Collective Trauma

It’s been at times an unbelievable period of community division. I was having trouble sleeping, and discovered in a work meeting that others too were having unsettling nights. JCBs have entered our psyche as Samrat noted: “I often catch myself listening for imaginary JCBs, such is the collective trauma that has burnt deep into the psyche of some of us”, and now the sound of a truck or JCB triggers an emotional response for some. Many are feeling tired from the ongoing vigilance about what could suddenly happen next. There are WhatsApp and Telegram groups constantly pinging, and our nerves could well be pinging, too. Alain Bernard, pioneer Aurovilian returned recently to what he called “Auroville at war. There is no other word to describe adequately what is going on.”

The Horror

On the morning of the first JCB action in Bliss Forest, I was walking past two old timers when, with a slow pathos, one of them commented “Horror”. Something of this sense was conveyed by Hemant from the Working Committee who wrote that “all this has shaken me and everyone around me in Auroville to the core and in the larger family in India and worldwide. Utterly distraught, utter dismay, dis- heartened sadness or any other words are hard to express my feelings. Trampling of the youth under the tires of a JCB is like running chainsaws on our future.” Similarly Elvira, with her wealth of working with conflicts and difficulties through Koodam, noted that “never have I seen levels of fear, pain, hopelessness, mistrust, division and aggression that come even close to where we are now.”

Shock

There is shock at how the forest and youth buildings were cleared. Not just at the pain of destruction, inevitable in any forest clearing, especially in the setting of Auroville, but also in the manner in which they were done. This was power- fully expressed by Manas. “I was going to school just before eight on Thursday, when I passed the Youth Centre being torn down. I stopped and went in. What I saw was so shocking that I was paralyzed. A man in white, carrying a photo of the Mother and some framed writing, was coordinating a group of local people and a set of JCBs to demolish the buildings. It wasn’t the violence itself that punched me in the gut, but the idea that the violence was being perpetrated in the name of the Mother. It was violence with divine sanction. The emotions were so painful that I went into denial.”

The shock of the degree of polarisation was widespread, and Maël captured this when he wrote a letter to the wider community ‘family’ that he had grown up with. “I am shocked that none of you have apologised to the young people who were traumatised by the events of 4 and 5 December. I am shocked that none of you bothered to contact the Secretary and the TDC to let them know that their actions did not reflect the ideals and aspirations of Auroville, but rather jeopardised them... In spite of everything, I am hopeful that as members of the same family we can come together hand in hand to build this city together. But it will not happen without an apology, without each of us taking the time to express our wounds in all vulnerability, and to listen to those of others.”

Auroville Values and Ideals

Cherished ideals and values of Auroville life have felt punctured. Martin Littlewood wrote, “Although I am very sad about the destruction of our trees and our Youth Centre, and am heartbroken to see the clearcutting of forest, I am most sad about the destruction of our Auroville values. Values such as caring for our neighbours, integrity, compassion and goodwill. To see actions such as violence, verbal and physical abuse, the use of the police and hired locals to enforce our decisions, all condoned in the name of progress, is a clear indication for me that our dearest values have been abandoned.”

Nico describes the strength of the impact of the clearances. “The next morning, sick in bed, I received information that a bunch of people from Koot Road had come under the leadership of (an Aurovilian) waving around a picture of Mother with the Koot Road Panchayat with JCB’s, and started taking down the buildings and trees, shoving, shouting insults. This as you know turned out to be a dis- aster and disgrace to the values we cherish in Auroville. Seeing the videos destroyed me. I was helpless in bed, crying, in pain, sobbing, in disbelief of what I was witnessing. I knew this day would come. I knew it for a long time. But the way this was done is a stain so dark I personally will remember this event and the people responsible for it until I leave my body. I never thought that it would ever happen like this. I am devastated and deeply hurt. Not from the loss of some old buildings, but by the loss of Auroville ideals.”

Clearly the repercussions of what happened will take time to be processed. Hopefully quicker than our last major collective trauma, the SAS battles from forty years ago, referred to by some in dis- belief that they had returned. However, there are signs that some people are being tempered and changed through the polarisation that has been going on. Samai wrote of how in the midst of receiving racial slurs and challenges, he noticed that whilst “I’ve struggled with aggression and have never purposefully aggressed any living creature without being aggressed first, Thursday was amazingly challenging for me, but at the end of the day I patted my own back. Proud moment and I thank the universe for the lesson. During this whole ordeal, I even had a few reciprocated smiles with the ‘hired muscle’ as it was quite comical, the absurdity of the situation.”

There have been frequent remarks from those promoting the Crown Right of Way, of their frustration with the community for not following through on the Master Plan and a feeling that the city project is being stalled. There is a frustration with the challenges to the Crown, that perhaps a vital part of the Galaxy plan is being questioned, especially now with funds and energy available to start building the city infrastructure. A fear that the city vision so fundamental to Auroville is being challenged. This frustration welcomed the Crown development starting as soon as possible. Whilst tangible, the frustration has not yet been as publicly written about.

However, Lavkamad wrote he was concerned that further clearing work on the road would be blocked. “Dear friends, I am very much worried about the petition to the RA to stop all work on the

Crown Road thus to block the development of Auroville for coming years.” He adds that, “This petition is the best way to kill the City of Dawn, experiment on Human Unity. It would show that we have failed the test on Human Unity and the growth on the path of consciousness. We have an opportunity to build the City of Dawn and a choice either to miss this opportunity and taking the path of confrontation or to take the opportunity to build the city.” However, he added, “I am having understanding for the feelings of the few, who are being dis- placed.”

Hopelessness

Inevitably when decisions are made unilaterally, there is a feeling of helplessness. Shama recalled that “I have worked in and for the TDC, I have also been frustrated by the slow way things pan out, by the various groups and NIMBYisms, by the lack of motivation and support from Residents Assembly. But never would I, despite my frustrations, fall into the trap of using brute force on my fellow beings. This is wrong on an entirely different level and totally unjustified. I feel utterly helpless about where this is going, completely lost by the Governing Board’s apparent acceptance of ‘by all means’. And more than anything, devastated by fellow Aurovilians who stand behind this - many of whom I had thought of so highly.”

Youth

Part of the reason for the distress was the decision to start the road and demolition of buildings in a much-loved haven for generations of youth of Auroville. It thrust the youth into the front line of a communal split. They managed to keep a mature presence belying their age and this gives hope for a better future. In the midst of destruction, the ‘Peaceful City’ youth centre has hosted presentations, clean ups and get togethers. Hemant acknowledged this with a “salute to the spirit of youth of Auroville, who have made destruction into an event of celebration, by coming together to rebuild the Youth Centre. You are my heroes.”

Nico catches this quality of the youth: “I went to the meetings at Youth Centre before the destruction happened and I can assure you that there was no resistance whatsoever from the youth to stand in the way of the demolition of the buildings and construction of the crown.”

Matilde also noticed this spirit .”I start to see the young ones who will rise from these dark days as leaders to all of us not far from today with a pleasure difficult to describe.” Samrat, himself an Ashram child, observed that “Yes, the youth have the resilience to bounce back as all young people do, and we witnessed how the community got together in the next days to support them.”

Fear

There has been at times an atmosphere of fear in the air, with many foreigners anxious of visa cancellations if they get too publicly prominent. Gijs highlighted this. “I want to bring the fear into the light, because I am ashamed of feeling fear but I am more scared of the shame I will feel after standing by”.

Another aspect of fear was touched on by Edgar: “I personally don’t like what I have lived these days but I’m proud of how we didn’t react to the aggression with the same coin, and we let the fear pass through us and replaced it with peace and OM. Hopefully now we can build this Crown all together with care.”

Responsibility

Healing often starts with accountability. Arun from the Working Committee, was one of those who apologised: “I feel very sorry for the incidents that have happened in the last few days. I am deeply hurt to see my community members in this situation. Let’s also take this as a learning opportunity to build our unity and a better future for Auroville.”

Inge adds that, “Without taking accountability for the experiences of violation, hurt and betrayal that a part of this community has lived, we are missing the point. I am certain that there are experiences of deep hurt and betrayal on ‘both sides’. Without a dialogue and transformative resolutions, the crevasses in the fabric of our unity will remain and any semblance of unity will continue to have a shadow of ‘what if this happens again?’’ Inge invites us “to speak to each other. I invite you to be brave and to trust that beautiful things can emerge when we embrace all the different experiences as opportunities to learn.”

Nico movingly shared responsibility for how the Youth Centre was set up over twenty years ago: “With a heavy heart, I wanted to comment also on the Youth Centre and recent happenings. I was there when the decision was taken to place the building on the Crown. I helped build it. I guess it was a protest. But I was too young or naive to really understand it...Today, I somewhat share the burden of having left this responsibility on the youth and I feel heavy about it.”

Elder interventions

Thankfully there have been moments when eldership, reconciliation and wisdom have carried the day and reduced the emotional dichotomies, and allowed a more collaborative perspective to surface. These include alternative road plans being offered by Darkali and the Youth Centre, and people being asked to non-violently witness the JCBs arrive to start their work. I saw two people who were verbally clashing in the recent first RA meeting share a quiet reconciling hug some minutes later. Enea wanted: “to bring attention to one magical and calming moment (perhaps the only one) that I witnessed during a General Meeting at Unity Pavilion: It was just starting, and the levels of chaos, general unrest, and confusion were reaching absurd heights. At that point Narad intervened with a calmness, born from the higher planes, and he asked: ‘Will you all chant Aum with me.’ He repeated this sever- al times before the people present were able to return to any semblance of order. The chanting broke the spell of madness that had only moments before gripped all those present. This action allowed the meeting to start, when just moments earlier it seemed hopeless.”

Possible Next Steps

Chali from the Working Committee points to a possible way forward: “I hope and pray that this kind of thing never happens again among us, that it is agreed that divisive forces and tactics are unacceptable in Auroville, that the deep hurt and wounds and rifts that have been caused will be acknowledged as something real and regrettable, that we can all dig deep and find a way to build the city and walk the path of an evolution of consciousness in a spirit of creativity, exploration, experimentation, flexibility, pragmatism and open-mindedness, with all our diversity and differences, while acknowledging and embracing our common love and commitment to The Mother and Sri Aurobindo.”