“Aurovilians continually make you think”

How did you become involved with Auroville?

It was through Aurovilian Mukul who I knew from Chennai days.  He called me one day and said there was a project for a historical overview of the Auroville economy, and they needed somebody to do the database. Would I like to do it?  I came and looked and realised it would not be easy. There were 2500 balance sheets from multiple sources, and different auditors had used different formats, so the first thing that needed to be done was to establish a uniform format for the database. Nevertheless, I agreed to do it. 

Henk Thomas from the Netherlands was the team leader, and Mukul and Stuart were supposed to do the analysis of the database. But when Mukul and Stuart left Auroville, Henk asked me to do the analysis. Harini took over from Stuart at the Social Research Centre and oversaw the project.

Initially, it had been a purely professional assignment. But then Henk dangled a carrot in front of me, suggesting that I look at the project as a way of obtaining a PhD. I fell for it, and at that point it stopped being just another consulting assignment.  I thought if I’m going to do it as a PhD, I’m not going to charge for it. In the end, because we had to do so many corrections, it took 15 years. We finally came out with the book in 2013.  

Didn’t having to deal with all the different account formats give you a rather negative image of Auroville and its organisation?

Not at all. It was fascinating because it was history, I was seeing what was happening with the Auroville economy over time, and I had Aurovilians around me who gave me perspective, who would explain why a unit suddenly stopped or changed its name. Then again, some of the units had fascinating names, like Memories of the Future of Light.  It was all very different from the other kind of work I was doing, which was working with corporates and other small and large businesses. 

Do you feel that your report has influenced Auroville in any way?

I think one result is that people are now more aware of something that is called the economy.  Before “economy” was something of a bad word, nobody wanted to look at it, but now there is definitely more interest and awareness. People realise they are functioning in an economy which is made up of flows from outside and from internal flows, and it is supported by people both inside and outside the community.  We made a presentation of our work to the Governing Board. At the end the Chairman said this was the first time he had heard clear numbers regarding the various sectors and their budgets.  That was nice to hear. 

What is your professional relationship with Auroville now?

I work mainly at the policy level, not at the grassroots. I mostly consult on tax matters like the impact of GST. I don’t do any audits with Auroville clients because there are lots of auditors from Pondicherry and you need somebody near you. 

Has your work with Auroville impacted you in any way?

Aurovilians continually make you think because they don’t simply accept any statement.  You need to fully explain the point you are making, and then somebody will ask questions which you have never thought of, and you are forced to look again at what you are proposing. 

At the same time, what made our history project doubly difficult was that when we sought clarifications there were many opinions, and very often there was no answer to a specific question or no decision was taken.  That was frustrating. I think this is a particular problem here. At some stage a decision has to be taken; you can’t endlessly debate.

Practically, partly because of my Auroville connection I now have an exceptional number of foreign clients for a firm of my size.  Perhaps my involvement with Auroville helps me understand better where they are coming from. For example, most foreign clients value punctuality and take deadlines seriously.  But in India time is extendable. The authorities may tell you that a certain permission will come in three days, but suddenly you’ll suddenly find there’s a holiday or something else in between and it will take much longer.  So with foreign clients you have to be very sure to tell them about the hidden uncertainties. 

Has your contact with Auroville challenged or changed the way you think about yourself or about the world?

A very fundamental idea of most conventional societies is that it is good to own property, so you work hard to buy it or invest in it. But in Auroville the ideal is no private ownership of property: everything is for the good of the larger community. So the fact that people here don’t work for themselves but for the community is inspiring and a very big difference from the rest of the world. I don’t think this is fully appreciated even in Auroville. In our report, we were trying to highlight this motivation in your entrepreneurs because we felt that the non-commercial sector here never fully appreciated the commercial side of Auroville.  These entrepreneurs are the ones who are supporting the economy and unless you help motivate them, you won’t get more of them. 

Some of your ideals are very high but, I think, impractical in present circumstances. For example, Auroville always wanted to have a no money economy.  So far you’ve come up with a kind of debit card system, which means that most of the time you don’t have to carry cash, but this is just money in another form. The problem is your economy is very interwoven with the outside world, and in an economy that is not closed and so porous you can’t have a no cash system; it clearly will not work.

What about the deeper ideals of Auroville, like human unity? Do these interest or touch you?

I feel that a lot of the people I meet here have understood these ideals and are far more evolved than most people, so if you just interact with them, something will rub off on you.  

This is one reason I enjoy coming here. In fact, every time I come I am rejuvenated in the right way.  This is an international township, there is so much going on here, and the fact that it is possible to partake in it is a wonderful thing.