Auroville – A Fashion Vista
Auroville
A small getaway for seekers of international origin, who can’t seem to get enough of The Mother, the aura, the beauty of Matrimandir (A 10-storey high Golden Orb of obeisance to The Mother and self quest) have made Auroville a destination for the truly divined.
I went to Auroville as a must see destination for all its hoopla of community living and international benediction. What I discovered instead was a hub of fashion, comparable to Paris or Belgium.
Jewellery made from the finest gems, silver wrought around semi precious stones, collars made from sea pearls, bracelets of faceted garnets, classique and marmoreal pearls, zircon, amethyst, topaz set in antique silverwork.
The pottery is available in hues like midnight blues, blazing oranges, brilliant greens and muted browns: beer mugs with hand painted terracotta colors, glazed jewelery boxes, and pots, minuscule and delicate, coaster made of 12 different hues of burgundy.
In clothes, everything to go from chic to kitsch is on the racks: knitwear that hug the curves, Avant-garde fabrics of silk, crepe de chine, crepes hand painted stoles and scarves,
leather for bags, bukris, thongs and table wares in germanised silver …handmade paper lampshades, folios, greeting cards, writing paper, picture frames, note books, hand-pressed paper with infinitely fragrant real flowers, aroma oils, incenses, candles, beauty products, anti ageing applications……..
A shopper’s dreamland together with a shopping attitude
Bakeries lined with breads of every nationality: French, German, American and Norwegian, exotic food cooked in solar kitchens, spirulina spiked with wine and fresh garden salads were never so delectable.
Auroville is a belvedere experience in discovering how this erstwhile French Colony in Pondicherry has restyled the art of making silver jewellery into fashionable dernier cri.
Paper was never so demulcently stylish.
Mediterranean styled haciendas, white textured walls, trailing bougainvillea, muted music, and Tamil salespeople