In memoriam - Rauf Ali

On April 1, Rauf Ali passed away in his house at Aurodam, at the age of 62 due to leukemia. He was lovingly surrounded by close friends and his sister-in-law.

In the mid-eighties he came to Auroville as a research assistant from Bangalore’s Indian Institute of Science to document Auroville’s afforestation activities. He fell in love with the place and its philosophy and decided to stay. He officially joined in 1992.

Describing himself on Auroville’s Auronet as a “maverick biologist now working in the Andaman Islands”, the tall and slightly stooping, Mumbai-born Rauf, was also the founder of the Foundation for Ecological Research, Advocacy and Learning (FERAL), and a professor in the Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences of Pondicherry Central University.

Throughout his years in Auroville, Rauf kept up his advisory and academic work in India. His important research work, mainly centred on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Western Ghats, was about the impact of invasive species on indigenous and endemic flora and fauna. After the tragic tsunami on December 26, 2004, that ravaged the Bay Islands and South India, Rauf also worked hard for the economic rehabilitation of the tribals, especially those of the Nicobar Islands.

In the mid-nineties he served on Auroville’s Working Committee, and helped many Auroville-born youth with obtaining OCI status. However, many Aurovilians knew him best through ‘Roughspeak’, an irregularly occurring blog on Auroville’s Intranet, in which Rauf would not mince words when criticising or ridiculing alleged mishaps, hypocrisies, policies or questionable trends emerging in the City of Dawn.

Rauf was an original. Deeply learned, he would have his students and colleagues in splits while making them ponder deeply upon conservation questions. Disregarding his health, he would always be remembered for living life on the edge while inspiring others to inquire about the world around them.

In accordance with his explicit wishes, Rauf’s remains were cremated in Adventure the same day.