Healing

Curry! Every morning there are wonderfully mild Indian dishes. They are light and complex, seeming to contain 1001 spices. Lunch is at Solar Kitchen, the community canteen, simple, good vegetarian food. The principle is healthy eating for everyone, affordable for all. In the evening, it's those wonderful dishes again. What's not available: alcohol, meat, or fish, sugar. Eggs are a luxury. I used to eat a lot of chocolate in Germany, but now it's far too sweet for me. I treat myself to a complex B vitamin supplement.

The exciting thing is that it's changing my whole body. In Ayurvedic medicine, diet is considered a central aspect. I understand that now. This healing process isn't a cure for any disease; actually, I'm quite healthy. But a lot is coming to the surface. Old wounds, for example. My hands have many small scars from kitchen knife cuts. I'm not particularly careful there; I live dangerously in the kitchen. All these small scars are appearing, more each week. My metabolism is changing. That feels excellent.

Media

In addition to this change (I don't want to call it a diet, because the number of vegetables, spices, proteins and carbohydrates, fruit and quark is so much more varied and nutritious that it is actually more of a feast, a frenzy, a feast), there is a real reduction in media. I don't actually watch movies or videos at all, there is no TV or internet connection in the room. The dining hall isn't suitable for that either. I still follow the news, but not as panicked as I was in Europe. I sleep well.

In the evenings after dinner, I talk to lots of strangers about all sorts of things; we've been playing cards for the last few days. Because everything in Auroville is closed at 8 pm, unless there's a concert, a performance or a movie. Which is often the case.

In addition to my little scars, there is also a sadness, but it feels right. The hectic pace and superfluous consumption of recent decades in Germany, France and the USA may have been fun, but it wasn't just bad for the planet, it wasn't good for me either. Living in luxury is actually sad. I feel that now, and that's good. And here is the healing process. I think that's what we mean by diseases of civilization.

p.s.: The Auroville Bakery is the place of my sin, which is unfortunately irresistible 🙂