“Change has to come from within”

AVToday: How did you come to Sri Aurobindo?

I was introduced to Sri Aurobindo by my class teacher when I was 14. This teacher was a role model for me, and I wondered who his role model was. It was Sri Aurobindo. And since then Sri Aurobindo’s and Mother’s philosophy have guided me throughout my life. 

In 1969, after completing an undergraduate degree in India in commerce, I came to Pondicherry for the first time. I had balcony darshan on 24th April and then met Mother personally. I had written to her that I was going to the U.S. because I wanted to be part of her vision that America and India would work together. So I asked for her blessings for that. Champaklal explained to her that I wanted her blessings, and she asked, “How much?” I still resonate with that.

I also visited Auroville. The Amphitheatre and the urn were there, and I met Narad who was just starting the Nursery. I had a very good feeling about Auroville: there was something in the air here that deeply attracted me, even without knowing what Auroville stood for. It was like an inner calling.

In fact, when I returned in 1974 after opening my first motel in America, I wanted to stay, to become part of Auroville, but my grandfather said it was not the time. However, whenever I come to Pondicherry – which has been every year for many years – I visit Auroville because it has captivated my mind and heart. 

Now I understand it better. But what still amazes me is that so many of you have left the comforts of the West to dedicate your lives to this experiment. It’s because of the power and force that Mother has put in this place, which is something which cannot be explained, only experienced. There’s something here to which people get connected, and she is acting through everybody here in their own way.

This place has inspired me in many ways. When I established a university in Surat I used many learnings that are here.

The biggest thing I notice here is that people have the freedom to experiment in whatever their creativity calls for. And therefore they are able to express things more perfectly and more beautifully. In fact, Sri Aurobindo has said that freedom is fundamental for spiritual evolution.

But in the recent meeting with the IAC which you attended, many residents said they felt that freedom was in danger now. 

I could feel that people felt very insecure and that they are living in the midst of unpredictable change. They love Auroville very deeply and, irrespective of everything they face, they have committed their whole lives here, but they felt that their commitment to living is being threatened today. To me, the threats that people are identifying are external things. If I am truly a divine servitor, I need to develop in me that which will help me overcome hurt, mental anguish. Has this happened? Have the residents grown inwardly to meet these challenges? I admire so much what all of you have achieved outside but I’m wondering how much you have grown within. And if so, why should these irritations overwhelm you? Freedom also demands discipline for harmonious collective life in a community.

Yesterday a resident who was born here was served with a Leave India notice. Surely this is more serious than just an ‘irritation’? 

Is anybody enquiring why that person received this notice? The people in charge of making these decisions, which should not be taken lightly, are not irrational. They may have information; they have checked the facts carefully because such a decision will have a ripple effect on the whole community. They also owe an explanation to the person in question. I don’t know the background to the events which have happened over the last year, except that everyone has their own side, their own explanation. However, the worst thing that is happening here at present is that people don’t want to talk with each other. Each group says they will not recognize the other, but meanwhile decisions are made which affect everyone. To preserve the larger good of Auroville, everybody has to compromise and learn to understand each other better. What is preventing this? I see ego, narrowness and selfishness.

There is also something called basic respect. I’ve seen the video where the Secretary was in front of the community and they treated her disrespectfully. And the same people are asking for respect now. She came to listen to you, to share with you, but you didn’t allow her to speak properly. This is an IAS officer who wants to help Auroville progress, and yet this is how you treated her. I was appalled. 

If you insult me, what would be my impression of you and how do you think I will react? None of us is perfect, she’s a human being just like you, so why are you surprised by her displeasure?

At the community meeting with the IAC, everybody was saying what was wrong. Not a single person mentioned anything that the administration has done that they approve of. What do you think the person sitting in power will think about such a community? By behaving like this, Auroville has failed to leverage her position, to secure the resources that she could bring here to help it grow and take it to the next level. 

At the meeting, you said that change has to happen from within; it cannot be imposed from without. 

Absolutely, because people from outside don’t have the same full-time commitment to Auroville as the Aurovilians have. Change has to come from within, but that change needs to be in line with the larger good of Auroville. But remember it was the Aurovilians themselves who brought the government here, even though Mother said no government should be involved. And now that the government is here, you need to abide by their regulations, even if you don’t agree 100% with all of them. The fact that they are here means they have some commitment to what this place stands for, and this should be respected. 

However, the solution to your difficulties has to come from the community itself; the responsibility lies with the community. If somebody of authority comes from outside, it is your duty to convert them, to make them understand how things are here, because as you live here you know better than them. But this requires a lot of patience and effort on your part. 

Mother says that anything happening here is a reflection of what is happening outside, so the solution has to come from here. Auroville to me is a university of humanity and everybody here should be a role model for the rest of humanity. 

How can the IAC help?

It’s difficult at present. There are two camps in Auroville and each camp is telling us something different. If you guys are not together, how do you expect somebody coming from outside to help you?

But the IAC itself is not together.

Absolutely, because we are also human. Each member has their opinion because of what they are fed by Aurovilians. Each member is being influenced by different camps and it creates a difficult situation for all of us.

The fact that change has to happen is generally accepted. It’s the way that it is happening that is causing disagreement.

I don’t know what is fact and what is fiction, but Aurovilians are telling me there is some resistance to change. Twenty years ago, the city plan was decided but we are told that some residents, knowing the plan, developed areas which were not meant to be developed and now they are resisting change. Many people also tell me that for many years they have only talked and not taken decisions. Well, now you have a Secretary who wants to take decisions and to act. Maybe wrongly, maybe rightly, who can judge? 

As an IAC member, we will be gone after a few years, but you will be the ones who will have to live with and deal with the problem. This is why as an IAC member I should not add fuel to the fire. I have to find out how I can help the authorities understand the reality here and take the right actions, for they also have opinions, just like the Aurovilians. 

We are all in the game of transformation. I want both Aurovilians and Governing Board members to find common ground for better understanding and better alignment with Auroville mission. But for this you need to dialogue with each other, you need to figure out each other’s position and find a way to move forward together. 

My main focus is on how to bring the north and south poles of this community together. This will require actions that will not be hundred percent palatable to either party. In my university there is a place I have called the Moot Court, the Hall of Nobility. Normally, when you go to court, one side will win and the other will lose. But when there is a dispute in the Hall of Nobility, both sides should feel they have won. 

This is what I want for Auroville. Can you work with nobility to solve the problem? Even though each of you have your own priorities, can you do what is the larger good for community, something which will inevitably require compromise and sacrifice? 

Are you hopeful that the present difficulties can be solved amicably and integrally?

I hope that from the present churning Divine Grace will bring out everybody as stronger and better human beings, and strengthen the community. Anything that is new is threatening, it’s very human. But as Aurovilians have some commitment to being ‘divine servitors’ – that’s why they are here – this will help them rise above the present chaos. Everybody should work with goodwill, because without goodwill you cannot solve anything. 

This has to happen, and it will happen. I am very optimistic.