Auroville and the villages: past and present

Varadharajan was in Central Government service before joining Auroville in 1969. As an educated Tamil and devotee of The Mother, he became a key figure in liaising with the local villagers in the early days of Auroville. Later, after moving to Promesse, he helped run Service Farm and then ‘Arul Vazhi’, a kindergarten, playschool for children and life education centre for adolescent girls of Morattandi village.

How did you become involved in liaison work with the villages?

I was the Joint Secretary of the Chennai branch of the Sri Aurobindo Society. In 1968, Navajata Bhaiji asked me to come and help with the Auroville project as he said there was a lot of work to do. I was still in government service, but Mother said I could help. In 1969, she gave me permission to join Auroville.

Some time later, I was at a meeting of the Auroville Administrative Committee and I realised that not one of them could understand and speak Tamil and explain well to the local villagers what Auroville was about. I mentioned this to Navajata Bhaiji and he suggested that I should go and stay in Kuilapalayam. Mother approved the proposal.

To begin with, I lived in a very simple hut close to the cremation ground. In those days, Kuilapalayam was a very poor village. There was one teashop, one small school for 50 children up to fifth standard and only one well for drinking water.

Were there concerns in the villages about Auroville’s intentions?

Very much so. In 1966, there had already been a proposal to notify 10,000 acres of land for Auroville in the surrounding area. This didn’t happen but it created commotion in the villages. I was a self-confident young man and wanted to go to one of the village meetings, but I was told, don’t go, they will kill you!

In 1969, when 130 acres from landowners in the area for the Auroville project was required, there was again a big commotion. They were afraid that the government would issue a notification order and the police would come to enforce it. They said, you have already purchased 1000 acres from us and taken so much productivity away, why do you need more? They were not a big village and were afraid of being overwhelmed by these people with whom they felt no connection and whose motives they did not understand.

They knew that when big government projects like Neyveli township happened, the local people were relocated somewhere else. So they were wondering, will we have to move?

So how were these concerns handled?

I decided to write something in Tamil to put their minds at ease. I wrote that Auroville wants to show a new way of life and that, because of Auroville, the villagers would have better employment opportunities, their standard of living would improve and new health and educational facilities would be provided. I also wrote that Auroville would not evict anybody from their houses because those Tamil people living on the soil of Auroville are “the first citizens of Auroville”.

By referring to them like that, I wanted to give them a sense of pride in Auroville but also the responsibility to be good hosts to those coming from elsewhere. Of course, as I see it, there are geographical Aurovilians and there are true Aurovilians: it is up to each of us what we want to be. But for each of us to become a true Aurovilian there must be a psychic opening.

When I was writing this note, it felt like I was being given a command. I sent the text to Mother. She read it through carefully, added one phrase, and wrote ‘Blessings’ in big letters.

Did this note calm their fears?

Yes, but there was still some uncertainty about our intentions. This is why Mother later wrote to somebody that he should be “very careful not to offend the people from the Tamil village. It has been very difficult for us to win their confidence and nothing should be done that should make them lose this new-born confidence which is of capital importance.... They are your brothers in spirit. This should never be forgotten.”

I was unclear what I should be concentrating upon in my work. So I asked Mother. She said the most important things were my liaison work with the villagers and the development of the mother and child care centre.

In fact, we were already providing facilities to improve life in Kuilapalayam. In addition to this centre, we were providing clean drinking water, we had set up a health centre and were employing local people in the first Auroville workshops like Fraternity, handmade paper etc., all of which things The Mother wrote are ‘indispensable’. But what the villagers wanted more than anything was better education for their children, so we also started another school.

Did any villagers want to join Auroville in those days?

Very few. In fact, when we began the integrated families experiment in August, 1970, only four families were interested in joining: some villagers thought that joining Auroville would mean converting to Christianity or Islam! Like everybody else, the only conditions for them joining Auroville were goodwill and a willingness to work for human unity: there were no other guidelines. Mother stressed these families would become Aurovilians in all respects, there should be no discrimination, so we built accommodation for them in Auroville and they received Prosperity, like the rest of us.

But I was concerned that the villagers might only want to join Auroville for material benefits. What should I do? I went to Mother and asked her this question. She said the best way to change them is through education, to educate them not by speeches but by example. When they become curious, She said, you can tell them what they want to know. But if you allow them to mix in your work and your life they will be influenced by your way of being, your way of understanding. And then, little by little, they will change. I was sitting at her feet, and when she said “little by little” she spoke very slowly and distinctly and bent down almost to my ear, as if to stress that the process of becoming a true Aurovilian would be a long and gradual one. It was clear that, for those she accepted, she saw this process happening after they joined the community.

With mutual goodwill the situation improved very well and in 1972 Mother was pleased to know that Kuilapalayam village had contributed Rs. 210 for the Matrimandir. The village elders said that though the amount was very small, they give it as a token of their expression of brotherhood, goodwill and cooperation with Auroville.

Fifty years on, how do you see the relationship between Auroville and the villages?

When I look at the relationship today, I feel there are two aspects of the work, one external and the other internal. A lot of external work has been done: Auroville has provided water, medical facilities, employment in small industries, there has been a lot of technology transfer to the villages and there are also many outreach schools within the Auroville area. Village Action has set up and supports more than 300 self-help women’s groups consisting of about 5000 women in this area.

Kuilapalayam itself has become an educational hub; today about 3000 children go to schools in Kuilapalayam. All this has been a great development.

Auroville has also proved to be an inclusive society. Nobody in the village has been disturbed from hearth and home and local people make up a large percentage of the present Auroville population. Many of these are doing important work for Auroville.

But the internal aspect is also very important. As early as 1966, The Mother highlighted a quotation from one of Sri Aurobindo’s letters as being very important for Auroville. “All this insistence upon action is absurd if one has not the light by which to act... The choice is between remaining in the old jumble and groping about in the hope of stumbling upon some discovery or standing back and seeking the light within till we discover and can build the godhead within and without us.”

This is the key: unless there is a change of consciousness, nothing will change essentially. So when we assess progress it has to relate to this inner purpose and not just the material dimension. At present, as a collective we are not projecting this inner dimension enough or developing it fully in ourselves. The result is that some people know about our weaknesses and are taking advantage of them.

Are you optimistic about the future?

Not only optimistic but certain. Mother said Auroville will be, it is divinely ordained, so I never had any doubt in this regard. She also said that “It (the city) will be built by what is invisible to you. The men who have to act as instruments will do so despite themselves. They are only puppets in the hands of larger Forces. Nothing depends on human beings – neither the planning nor the execution – nothing! That is why one can laugh.”

As to our relationship with the neighbours and also with Tamil Nadu, the Tamil culture is one of the oldest in the world and I believe it has a unique role to play in Auroville in the achievement of a true human unity. As it is part of their heritage – there is a Tamil saying, ‘the whole world is my village and all folks are my kinsmen’ – I am certain that the Tamil people will do all they can to realise human unity.