Pics from the Past

“The inspiration behind the exhibition was to show the incredible spirit of the people who came here in the early days as a means of reigniting it in Auroville today. I am reluctant to put the names of these pioneers because it doesn’t matter who they are; what is more important is what they convey. They are symbols of an archetype. In this case, the archetype is the City of Dawn, and for me those people were taken over by that archetype. This is why in these photos you see their joy, their capacity for hard physical work, their fit, beautiful bodies, and their ability to live very simply. All this would not have been possible without that particular Force behind.

“The children were also different then. Those children had almost nothing in terms of material possessions but, like the adults, they had such joy.

“The only place I still feel the spirit of those early days is the Matrimandir. This is why I have also included in the exhibition some photos of the present Matrimandir because that is still there, so I hope that we can find back to the spirit of those days. I also included in the exhibition the text The Great Adventure by the Mother, because it embodies the spirit of that time.

“Surrender and Life energy were the significance of the flowers that were recently arranged around the Banyan for the New Year, and these are exactly the qualities that those early pioneers had. I hope it is an auspicious augury that things will change in 2015...”

Paulette plans to put a selection of these photos along with a few key texts in a book for the 50th anniversary of Auroville.