A youth reflection on the 50th Celebrations

Special events are celebrated in all parts of the world. Have you ever been in a big city, like Paris or London, when they are celebrating something like Christmas or the New Year? If you are a visitor, you enjoy the bars and restaurants, the bright lights and fun activities. But many residents go out of their way during those periods to avoid the touristy places because of the glaring lights, blaring music and endless queues.

In Auroville we have now come to the end of our year-long jubilee to celebrate our 50th anniversary. The question is, did Auroville do it differently from the rest of the world? After all, we are not here to repeat old patterns, are we?

I’m not at all sure we succeeded. In fact, during this past year, the amount of self-inflation, shoulder-patting and trumpet-blowing I witnessed made me believe that I had landed on another planet! But I was curious to know if this was only my own reaction. So I questioned 20 or so young adults (mostly between 25 and 35 years). All were children of Auroville who had lived several years abroad. I asked them four questions: What did you experience of the 50th celebrations? What went well? What would you have wished for? and What could have been done differently?

What was their experience of the 50th celebrations?

Most of the youth managed to get on with their lives almost as normal during this time because they avoided the main roads and public spots to preserve a feeling of peace. In fact, most of them chose to avoid the majority of the special 50th-related activities because they felt there was a lot of ‘stress’ generated around them.

Some did not attend any events at all, as they felt that Auroville’s irrepressible need to showcase itself, the ‘bragging’ about Auroville’s achievements and the overly pompous presentations, were not in line with the spirit of Auroville. They felt that the way the 50th had been highly publicized and VIPs and politicians invited was no different from celebration events held elsewhere.

“I felt that greed had taken over this request (to celebrate the 50th) and it embarrassed me to be associated with it,” was one response. “Although it was clear to everyone that something out-of-the-ordinary would be done for the 50th, in the end it was still all last-minute and rushed,” was another. Another hard-hitting sound bite was, “The prevailing feeling after the 50th anniversary is one of extreme unease; it’s still stuck in my throat.”

What went well?

Generally, the youth responses to the 50th celebrations and how well we had handled them were overwhelmingly negative. However, it was conceded that the events did effectively showcase a wide array of activities and aspects of life in Auroville and this led to a certain feeling of unity, and of returning to our roots. Certain collateral ‘upgrades’, like the repair of roads and the provision of additional street lighting, were also appreciated.

Of the special activities that were attended (and even partially organized) by the youth, the most popular were the SEAS performance (“a symbolic reflection of our socio-cultural fabric all connecting to a spiritual dimension”), the Auroville Choir performances, The Bridge seminar, the construction of the universal earthen wall at the Unity Pavilion (“participatory, accessible to everyone, with a beautiful spirit”), the Walk of Hope and, of course, the bonfire and water ceremony.

However, some felt even the dawn bonfire was disrupted by the buzz of the 50th: “there were too many people there who were not connecting to it with a quiet spirit.”

What would you have wished for?

Many of the youth felt this was a missed opportunity to build community and celebrate together what we have achieved. “Most of the events were created for ‘the outside world’ and it would have been more beautiful to create these things for Auroville, to celebrate ourselves.” “It should have been a moment that gathered us all together in a thankful and joyous atmosphere, to remind us where we come from and where we’re heading.”

Others longed for “a more peaceful and quiet atmosphere, more in sync with the actual year-round (lives of the) inhabitants of Auroville”.

In fact, most of my peers agreed that they would have preferred my radical alternative proposal of shutting down Auroville completely to all ‘outsiders’ for the entire birthday week so that we could have come together again as a community, as a family.

What could have been done better?

Generally, there was a feeling that we could have done much better. After all, “the sky's the limit here”.

Those people involved in the events regretted that everything else in their lives, such as spending time with visiting friends and family, had to come to a stand-still. This left many stressed out, tired and disconnected. However, nobody suggested an alternative that would have reduced the stress.

It was observed that everyone, including the teams who were meant to be in charge, was overwhelmed by the enormity of the task and this led, at times, to haphazard coordination and communication about events and last-minute changes. However, there was appreciation of the work of the event organizers and others who helped out.

On the positive side, some of my peers said they realized they are finally ready to step up to the challenge of taking on activities which the pioneers, their parents and extended family have been doing since the beginning: I guess this is all part of ‘growing up’. A brilliant example of this was the Auroville Choir which was led by both Nuria and her daughter Anandi.

It is important that the issues raised here by the youth are discussed openly so we can move on together. We should all ask ourselves what lessons we have learned from the 50th experience, and how we can apply them. Above all, as a community we need to come together to do serious introspection about where Auroville is today and where we want to go in the future.