A determined pilgrim’s impressions of Auroville

I knew that Auroville was my place the moment I read about it, now almost twenty years ago. The teachings of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother resonated with me deeply, I loved the Auroville Charter and, even though I had grown up in the West, it was India that always felt like home.

As a very young child I remember looking around at the world from my pushchair and wondering whether I had come to the right planet. It was clear that the human society in which I found myself was severely lacking in a few fundamentals: joy, wisdom and brotherly understanding for example, as well as a complete lack of what I would call natural law.

The resolution of this discrepancy between how the world is and the beautiful loving home that it could be, was too great for me to ignore, and so, like many of us at this point in time my raison d’etre, my mission in this life, has been to ‘be the change’ I so dearly wish to see in the world – to the best of my ability. That change which, as Sri Aurobindo and Mother reminded us, is inevitable – as it is a Law of the Universe is it not, that all and everything tends towards harmony, even though it may meander and diverge somewhat en route.

When I first visited Auroville in 2001, the ecologically ideal, ultra-conscious utopia I had envisioned in my rose-tinted imagination was not exactly what I found here. My first impressions were of the – dare I say it – junk food being sold in the Pour Tous Purchasing Service (PTPS) together with the toxic chemical laden cleaning products and personal care items filling the shelves. Having been an organic obsessed eco-warrior for most of my life, I struggled with the reply I received from the sweet lady in the Pour Tous office to my question as to why these items were being sold in a ‘conscious community’. She replied: “because people want to buy them”. “Couldn’t they go to Pondy?” I politely responded – to which she faintly smiled and raised her eyebrows.

I felt a little disheartened, but rather than distancing me from Auroville it served only to fuel my determination to come to live here.

The next surprise I was met with was the number of motorcycles on the roads. “Shouldn’t everyone be riding bicycles?” I naively asked myself. I imagined there’d be bicycle rickshaws on every corner for those who weren’t able to cycle themselves. This way we’d be creating employment, staying green, and using a transport solution that’s amenable to shared journeys. I guess it’s simply not a very efficient method of getting around compared with just hopping on a moped and moving at speed directly from A to B. After all, everybody is so busy: with places to go, people to see, work to do! It’s also just as cheap, and sometimes even slightly cheaper, to hire a moped than it is to hire a bicycle, and it can be very hot cycling in summer. I remember one afternoon in June, having cycled from Kottakarai to Nilatangam in the blazing sunshine, with two heavy bags balanced on the handlebars and my clothes stuck to me with sweat, contemplating whether it may be prudent for me to place ‘saving the planet’ on hold whilst I hired myself a moped!

Another interesting observation I made was that there seemed to be a distinct lack of road signs here. Was this deliberate perhaps? Although regularly getting lost in the forest was a little frustrating I couldn’t help thinking that if a lack of road signs serves to deter the casual tourist from visiting Auroville then it may be a good thing – by serving as a filter such that only the determined pilgrim will persevere and stay.

I was heartened to see the sign outside the PTPS which read: “Mobile phones are harmful to birds.” My ‘inner knowing’ had always alerted me to the fact that high frequency microwave radiation is damaging to human, animal and plant biology, now well evidenced, so I was relieved that Auroville shared this awareness, or so I thought at the time.

My fondest memory of this growing township was the magnificent forested areas which were heroically created by those early settlers who transformed a desert wasteland into a lush green haven for humans and animals alike. For this I feel enormous gratitude. The forests are teaming with life, with prana and so are very healing and nurturing, and extremely necessary to Auroville’s wellbeing. I often feel that what trees give us is underestimated.

I also remember the Matrimandir which in 2001 was only partially constructed, and feeling a sense of awe and excitement that one day it would be completed in all its splendor. Mother was clearly inspired in her understanding of the importance of creating such a sacred space in the heart of Auroville, a place of sanctity where the earnest resident or visitor can find solace and a peaceful vibration amidst our challenging worldly lives.

And so now, almost 17 years later I am back in this crazy, wonderful city in the making, this time to stay, to form roots and make my home here.

So what has changed? Well the healthy, Auroville-made range of delicacies has expanded. More motorcycles (including my own TVS), and noticeably more cars too, plague the Auroville roads; and a few more road signs have appeared, just for major landmarks.

The sign warning about the dangers of mobile phones still stands in the same place, but surrounding it many people are absorbed in their smart phone conversations and text messages – seemingly oblivious to the silent message being broadcast beside them. As is the case in the world at large, cell phone towers and wi-fi are gradually infiltrating the whole of Auroville. In my humble opinion this proliferation of microwave frequency radiation throughout our community is having – and will increasingly have – significant negative repercussions.

‘On verra,’ as the French say. I guess pressure from society as a whole makes it quite difficult to avoid ‘being connected’ 24/7, and I know that a large number of Aurovilians welcome this, seeing it as progress whilst others feel it to be a retrograde step. It is undoubtedly an extremely contentious and controversial issue but I’m sure all would agree that it is prudent to fully educate ourselves on this matter before forming any concrete conclusions about its safety or otherwise.

The forests look to be thriving and the Matrimandir is quite magnificent now, while the ongoing work on its surrounding gardens will create a delightful natural complement, just as Mother envisaged.

What has changed most though, in these past 17 years, is that I have changed. I am a little wiser and a little more capable of seeing the magic behind the more easily visible exterior which hit me in the face all those years ago. That magic is the multiple layers of Auroville, the enormity of the great work which goes on in the background on myriad differing projects, all inspired by the desire for a better world.

I think my disappointment on first visiting Auroville twenty years ago was due to my own naivety, as perhaps all of our disappointments in life are caused by our own naivety. Wherever there is a centre of Light it attracts pure souls who wish to grow in Love, Truth and Freedom, but it also inevitably attracts those whose role it is to thwart the efforts of those who are well-intentioned. This is simply the nature of duality, and should not dissuade us in any way, from our noble endeavours.

When I reflect upon Auroville as a whole there is one thing I do know for sure, and that is that I love this place with all my heart and soul, and I care deeply about its future. And the most beautiful thing is that I meet others here who feel the same, and it is this true spirit of human unity and shared intent that will bring about the realization of Mother’s dream. The imperfections that may be apparent to us can be the impetus for action on our part to transform them into something great – and there is so much learning to be had in the process!

I will end with a quote from the well known German writer and statesman Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: “There is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, providence moves too. Whatever you can do or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.”