Neighbours learn more about each other

More than 49 years ago Auroville was born to help achieve the Mother’s dream of human unity’ a dream that many in Auroville resonate with deeply. It is a vision that acts as a guiding light in today’s world that is confronted with harsh borders of culture, caste, class, religion and gender. However, even in a place that 52 nationalities call home, human unity is not a dream that is easily achieved. It requires a constant struggle against preconceived notions, inherent prejudices and fears about people who look, speak and behave differently.

Many people from the villages in the bioregion have found employment in Auroville and many others have daily contact with an Auroville unit or household. However, language barriers have resulted in many Auroville residents knowing little about the living conditions and cultural systems of the villages. At the same time, some residents of the bioregion do not grasp the concept Auroville is based on. The resulting disconnect makes it challenging to undertake collaborations that will assist in facilitating co-evolution.

There are 50 Auroville units doing outreach work in the villages, one of which is the Auroville Village Action Group (AVAG). Located at the edge of Auroville, it attempts to facilitate a free flow of communication between Aurovillians and their neighbours in the villages.

With this intention, the Joy of Learning team along with AVAG recently decided to organise a visit for a group of more than 50 Aurovilians, guests and volunteers to Annainagar, the Dalit settlement of Alankuppam, one of the villages on the periphery of Auroville.

In December, a bus full of Aurovilians followed by about ten others on bicycles made their way to Annainagar. As a Dalit settlement, Annainagar is even less used to visitors than the rest of Alankuppam village, which is why the residents were so excited about the visit. Drums were played along the road decorated with kolams as men, women and children from the village welcomed their guests, many of whom had never been in a Tamil village before.

When everyone’s foreheads had been coloured with the red of gulaal, the visitors sat in a circle outside the village hall. A local woman sang a song that calmed the crowd to an attentive silence and then, one by one, women stood up to speak about various aspects of village life.

They explained how the leader of the village is elected, his roles and responsibilities, how the temple festival is organized and why they celebrate the goddess Mariamman. One woman spoke of the Women’s Groups organized by Auroville Village Action and their important role in the lives of the women.

They also voiced some of their concerns. One woman mentioned that an evening school that was previously run by Auroville has now been shut down. They hoped it would be reopened. They also spoke of a piece of land belonging to Auroville which is in the middle of their village. It is the only playground for the village children and also the site of a village well, but the village has not been allowed to access the well because it is on Auroville land. They hope this issue can be resolved soon.

They also discussed the employment opportunities offered by Auroville. Some women who used to work in a large Auroville tailoring unit expressed their disappointment over its closure, as it was an important source of village employment. Now some of the women who used to work there can only find employment sweeping the Pondicherry roads at night.

The village women reminisced about their childhood days when Auroville seemed as accessible as their backyards. However, now they feel that Auroville and Matrimandir are less accessible to the locals.

After the presentations, the visitors were divided into five groups, each with a guide and translator, and taken around the village. When they returned to the community hall, they were served vadai (Tamil-style pakoras), tea and lemon juice. The Aurovilians enjoyed the warm welcome. They were concerned by the villagers’ perception that Auroville was less accessible for them now, so they extended a warm invitation to the people of Annainagar to spend a day in Auroville as their guests.

And so, a few days later, a bus full of Annainagar women arrived at the Auroville Visitors’ Center. Here they were given an introduction to the ideals and Charter of Auroville, and to Mother’s Dream.

Then they visited Shraddhanjali, a unit which employs women from the villages to press and arrange flowers to make beautiful products like cards, calendars, lamps etc. Seeds and other dried plant parts are also used to make attractive, delicate looking jewelry and accessories.

In a region where flowers play a significant role in everyday life, the visitors were fascinated by Shraddhanjali’s concept of preserving the beauty of these plants to make everyday products. As the women strolled through the adjacent flower garden, their faces lit up as they called out the local names of the different flowers.

The group then went to the Earth Institute, a unit that researches applications of earth building technologies and construction, using stabilized earth blocks for building.

Concrete is often seen in rural India as the material signifying “development” and is chosen to fulfill aspirations of a better future. The women learned from the Earth Institute visit that there are alternative ways to build beautiful and environmentally-responsible homes.

When institute director Satprem explained that the block-making machine is normally operated by two men and not by women due to its heavy weight, the Annainagar ladies exclaimed that, given a chance, they could surely operate it themselves. At this point, Satprem spoke of his experiences of working with people from villages and made a special mention of the hardworking and responsible nature of the village women.

The last stop was the Matrimandir complex. A special tour had been arranged for the group to see the lotus pond, the Banyan tree and the amphitheater. A Matrimandir volunteer shared interesting facts about its construction and described the procedure to access the complex.

The visit ended with the group sitting together quietly under the Banyan tree.