A young volunteer’s experience

Auroville's diversity is undoubtedly its greatest strength. Whether it is Aurovilians, Newcomers, Friends of Auroville or volunteers, they are mostly exceptional people who came from the four corners of the world to make the Auroville that we know today - a cultural gloubiboulga bubbling with a desire for unity, self-discovery and spirituality. Everyone is looking for something, everyone has their own motivation and everyone has their own definition. This makes the place exceptional, since in fact, the only limit in Auroville is the one we impose on ourselves. But it is also the diversity of activities and opportunities that makes Auroville so incredible. And if something is not available, it is up to you to launch it.

I think I initially tended to idealise Auroville and the people who live there. Now that I am fully settled in Auroville, I can say that I only saw its utopia from the outside. In a way, Auroville reminds us that nothing is perfect and that cohabitation is sometimes a source of tension. I thought that childish issues were already resolved because the people are smart enough not to argue about them. But in the end, that's not what matters. What matters is that we try to ease these tensions that we try to do better next time. It is this hunger for human progress that makes the place so attractive to me.

Quentin has been volunteering for a year at YouthLink as part of the French Service Civique programme.