And the weaving work starts.....

It is only 8.45 a.m. on this beautifully sunny morning but already downstairs in the Pavilion of Tibetan Culture a dozen people have gathered. Some greet each other joyfully as they recognize one another, some shyly stand by, while the Aspiration team members walk up to prepare the upstairs room for the first day of the new session of the Aspiration Newcomer programme.

Chairs are set out in a big circle. Questions are being written on a flip chart. Paper, crayons and felt pens are within reach. Meals have been booked and the resource people for the programme have been reminded. Namgyal passes by to ask whether all is ok for the day. Busy, concentrated, we silently wave back.

The schedule has been crafted over the past weeks over countless cups of coffee and yummy chocolate. The modules hardly change but the venues and speakers vary from one programme to another to preserve the spirit of discovery for both Newcomers and facilitators.

While the founders of the “Aspiration programme”, Rakhal and Sonja, still discuss what is going to be said by whom and review the course of the morning, Cecilia and Anamika welcome the participants as they enter the room.

I joined the facilitators team a little more than a year ago and have participated in six or seven programmes. I am happy to be part of this effort to welcome the Newcomers to integrate into Auroville in all its complexity and diversity. My three year term at the Entry Service deepened my connection with Newcomers, and I am a “Newcomer fan”. 20 years have passed now since I landed here in 1994 and if I thought I knew it all, this course is a quick reminder that there is more in this tiny corner of the planet than meets the eye. And that Auroville is developing more beautifully each day, despite what I sometimes think!

One or two older Aurovilians have also joined the programme to rekindle the flame, curious to visit places they have perhaps never been to, or not gone back to, in 20 or 30 years, and to hear about the work of other busy people like them. And, above all, mingle with the Newcomer vintage of March 2014. It takes them back to the times when they were called to this special place on Earth. And, of course, there are the Newcomers of all types. Some are fairly new. Some have been coming regularly for years. A few were here 15 or 20 years ago and are returning Aurovilians. Some come from the local area and are familiar with Auroville in their own way, but the cultural distance from Edayanchavadi to Auroville is huge.

All of the participants have one thing in common: they have read and been touched by the Charter and have all walked in at some point in their lives to the Entry Service office to make a formal request to become a “Newcomer”. And now they are in the so-called “Newcomer process”. The programme was recommended to them as an integral part of the Entry process. Today, there are 20 of us and the room is filled with the refreshing air and soft light flowing from the windows.

9.00 a.m. Everyone is settled, sitting in silence, ready to embark on the “Aspiration” journey. A few close their eyes. Some stare uncomfortably at the floor, grasping their English pocket dictionaries. There are those who look around wondering what they are doing there, imagining, perhaps, that it will all be a waste of time. After all, isn’t there an easier way to discover Auroville? A few hours on Google Earth and surfing the Auroville website, plus a few meals at the Solar Kitchen and Aurelec Cafeteria would surely do the trick.

Others eagerly look forward to a week of exploration. Now that they are settled into their work routine, they don’t see much of the community any more. And then there are those who rejoice at the prospect of being fully taken care of for a few days, of breaking out from their routine.

9.05 a.m. Rakhal offers a few words of welcome. Together with Sonja, he has been associated with the programme since November, 2009, and this will be their 24th Session. Over that time, 369 people have participated in the programme. Still every time it is new. Today Rakhal talks about this magic moment at the beginning of a group gathering when our story and our connection to Auroville is known only to us.

Sonja introduces the facilitators and talks a bit about the history of the programme, and shares some ground rules. Participants are expected to attend all the modules. Meals are taken together to enhance the group’s identity. Some questions and answers follow, then silence falls. We are to be together till next Thursday, same time, same place!

Next, everyone comes into the circle, says their name and makes a gesture, and then the others repeat it. And the weaving work starts.

Then comes the moment when we share in pairs what made us come here. Cultural differences or shyness sometimes make it difficult at first to share intimate thoughts or events in a group. And how to phrase the inexpressible?

However, soon people begin to relax. Laughter fills the air with funny anecdotes or strange details. For this one, it was a conversation with a fellow passenger on a bus that began their “spiritual quest”. For others, it was a book found on a dusty shelf in a library with the title “The Adventure of Consciousness” or a clipping from a Geo magazine entitled “Auroville was a dream”. Someone felt an immediate deep sense of gratitude at seeing a picture of the Mother in the “Indian Coffee House” in Pondy, another stayed on after coming for a yoga workshop. Some have been familiar for a decade or more with the work of Sri Aurobindo, others barely know who Sri Aurobindo was.

10.30 a.m. It is already tea time and we are no longer complete strangers. Threads start to interlace.

11.00 a.m. The schedule of the one week programme is distributed. Practical details are discussed, like “Where is CRIPA?”, “What is G.P. Café?”, “How do we get to Samriddhi?”

A little later, small groups are invited to explore with crayons or through writing what they sense as being their next step as they stand on the threshold of Auroville. Creativity and concentration are in the air.

As the programme unrolls through the week, the participants harvest more than information. It is all about impressions, colours, knowledge, as their network of understanding is enlarged. Passion is expressed through the faces and voices of the resource people who contribute to the programme. It is rejuvenating to see Auroville so beautiful and so alive, so inspired and so inspiring. Perhaps all Aurovilians should take a week off to simply “celebrate” in this way this multifaceted experiment in the making.

9.00 a.m. One week later. We are gathered for the last time but as a family now. The facilitators invite feedback about what was great, what may have gone wrong, what there was not enough of, what could be improved, and so forth. The facilitators listen carefully, taking note of constructive suggestions, for this feedback is crucial for planning future programmes.

11.30 a.m. It is already closing time. But before we all depart, we form a standing circle in the downstairs hall to say goodbye to those who are now brothers and sisters forever. Somehow we end up in a close spiral of laughter and togetherness, interlaced both literally and figuratively.

The weaving work will continue on Auroville’s loom. Whatever our history, this time spent together will be a landmark for each and everyone of us, a foundation stone established in time and space on our collective journey.