Part 1 : Travel Diary | Day 2 : Day of the Couch Surfers
Part 2 :
I started walking towards Auroville carrying my camera with me. She has given me the directions. The possibility of losing my way is so less, I just have to follow the main road till I reach my destination.
There were no bus service in that road. But plenty of bikes go in that route all the time. She advised me to get a bike lift.  I walked around 1 km roughly. I didn't start asking for a lift. Then suddenly one guy stopped and asked me if I need a lift. That was a pleasant surprise. I said thank you and accepted the offer. I came to know that his name is Nithin, he is also from Kerala and he has been in that place, working there for more than 8 years. He has already started talking  a Malayalam with Tamil accent. He gave me his number and asked me to call if I needed any help during my stay in that place. I thanked him again and started walking when he had to take a different diversion  away from my destination.
After walking for some more time I realise that Auroville was around 6 km away. So I decided to hitch hike. From my experience, I can tell you that, Auroville is one of the best places in India to hitch hike! Even before I knew, I was sitting at the back seat of some bike. Thus I have reached the unpaved roads of Auroville. I have decided to explore the area on foot. At that time I have no idea how big the entire area really is. Anyway things happen for a reason.
I followed the main road. In between I could see some sign boards with some really interesting names. The first sign board that got my attention was 'Certitude'. Later in the day and during my stay in that place, I have seen so many other interesting names. Certitude was just an intro!
As I was walking these dirt road with my camera, I heard a Royal Enfield- Bullet slowing down behind me with its thud thud noise. When I turned around this guy asked me if I needed a lift! The surprising thing wasn't his kindness. But I knew this guy. His face was so familiar to me. I tried to remember and DANG! Gaurav!  Its one of the guys whom I have sent couch request! He was also surprised when some random stranger knew him by his name. After breaking the ice he offered me a lift till the entrance of Matri Mandir. He suggested some places to visit and explained the procedure to visit inside of Matri Mandir.  We exchanged our phone numbers. He also invited me for the next day's breakfast. We parted our ways with the promise of meeting the next day. My stay at Auroville would have been another story if I hadn't met this guy! So everything happens for a reason.
I was excited to see the architectural marvel offered by the Matri mandir. I had read about it in many travel blogs and over the internet. It was my turn to witness it, in front of my eyes. Before I could witness the man-made wonder, I witnessed a natural wonder. A banyan tree, a big one, and its roots have come down and grew like a tree.
After a few more steps I could see the first glimpse of the Architectural marvel. There is a view-point where you can take the pictures of Matri mandir, have a guide to explain you things about matri mandir and read the history and philosophy behind its construction and other things.
Inside this Golden globe, there is a place to meditate with a big crystal ball at the centre. The sun light falls on this crystal ball and lights up the entire place. This place is synonym to tranquillity. If you want to go inside and experience the tranquillity, you need to get a pass in advance. It means you need to wait a day or two before going inside the Matri mandir.
If you are visiting Matri mandir for the first time, you need to go to the Visitor's centre and get yourself registered. Carry an Id card for this purpose. After registering, depending on the availability, you will be assigned a time slot and a pass will be given. On the assigned day, you need to show up at the exact time at the visitor's centre. After a movie screening, all the people assigned on that day will be taken to Matri mandir on a bus. You will be given a guided tour in and around of Matri mandir. You can also do half an hour meditation inside Matri mandir.
I rushes towards visitor centre to get an appointment because the registration opens till 3 o clock. (From 10 to 11pm & 2 to 3pm ).
I reached visitor's place in time and found out the registration desk. Got registered and I was allotted a time schedule after 2 days. ie on 10th Friday. I was planning to leave Auroville on Thursday. So I decided to extend my stay in Auroville till Friday.
So my main job was done. Now back to exploration. There are a lot of information on Auroville, provided in the visitor's centre itself.
IÂ was not very patient to read all those things. So I started to walk again. Most of the names got my attention. First one I went to check out was "Solitude"
With a smile I walked back to my tonight's home. Probably I would have walked around 10 km this day. I walked all the way back to my host place enjoying the evening breeze.
Back in my host's place, we  spent the evening with interesting conversations and watching movies. My entire movie collection was copied that night. After the dinner I had a good sleep that compensated the sleepless train journey.
Day 2 was really a memorable day so far.