When we did, we saw the full extent of the damage. Trees down across the road every ten feet. Sometimes piled on top of one another, making it extremely difficult to pass through. Power lines in a mess on the side of the road. Women carrying water for a mile or longer to bring it to their entire village.

It took even longer for us to realize the full extent that this cyclone would have on our program. Even today, I am still learning the effects it had. Although it was not serious, and we did not see anyone lose their life, we did witness a potentially catastrophic event. Thousands went without clean water and thousands are still without power to this day. We as masters students in a communications program used the skills we came with to help those in need. We learned a valuable lesson in fundraising. Several actually.

Now that we have returned to Paris, that lesson is continuing as we plan an event on campus with little time, zero to no resources, and a group of committed individuals who each have an opinion on a course of action. Welcome to the fundraising and NGO world. There is no better representation for how and why great tasks are so difficult to accomplish.

When I left, I felt as if I was finally feeling content in this city. I was grasping the language enough to get by, I had a strong community at AUP, and I was feeling optimistic about the upcoming semester. Don't get me wrong, all of those things are still true. Some spark is missing. Something I cannot quite put my finger on. Perhaps it is the magic of Paris that has been deflated by a tiny prick of the needle that was India. Did Paris have some sort of spell over me?

India was marvelous. Auroville is a place that will never leave my heart. It is a place that attracts people who are undeniably amazing and admirable. It is a warm and inviting concentration of interesting people doing great work.  It has given me higher standards for what I expect from the world. Auroville more than anything gave me hope and faith in mankind. There are great people in the world. In Aurovile, I felt the energy of a cluster of positive people gathered in one place. Together, anything is possible.

And yet I wonder if all of this positivity also had some sort of spell over me. Reverse culture shock is happening, and I am not sure what is normal anymore. Which way is up and which way is down. Good thing I have a heavy dose of school work to keep me grounded.

After a long drive swerving through honking Indian drivers, mopeds carrying families, towns bulldozed for the purpose of building a highway, and countless rice paddies, we finally arrived at the Shevroy Hills. Winding up the mountain, it felt as if we had just crashlanded in the Pacific Northwest, thousands of miles away from India or anything close to it.

Ramesh, the farmer arranged for us to ride through his coffee plantation on the back of a jeep. As I held onto the bar and looked out through the farm, I saw a forest through the trees. There were coffee bushes with leathery green leaves, orange and pear trees just above them, topped by a light layer of canopy trees with pepper vines winding up their trunks. He explained that he has had this farm in his family since the 30s, and when coffee prices crashed in the 90s, he decided to begin growing quality coffee instead of a large volume of coffee.

This meant that instead of having perfectly ordered rows of coffee bushes in direct sunlight with no crops between them, he would allow his forest to mimic a natural one. This means weeds, a thick layer of compost, and a variety of different tree species. Animals and birds live in his forest, creating a sustainable biosphere that holds rainwater where it falls, and reduces the tendency for erosion. Additionally, he does not need to use fertilizers (the animals do this for him) and he only uses pesticides when he absolutely has to on one or two sick trees.

After tasting his delicious coffee, it became apparent to me that sustainability begets quality. All we need to do is get out of the way and let nature run its course.

When we visited the Evergreen Forest Initiative in Auroville last week, it was a similar experience. Walking through the trees, learning about how to develop a proper forest without overexposing the land, losing too much water, while keeping your forest healthy. Dave, a local who has been working on forest development in Auroville for about 15 years, showed us around his forest. Pointing out the Australian trees, the work trees that have been around since Auroville was nothing but red baked clay, and the indigenous varieties that were planted not as often as he would have liked.

On my return today, to Dave's Evergreen, one of India's rare forests that stay green year round, I was struck by a much different image. The shade that encompassed you as you entered was replaced by a sea of branches. As I rode down the entryway, piles of sawed tree trunks invaded the dirt road, and I was overcome with greif. Last week we did a carbon capture initiative and I calculated how many trees we would have to plant to offset my plane ride over here. For a round trip flight from Paris to India, one should plant at least 20 trees. This does not count the scooters, taxis, food, or daily consumption of power through electronics. Together as a group we planted five.

Due to Cyclone Thane, Auroville lost 1.5 million trees overnight. 70% of it's forest is completely demolished. And yet, Dave was suprisingly optimistic today. Despite having spent his life growing trees and the last three days cutting them up with a machete, he understands that this new compost will allow more trees to grow in the future. Plus, most of the trees that were lost were non-indigenous. Clear cutting in a forest is never a good idea, but with his skill and knowledge, perhaps Auroville will have the opportunity to rebuild their forest with indigenous trees that are prepared to withstand bigger and badder cyclones in the future.

After a long night of wind gusts of up to 150 km/hour, we survived that first day on the graces of Kalsang and her family, who run the Tibetan Pavilion where many of us live. That afternoon, the rain slowed long enough to venture to the nearest village for water and food. Along the way, we examined the extent of the damage. Every twenty feet a tree was down across the road. With electrical wires interspersed, the roads were virtually impassable.

She made us lunch, led us to the nearest vegetable sellers, and opened her home to us. Despite being wet and tired, it was because of her, that our rain day was actually quite enjoyable. The following morning, our clean up began with the tree in front of the pavilion, planted on its commencement. Even though Kalsang was there for its construction, dedication, the hosting of his holiness the Dali Lama, I was the one crying as the tree was cut into pieces. Stoic and wise, she understood that this storm is an opportunity for rebirth.

I only saw her get emotional when she announced later in the day, that she would not be hosting her New Year’s Eve celebration.  Instead of spending the entire day moving trees and clearing roads, her family and friends would get up early to put out over five thousand oil candles, cook food, and prepare the pavilion for the guttural chanting. Busloads of people show up every year to witness the memorial of those that have died in support of the Tibetan people.

Watching the stars this New Years eve, Kalsang described to me how the scent of the oil, the sights of people packed into every corner lit up by the glow of endless candles, and how the throbbing of the chants surrounds you. That night, the absence of light in the pavilion became a symbol of the devastation of thousands of homes, the loss of many lives, and the upending of the glory days of development in Auroville. As we watched the moon poke in and out of the clouds, waiting for the midnight to strike, Kalsang, was stoic as ever, making her resolution to be positive in every situation. Even though I struggled to be optimistic about the coming year, I decided to leave our fate in the hands of Shiva. It is obvious that the god of destruction and rebirth has visited us this New Year, forcing us to accept what the future holds.

There are many definitions of sustainability, and each person has their own. That definition certainly changes based on location and individuals involved. Sustainability for Paris is quite different for that of Auroville. However,  the two are related and the rest of the world can learn from Auroville.

Most people think of environmental factors when they think of sustainability. Certainly in the current state of affairs, that is a large part of it. In addition to these, we need to consider others as well. Most pressing in Auroville is the issue of economic sustainability. At the moment, there are foreign funds circulating in the community, largely due to the foreign vistors that flock here this time of year. However, there are also a great deal of crafts and local goods produced that are sold within the community. Others still produce products that are sold to neighboring villages and Pondicherry. However, I get a sense that while there is work to be done, money is not as readily available, because of a lack of emphasis on consumerism.

If you think about everytime our governments have a crisis, their efforts to stabilize the economy begin with promoting consumption. In Auroville, however, this could never be promoted. After a discussion with one of the council representatives on their economy today, he emphasized that they are entering unknown territory. Unsure of what economic and political sustainability means, this leaves them struggling to support ecological and food sustainability as well. In a community that prefers a lack of democracy and a leaderless society, decisions are made purely through action, and change happens when everyone decides on the same route.

However, in practice, the local businesses are living economic sustainability everyday. By creating a business that employs many, gives them meaningful work, time for rest and to be healthy, they are living sustainably everyday. This may seem confusing, because there is no structure dictating how this must happen. No one is sure why it happens, it just does.

The warm weather helped ease the transition. It was a gorgeous day spent with really interesting people. We had lunch at a beach side cafe, relaxing and taking in the view. Of course I ended up getting my phone stolen because I left it on my moped. And a friend of mine had a major accident, because his bike pulled a Toyota. It kept accelerating out of his control until he hit a wall. Fortunately he managed to escape with only a few small scratches, and the memory of his brakes not working.

There has never been a dull moment in our trip, and this day was evidence of that. That night we ended up going into Pondicherry, the taxi had to stop along the way for a flat tire, and ended up getting dropped off at the wrong hotel. The beauty in all of this chaos was in the walk along the boardwalk. Ladies in their finest salwar kamis, old men lined up on the sea wall watching them walk by. Witnessing the celebration of christmas by a culture that is not founded on christian values, I sensed that energy in the air that makes you want to do spontaneous things. And then I got a bit sick of the fish tikka I had for dinner that night. Never a dull moment.

However, when squatting this can be difficult.. See picture and use imaginiation. I may be getting the hang of it, but it seems to be a slow process. I caved and bought toilet paper. Its only one role. Sustainability is hard. 

The day after we arrived, we decided to go exploring a bit in Pondicherry. Professor Talcott took a small group of us to the Lakshmi temple, the goddess of wealth. Once we walked through the gates, there was an elephant taking money and grass from worshippers and blessing them with her trunk. This mammoth of an animal was the most gentle creature with beautiful eyes and a soul that spoke loudly. She was very skillful at her work, often blessing two for the price of one, simply because she felt it necessary. Being that close to the animal kingdom, even if in a less than ethical way, made me pause and reflect the meaning of human. I know we just made and held eye contact, but being in her presence effected me.

Today we spent most of the day traveling around to different NGOs and hearing each of their stories. Most are truly amazing, and all need help. By the end of the day, we had heard from five different founders, each with a compelling reason for why we should work for them. When we arrived at SALT, a childrens home for Indian orphans, we were all exhausted. Melquie, a generous and loving social worker, cares for the 25 children that live with him. Last year a student felt so compelled to assist the home and other organizations, she stayed in India and joined us to give her story. Although we had spent the day bouncing around on the bus, their work was compelling enough to boost our spirits and renergize us. Hearing about the work that she was able to acomplish made me very excited to get my hands dirty. Until then, we will continue to stretch time and fit as much into this trip, and as many people on that bus as possible.

Deciding to go after the composting toilets and barking dogs as a pact, we get up and calm the dogs before going to the toilet. I borrow a tissue from one of the girls. The splashing isn't so bad, and when I get back to bed, I am glad that we didn't just suffer alone in silence.

Just as I am about to fall back asleep, a song starts playing over the loud speaker in a nearby town. It's been playing now for about a half hour.. on repeat.

The reality of this trip is setting in. Of course I remember the weird toilet situations and awkward moments from the last India trip. I guess in my mind I just assumed I would adapt better this time? We'll see how that goes..