the Kuilapalayam (intersection of EC Road) and the other one drops off at Morattandi. Make sure to ride the right bus. Be aware of the rush hour crowd in the bus. The Indian crowd can be very intense.

Next in order of convenience would be autorikshaws. They usually charge around 200.00 Rs from the Auroville to Puducherry or the other way round. Sometimes there is room for bargaining.

Another viable option is to ride a moped or motorbike. But driving a vehicle without a licence is not advisable. The police in Puducherry sometimes flags down tourists driving a moped or motor bike to check their licence. Tamil Nadu police is a bit relaxed in that regard.

Pedaling your way to Puducherry is also possible. It's only 5 kilometers from Auroville after all. This is also a healthy and environmentally friendly option.

Auroville Beaches

Quiet beach in Auroville

A few auroville communities are located on the sea and have their own beaches. I've been to two of those, the Repos beach and the Quiet beach. Repos beach was found crowded throughout the week specially during the weekends. The quiet beach on the other hand was much less crowded. Both beaches were found to be used by local fishermen. Quiet was found to be cleaner than Repos. The only shortcoming of Quiet is that it was about a kilometer to the south from Repos beach sitting only 100 meters from the Quilapalayam intersection on EC Road. The quiet beach is preferred after considering all these factors.

Finding accommodation near the beach can be a bit challenging during the high season i.e. December - February. Most of the hotels are cheap or mid range. Downside of it is that the rooms will often have poor ventilation and lighting. A good alternative is a beach hut. But they usually cost more than the rooms and are in high demand.

Tamil floor decorations

Kolam, the floor decoration of the Tamils

Tamil women draw beautiful ornamental drawing on the floor in front of the entrance every morning. These are called kolam. It is believed that kolam drawings have the power to do something positive for the household. Rice powder is the commonly used material. Sometimes crushed stones and colorful substances are also used.

Living Quarters in Sadhana Forest

Dorm for Sadhana Forest volunteers

Indigenous Tamil style huts are the ubiquitous accommodations of Sadhana Forest. Some huts have second floor or small attics too. Most volunteers in Sadhana Forest gets to sleep in dormitories. The dorms are basically large huts. There are three dorms at the time of writing this, two of them are two stories. Long term volunteers get special treatment, they live in their own huts.

The sturdy huts made of hardwood, and coconut leaves and ropes are quite impressive. A big opening in the front serves as door. Usually the huts come with multiple opening on the side, all triangular, serving as windows. This allows plenty of wind to pass through in all directions.

Mitra

Mitra youth hostel in Auroville

I stayed for about a week in Mitra Youth Hostel, Auroville. The place is right next to Auroville town hall; very close to the Matrimandir. It's a clean good looking piece of architecture. Usha, the lady running the place, was also found to be friendly and helpful. Besides that, the hostel provides breakfast in weekdays. One can also enjoy a good view of the Matrimandir from the roof top. Only upsetting aspect of my experience in Mitra is frequent and long power cuts.

Chennai to Auroville

I'm in Auroville right now. Going from Chennai airport to Auroville turned out to be a relatively simple task. As easy as 1-2-3:

1. There are prepaid taxi services in front of the airport. Took a taxi to Koyambedu Bus Terminus. Price 250.00Rs.
2. At the terminus, had to go to the mofussil section. The buses have electronic display on them showing Tamil and English. Had to get on a bus that says "ECR" (east coast road). These buses go all the way to Pondicherry. So I had to ask the helper man to drop me off near Auroville instead of at Pondi. 190.00Rs.
3. From the drop off point, there were yellow autorikshaws. I took an auto to the visitors center in Auroville. 150.00Rs.