John Williams Auroville blog post Auroville, a compound located on the outskirts of Pondicherry, was founded by Mirra Alfas during the mid 1960’s. During the mid 20’s, she traveled to Pondicherry, India to meet the famed Yogi, Sri Aurobindo. There, she became his prodigy, and she gained most of her wisdom from his teachings. Together Alfas and Aurobindo founded the ...
SOU 310: India Past and Present
My Hat
John Williams Blog post India past and present 5, october, 2017 My Hat in Hyderabad While in Hyderabad, a group of students and I decided to go to Charminar and do some shopping. While walking I noticed a shop that was specifically selling elaborate hats. The hat was a turban and was decorated with many colors and jewels. I was captivated by its beauty, so I decided ...
Drink Up – Water and Energy Conservation in India
Resource conservation is a present problem in India that will continue into the foreseeable future. Deeply rooted political and philosophical issues in India are stifling its investment in advancing conservation technology but there are some basic, everyday practices in place that are helping play a small role in saving energy. I’ve noticed some of these problems and ...
The Night the Sky Cried for Hussain
On Thursday evening, we were generously offered by Dr. Anant Maringanti, the executive director at Hyderabad Urban Labs, to observe the Shia community in the city and see some relics during the Islamic holiday, the Mourning of Muharram. This ten day holiday is the first in the Islamic calendar, and the festivities peak on the tenth day, known as Ashura. Depending on the sect ...
More than what MEATS the Eye
India to many is known as the vegetarian's paradise. In a country where over 80% of the population follow a religion that supports vegetarianism, finding veg-friendly food here is not a problem. In fact, in India it is now illegal to consume beef. At first the vegan inside of me celebrated this small victory for cows, but I quickly came to learn that there was more to this ban ...
The Todas and The Badagas
On October 2nd, we arrived at Chennai after an overnight, 13-hour, train ride from Hyderabad. Experiencing the Indian railroad system was a thrilling experience. The leather bunkbeds, the beautiful 6:00 a.m. Chennai sunrise, and the multiple chaiwalas walking back-and-forth the train’s narrow corridors fascinated me. Unfortunately, I was only able to sleep for four hours of the ...
A Welcome Back to Chennai
Coming back from an amazing 2 weeks working with Hyderabad Urban Lab (HUL) in Hyderabad, the group boarded a train that, in 13 hours would take us back to Chennai, where we are staying in the city itself rather than in Tambaram. The train was set up in a cool way; it had beds hanging from the ceiling and beds that folded out from the seats that connected to the ground. The ...
The Irula Tribe: Snake Charmers and Lifesavers
A person’s natural instinct when faced with a poisonous animal is to jump back. That is exactly what I did when the Irula tribesman took the first snake out of the clay pot. This near run in with a poisonous snake occurred while we were visiting the Madras Crocodile Bank, a reptile zoo and research center situated in the outskirts of Chennai. They host an astounding 2,000 ...
Hyderabad Past and Present: The Qutub Shahi Dynasty
During my time in Hyderabad, I was able to explore and witness the diverse history, architecture, culture, and religion found in the area. What fascinated me most was the ability of all of these factors to seamlessly merge the past and present together. During a bus tour of the city, Dr. Anant Maringanti, one of the staff members we worked closely with from Hyderabad Urban Lab, ...
Preservation of monuments and biodiversity
When we recently toured Golconda Fort I observed a diversity of species amid the immensity of the fort. Some individual species were very abundant. There was a robust yellow-bodied dragonfly that was swarming; I didn't get a chance to for a close-up picture or identification, but they were quite abundant (you might be able to see one or two flying in the picture below). Yet, at ...
