A TripAdvisor™ TripWow slideshow of a travel blog to Pondicherry, India by TravelPod blogger Marcusontheroad titled "C’est la vie". TravelPod is a company of TripAdvisor™. Marcusontheroad's travel blog entry: "Pondicherry is the former capital of French India, and the French influence is still readily apparent from the freshly-baked chocolate croissants to the colourful L'Eglise du Sacre-Coeur. However, these days the overwhelming influence on this charming seaside town is the ashram co-founded by Sri Aurobindo and his spiritual collaborator, a French lady called Mirra Alfasa, better known as "The Mother". Aurobindo was born in northeast India but was educated in the UK, studying at St Paul's school and Cambridge university. He is perhaps best known for his fierce opposition to the British occupation of India, but has also dabbled in poetry and expounded a philosophy of "Divine consciousness", which can be reached using his method of "integral yoga". Sounds a bit dubious, admittedly, but no-one can argue with his ultimate goal which is the evolution, and elevation, of the human race. Both Aurobindo and the Mother have now moved on from this world, but have left their legacy not only in the ashram, where devotees from all walks of life pay their respects daily, but also in the experimental community of "Auroville", about 15km north of Pondy. This UN-backed utopia has as its goal "human unity in diversity" and is currently home to about 1700 "Aurovillians" from 35 different ...