Sadhana Forest

I'm lying on a straw mat and writing on recycled paper. Bamboo supports the thatched roof above my head and through its structure I see green - the idle leaves of trees, blades of grass, fringes of palms. Birds beep and lizards chirp over the chatter of English and the sound of guitars, and - only very far away - do car horns sound. This is Sadhana Forest, an environmental project focused on forestry and sustainable living underway in Auroville, India. What Auroville is is difficult to say. At university, I heard it described as an ecovillage. My guidebook calls it an international community. But the handbook in Sadhana's library defines Auroville as a Universal Township founded in 1968, which has over the years come to operate many programs, some of which focus on sustainability. I've come to volunteer at Sadhana for two weeks. I began on Friday, January 30th and will finish Friday, February 13th. Today is Friday, February 6th and it feels very strange to write that my time here is half way through. Though the project is isolated and appears to support a very simple lifestyle, my days have been busy.

Work starts early here - 6:30 am - and ends around noon, Monday through Friday. Afternoons and weekends are free time, though there is always an abundance of things to do. Meals are vegan - which has been interesting - and prepared by volunteers instructed by rotating volunteer chiefs. The work is work - gardening, brush clearing, and tree planting - but it passes quickly and results are often instantly apparent.

Most days pass quietly, but with some unexpectedly pleasant event. Hummus night is Wednesday, an Eco film is shown on Friday night, and there are daily yogalates classes and workshops. One can also borrow a bicycle or - for those brave and accustomed to driving on the left side of the road - a moped and ride to the beach. Most days I find a way into town with other volunteers and to buy ice cream and grilled cheese - veganism is a bit too intense for me. My fondest surprise source of entertainment though - other than the availability of The Lord of the Rings series in Sadhana's library - was the invitation of all of Sadhana's volunteers to a wedding.

We left this morning at 5:30 am, for in this part of India wedding ceremonies apparently occur early. Yorit and Aviram, the Israeli couple who founded and currently run Sadhana Forest, are fiends of the groom. The drive took over an hour and came to and end at the steps of a temple complex illuminated by the rising sun. All twenty of us removed our shoes and ascended behind guests arrayed in the most beautiful embroidered silk saris. The temple stood a mountain of carved stone adorned with swinging and cackling live monkeys. Its pillared hall was just as abuzz with activity. As this was an auspicious day to be wed, a dozen ceremonies were going on at once. Bejeweled brides in red and white checkered saris and elaborate headdresses sat with their grooms on platforms with a priest. Cameramen and family members packed the hall.

What exactly happens in the ceremony, I still don't really know, but I do know that afterwards meal is served. Ours took place in a back hall, where we sat on benches and ate off banana leaves. Other families dined on the ground around the temple. We left full and happy, still adaze with the happenings of the hall gratefully clutching out parting gifts of coconuts.

The Sadhana Forest project has already proven very successful. When Yorit and Aviram arrived five years ago, they stepped onto a barren parcel of land. Now the residential area of the forest holds 10 dorms and 4 private huts, a great main hut which contains offices, a dining space, a library, a children's play room and a conference area, a kitchen, composting toilet and bucket shower facilities, a tool shed and green house, gardens, and a bike shed. Their intense water conservation measures and reforestry work have already greened the land significantly and raised the water table a remarkable six meters. Over 20,00 trees have already been planted and Yorit and Aviram hope this vital work will continue to replenish India's rapidly disappearing Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest - now the rarest forest type in the world.

For more information about Auroville, visit their website at www.auroville.org