Land purchase in the early years

Dayanand remembers:

My contact with the Mother started in 1953, when I came to Pondicherry as a student of the Postgraduate Course in Ecology in the Botany department of Annamalai University. My professor Dr. T.C.N. Singh had brought us here, so that he could place the entire team who were working on “The Effect of Music on Plants” before the Mother. She used to encourage that experiment. The first time I saw Her in 1953 was in the Ashram playground. We stood in a line and I bowed down at Her Feet. She straight away gave me the Hymn to the Mother Durga, which was the first book I received from Her. All the students who were with me left and I too was going out but just stood at the entrance to the playground and looked at Her. As I stared, I saw a column of light and I was stuck to the place. Tears were rolling down my eyes; I could not move. I do not know how much time elapsed till somebody came and prompted me, “Come on, all the people have left.” So, that was my first contact with the Divine Mother. It started like that and never left me afterwards. While I was studying I always kept a blessing packet with me all the time.

After finishing my education at Dehradun I left for Chennai; there was a break – destiny had to work itself out. Then in 1963, I came with my wife Anjani and had darshan of the Mother. Later on, in 1964, we came with Satya, our child. I got involved in Auroville at that stage, without my knowing anything about it or about Sri Aurobindo’s Yoga. I knew that the Mother was the Divine Mother – not from the head, from the heart. The mental part I never knew.

Buying land

In 1963-64 Shri Navajata, the General Secretary of the Sri Aurobindo Society, called me and said that there is the Auroville project and we have to buy land. “Please go around Puthurai and Pattanur areas and be of assistance and assess the land.” So that was how my first contact with Auroville started. At that time, in 1964, Auroville was planned on the east side of Ussudu (Usteri) Lake and it was presumed that it would be surrounded by a large water-body. In early 1965 (probably because the scope of the project had increased a lot), the site was shifted to the “Promesse” area. That’s how the Puthurai areas, which are now known as Aranya and Sadhana Forest, and later the Aurobrindavan and Hermitage areas, were the first to be purchased. But later, in September 1965, Roger Anger, Auroville’s architect, told Mother that the centre of the town should be shifted eastwards, away from the National Highway, somewhere between the villages of Edaiyanchavadi, Kottakarai and Kuilyapalayam. The exact location of the centre of the city (the Banyan Tree) was most probably selected in March/April 1967.

In 1966, I was selected by the Government of Tamil Nadu under the Colombo Plan for a one-year study at Oxford University. I chose as a subject for my thesis ‘Reclamation of saline soils with special reference to Kaluveli swamp’. I chose the subject because I had been informed the Mother had said that at some future date there was a likelihood of the Olympics being held at Auroville, and at that time reclamation of Kaluveli swamp would be useful.

On my return from Oxford in 1967, I was welcomed with open arms by the Mother. When I approached her to do pranam, She said, “So you have come back I am happy.” I had no intention of resigning my job but something inside me prompted me to ask whether I should resign. Since my attempt to come on deputation to Pondicherry was not approved by the Government, the Mother approved my resignation and offered to help financially by refunding the amount spent by the Government for my training in Oxford. I had taken the plunge.

My regular work in Auroville started straight away. I was looking after land survey, estate management, agriculture, water resource development and much, much more. It was an exhilarating experience. I had three survey teams and we worked with meticulous care to mark out our lands with granite stones marked “AV”. I had to walk around and see that the stones were laid correctly.

The main activity was a hectic and endless identification of the lands needed by studying maps, locating the owner of the land, and entering into long and endless discussions with them to part with the land. Getting the Field Measurement Books was often a Herculean task, locating the land on the ground was another. After finalisation of the land deal, registration of documents was another tedious process. Finally came the payment. Since most of the villagers were illiterate and did not have bank accounts or had even heard of banks, they wanted all the money in cash. What was most difficult was to take possession of the land purchased. It had to be surveyed, boundaries identified, and stones laid to demarcate the property. There were long disputes with the neighbours to settle this. In those early years, from 1964 to 1976, over 1,116 documents were registered and 2,400 acres of land taken possession of and taken care of.

Marking the trees

Along with land purchase work many other things were going on: development of the infrastructure, drilling a series of bore wells to provide water to different areas of Auroville and taking care of the estate. That included the numbering of thousands of trees. Every tree was enumerated. If there was anything interesting like seed, flowers or the soil of Auroville, I would take them to the Mother every Sunday. She was delighted to see them. We even raised a crop of paddy in the Matrimandir area – a short-term saline variety of paddy. I remember taking that paddy in a white porcelain bowl. How She blessed it! At that time, She wanted 24 transformation trees planted in the Matrimandir area. The several thousand palm trees (nungu), cashew trees, mango, jackfruit, guava, nelli, sitaphal, had to be guarded round the clock, fruits collected, and since there were few Aurovilians, the produce was brought to the Ashram Dining Room or the Corner House [The canteen of the SAICE, eds].

Before then, the land had been used for dry cultivation by the farmers, that is for raising short-term rain-fed crops. Between July and March, three such crops could be raised by inter-cultivation. As far as I remember, no one from the villages even touched our trees or tried to cut them. They were permitted to collect dry and dead wood free.

We also started a massive Farmers’ Education and Training programme to modernise and update the farmers about advanced techniques and the usefulness of high-yielding varieties. This covered all the villages in Auroville and beyond in Vanur taluk. Over a period of 6 to 7 years, we trained over 15,000 small farmers, farm women and labourers in the area. We took many of them on tours to modern farms and universities and gave radio sets to each group of men and women so that they could listen to the Farmers’ Programme in the evening.

Cultivation of cash crops on the seashore in Kalapet was undertaken in a 20 acre plot (Ganapathy Chettikulam) [The place is now known as Eternity, eds.]. Seawater of different concentrations was used for germination, and the seedlings were planted using several types of fertilisers. The results of the research were submitted to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, the funding agency. We noticed that collecting water from the sea and taking it to the research plot was the main problem, not the raising of plants, as the pump which drew water from the sea was soon unworkable due to corrosion.

Exchanges with Mother

There were many interesting exchanges between the Mother and me. Asked if the work of collecting cashew seeds could be leased out to an outsider, the Mother replied, “It would be better to find among the people of Auroville some who will be happy to do this work.” And I once wrote to the Mother, “How does one take decisions based on Truth in action? For example, one villager had agreed to collect and give us 13 bags of cashew nuts during this season (69-70). Now due to drought, he says he can give only 5 bags. It is true there has been drought in the area. How to assess correctly?” The Mother replied, “The thing is false from the beginning. How can the man promise to give a fixed number of bags when he does not know how many he shall get? And how will you know that he gives exactly what he gets when there is no supervision of the harvesting? So now, you have only to do for the best with justice and knowledge.” Another memory is about a proposal to start a transport unit. I prayed to the Mother to give a name. This is what she wrote: “Aurotransport”.

It was a very busy time, and there were too few people. They had asked me to teach but The Mother told me, “You are doing too much work. So, you should not take up teaching in Auroville.” One day, when we had gone to the Mother, Anjani told Her that I was not eating properly. Mother wrote a chit to Purna Prema to see to it that I got non-vegetarian food – chicken – and that continued for three months. That was Her level of concern for each and every individual.

In March, 1970 Mother decided to form the first and only Auroville Administrative Committee. It used to meet every Sunday in the then Auroville office adjacent to the Ashram Centre of Education. The committee consisted of Navajata, Laljibhai Hindocha, Suresh Hindocha, Roger Anger, André Morisset, Anjani and myself, with Wil van Vliet, a Dutch lady, as secretary. Navajata conducted the meetings; the minutes were recorded and shown to the Mother who was the chairperson of the Committee. She corrected and approved the minutes of each meeting. The Committee was suspended by The Mother in February 1971, who commented “No more committees. No more useless talk.”

Anjani remembers:

15th August 1964 was a momentous day, the day when I had my first darshan of the Mother. Dayanand had been a regular visitor since 1960. He used to bring the darshan and New Year Messages through which I got my initial introduction to the Mother. The New Year Message of 1964 “Are you ready?” was the turning point in my life.

Before the darshan we had spent a few minutes in the Society House. Dayanand was a member of the Society. There was a big crowd in the hall. Navajata saw me and came across the hall and asked me: “Where are you coming from? What is your name?” I told him my name. “What are you doing?” I told him my work as Chief Secretary of Pondicherry. At that time, the Auroville project had just been announced.

Land acquisition

So, after that, he phoned me every morning asking me to do this or that work for Auroville. There was one major thing: he said the Mother was keen that we should acquire all the land – at least the inner circle – straightaway. I prepared a detailed note for acquisition of the required land and took it to the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Mr. Bhaktavatsalam, who was very understanding and approved the proposal. A Government Order was issued. The Collector of South Arcot District was directed to initiate action for land acquisition. The Collector of Cuddalore sent a letter to the Society asking for an undertaking to pay the cost of the staff to be appointed for the work of land acquisition. The total cost for one Tahsildar, one Revenue Inspector, two Karnams (village officers), and two Talayaries (helpers), worked out to Rs.68,000 per year. But Navajata did not accept the proposal. When I informed the Mother about Navajata’s decision, She was very unhappy. “Why has he taken this decision?” She asked. I told Her that Navajata felt that land acquisition through the Government would take a long time, whereas direct purchase would be quicker. In retrospect, his decision was obviously wrong. I am mentioning this because it is good to know, at least now, what the Mother’s views were on the issue of land acquisition.

Work on the Auroville project had started in right earnest. Preparations were going on for the inauguration of the project on February 28, 1968. A book “Introduction to Auroville” was prepared for distribution. Roger Anger took the book to the Mother for approval. The Mother said: “Show it to Anjani”. They came to my office. I went through it and said that I did not feel quite happy about it and that I did not know why. Then they took it to the Mother and told Her about what I felt. She then wrote out a message: “India has become the symbol representing all the difficulties of modern humanity. India will be the land of its resurrection, the resurrection to a Higher and Truer Life.” [see Mother’s Agenda, 3.2.68, eds.] The Mother asked to show the message to me and ask me whether in the context of that message the book was acceptable. What more could I say but express my gratitude to the Mother for giving me this opportunity to serve Her.

When work started in Kuilapalayam village, the people were worried that they would lose their livelihood. The Mother told me to go to them and tell them that it was in their own interest to collaborate as Auroville will bring them a lot of good. We do not want to dictate to them. Roger showed me the plan of a model dwelling to be put up for them, which would help them to live with dignity. It was a very good experience for me to be able to communicate with the people.

The Mother had envisaged the receipt of large funds for Auroville from international sources. I informed Her that the World Bank had the power and authority to sanction a grant of up to rupees five crores for an innovative experimental project. I offered to prepare a project report for Auromodèle, which was to be like transit accommodation before joining the mainstream Auroville. After I prepared the report, She studied it in great detail and was very happy. She even went to the extent of telling me to get it printed and informed me that the cover should be orange with black lettering. We submitted the project to the World Bank through the Government of India. However, funding did not come through due to lack of adequate support from international bodies.

Looking at the present

Dayanand: It saddens me that the lands still have not been bought, and I am concerned that Auroville still has not been granted the official status of a township or municipality in accordance with the laws of Tamil Nadu. But I am absolutely sure that this is all a matter of time. No human will can finally prevail over the Divine’s Will, said Mother. I am sure that Auroville will manifest.