Another fine mess? Or a wonderful opportunity?

Take the present Crown imbroglio, which is generating so much heat and dust. If we can step back for a moment from our opinions and emotions and trace the larger contours of what is happening, the new Secretary can be seen to be a catalyst, an energizer of new movement within the community. And, in the process, many issues which before were neglected, half-hidden or unspoken, have suddenly been flung on to a wider screen for all to see.

Beyond the obvious one of the relationship of city development to the environment, these issues include interpreting Mother’s intentions regarding the Galaxy; the ‘truths’ of the past versus present or evolving realities; the role of sacred symbolism in the design of the town; the nature of town planning and the requisite expertise; our attitudes towards the aspirations and needs of the youth; proprietorial attitudes; the cultural influences that may determine how we relate to authority; and the role of the Foundation authorities in our decision-making.

Above all, it raises the question of how, in such a diverse community, we can come together and work things out.

The question is, what do we do with these issues? Do we allow them to drive us further apart? Do we try to bury our differences again, which may potentially make them even more powerful because they will continue to drive us as subterranean influences?

Or do we take this as a wonderful opportunity for a better understanding of ourselves, of each other, and of these issues — for a great deal of information about the Galaxy and town planning, in particular, has been disseminated in the past weeks, and new sections of the community, like the youth, energised — as the basis for moving forward together?

One key seems to lie in how we hold these issues. If we are attached to our positions, if we cling to them as if our very identity is at stake, if our only object is to assert the ‘truth’ of our position and the falsehood of all others, then we are the ideal receptor sites for the virus of disharmony which is always swirling around this project, seeking an opening.

But if we can set aside our predispositions and loyalties, and dispassionately examine everything that has been thrown up on the big screen in front of us, there’s a chance we will understand each other better, and, through grasping the bigger picture, be able to tease out the unifying thread presently concealed in the murk of our conflicting opinions.

In fact, there are already signs that the hard lines are softening as new understandings and perspectives develop. But there is still a long way to go before the ideological barricades, erected over many years, are dismantled.

Auroville doesn’t have to be a battleground where one opinion continually seeks to displace another. It could be a place where we understand and respect that each one of us possesses some fragment of a larger truth that can only fully manifest when we work together. And manifesting the Galaxy is a wonderful opportunity for doing this, for it is a potent symbol of a place where, as the architect Balkrishna Doshi put it, “everything can be absorbed, everything can manifest, and everything adds its own value and ability to regenerate, revitalize”.

Once again, through the medium of the Crown conundrum, we are being offered the chance to transform the ‘Auroville process’, which is often crude, messy, and involves a lot of collateral damage, into one which emphasises our common humanity and aspirations. Are we ready, at long last, to do this?