Gazing at the ocean from the seashore at Pondicherry, it strikes me that we, in the city, are increasingly removed from calm, a pre-requisite for creativity. A wise soul that I bump into at a little bookshop selling translations of books written in French, tells me that, “quietude, reflection, spontaneity...this is the way of the soul. We clutter the path with roadblocks in the form of unnecessary desires”. Indeed.

The majority of Aurovillians live a creative life. It’s a life sans chafing. Which is not to say they are not ambitious, successful, or in any way removed from the demands of the world and international trends. They have just learnt to tap into their intuitive selves and let their higher self guide them towards all that is necessary and required for a peaceful co-existence. Filled with reflections and age old discoveries, I am led to send a text to a friend who is aspiring to be an artist. It says, “If you want to learn form, study the shape of flowers.” Eat, pray, love, to borrow from the title of a bestseller, is actually all that one needs to do.

(The columnist is a writer and a consultant)