New Secretary’s address to the community

Namaste. 

I consider it a great privilege that I have been appointed, a fortnight ago, as the Secretary of the Auroville Foundation.

The last 15 days I’ve been meeting some amazing people here, and I’m absolutely fascinated with this unique experiment, perhaps the only one of its kind anywhere on the planet. 

I want to say that we, as officers of the IAS, are not specialists in any domain or field. We are generalists. But the one skill that I, in my career spanning 30 years, have been able to perform or deliver is the ability to straddle different points of view, different stakeholders, and actually facilitate the process of making things happen.

I do look forward to this as an exciting possibility where, with all of you together, I would be very happy to offer my services, to work in a very sincere manner towards seeing all your aspirations, dreams, come true. Of course, this would only be possible with the complete grace, the blessings of Mother. This has been her vision. We are all trying to manifest what she dreamt of, a unique experimental city where you synthesize matter and spirit, and work through and towards human unity, where we are all trying to synthesize the diversity that we have. 

As a living example of this, there are people here from more than 60 countries, people of different age groups, with different vocations, from urban and rural areas, but we are all trying to make the dream of the Mother manifest. It’s something that I really look forward to.

The kind of people I have met in the last 15 days have been very inspiring, I cherish all these experiences and I am excited about the next three years, particularly in the context of the 150th birth anniversary of Sri Aurobindo. Of course, formally it will start on the 15th August, but the preparatory work for it has started. And I think if we try to figure out collectively our dreams, our aspirations, and ideas to make this celebration fruitful, and to accelerate the process of Mother’s vision, it could be a very strong propellant in our aim towards the highest aspiration, which is what the philosophy of Sri Aurobindo underscores.

So I’m excited and looking forward to the next three years I will be spending with all of you.  I look at myself as a master plumber who can help you remove some of the obstacles, the things that possibly clog our aspiration to make things happen. And, of course, all this is to be done in the warmth and complete grace that Mother bestows on us and envelops us all. 

I want to appeal to all of us to re-dedicate ourselves to really make the philosophy of Sri Aurobindo, and the vision, the dream, of Mother manifest itself as beautifully, as quickly, and as firmly as possible here in Auroville to serve as a beacon for the entire world and mankind.

Namaste.