We need to rethink everything

Auroville Today: How do you perceive the present situation in Auroville?

François: For many years I have been feeling that Auroville is going on the wrong track. I will give you two examples. One is the Galaxy Master Plan. The plan was conceived in the late 1960s, when there was no concern for ecology or the environment, when there was no apprehension about the availability of water, when it was thought to be okay to build 20-30 storey buildings with millions of tons of concrete. This has changed a lot today. When I go to France or the US, I see that, apart from in the very big cities, nobody builds huge apartments anymore. Instead, there are smaller complexes of apartments, which are integrated into a forest or their environment. But Auroville is still stuck in the plan from the 1960s.

Another concern is that nothing is being done to prevent Auroville from getting strangled from the outside. We have been concentrating on the small city and greenbelt area, while all the lands around us, and quite a few lands in our greenbelt around the city area, are being bought up by promoters, who are building hotels, restaurants and souvenir shops which have nothing to do with Auroville.

A few years ago a national highway was planned to pass between the greenbelt and Kuilaypalayam village. I was one of those who fought against this project and we managed to stop it – for the moment. For me, this was a warning that we need to think bigger and that on no account we should sell or exchange Auroville-owned lands outside the city and greenbelt areas for land within the city area. When The Mother was still in her body, lands were bought far outside the present Auroville area. Some lands were purchased when the centre of the planned city was to the west of where it is now. But also lands elsewhere were bought, such as the beach lands, the land next to the Tindivanam – Pondicherry highway and farther away lands. Many of these lands have been exchanged. Even within the Auromodѐle area, Auroville lands were sold to outside developers instead of being sold to people who are interested in Auroville. I think that was a huge mistake. These decisions allowed for the body of Auroville to be invaded and desecrated.

Do you think Mother or Roger would have made a different master plan if they were here today?

I am convinced that the Mother, if she were here today, would say that we should rethink the Galaxy, because she lived from moment to moment. But what Roger left behind has become a ‘holy legacy’, and people are fighting to manifest it, stating that Mother ‘approved’ the Master Plan and that therefore it has to be built as originally conceived. There is an occult force which makes people think that the Galaxy is still okay today. I completely disagree.

You have been arguing that Auroville is not welcoming for newcomers anymore.

The present newcomer policy is in my opinion too bureaucratic and so rigid that new and young people have difficulty to join. Compare that to the beginnings of Auroville. Many of those who came with the caravans in the 1960s didn’t know anything and had not read Sri Aurobindo. They came here by accident or by fate, but they had trust in The Mother and stayed to help develop Auroville. I am convinced that they were guided by their psychic being.

That trust in the Divine guiding our steps seems to have gone out of the window. We have been developing a plethora of rules and regulations. Instead, the next step should be ‘trust’. We must trust again. The mantra for the coming times should be ‘Welcome to Auroville’ instead of ‘We mistrust you’, ‘You have to donate money to become the steward of an apartment,’ and ‘You must read Sri Aurobindo’, all present conditions before one will be accepted as Aurovilian. That’s too much of an imposition. It probably developed because in the past there have been cases of people who have gone astray, who wanted to exploit Auroville. But the majority of people are coming because their psychic being brought them here.

We need to revive the pioneering spirit. We need to open the lands on the outskirts of Auroville to young people, and give them the freedom to build what they like with the money they have, like we used to do, with keet and bamboo and a few bricks. In this way we will attract a young generation and revive something of that pioneering spirit which brought the early Aurovilians to Auroville.

When they came to Auroville, there was nothing. If today Auroville prides itself on the rejuvenation and re-afforestation of the land, it was because so many young pioneers planted trees and worked the land. But now, if you want to be in Auroville, you need to donate 50-70 lakhs to get the stewardship of a flat, otherwise you cannot integrate. It is almost impossible for a new person to build something in the existing greenbelt, as the foresters believe that forest areas should not be densified by more people. That’s why we need to open up the lands on the outskirts to young newcomers.

Nowadays, many decisions and regulations are imposed by the Secretary and by working groups appointed by the Governing Board of the Auroville Foundation. What is your view on this?

A few years ago, I interviewed Paolo Tommasi. [an Italian architect who met The Mother just before Auroville’s inauguration in 1968, and who played a significant role in the conception of the Matrimandir. He passed away in 2020, eds]. He was very disturbed about the fact that his aunt had been murdered by the Nazis in a concentration camp. He spoke to The Mother about it. He told me that She had said, speaking about the Second World War, that the hand of Mahakali had been resting on Europe. Similarly, I think that now the hand of Mahakali is on Auroville. 

I do not agree with the Board constituting working groups and appointing its members without interaction with the Residents’ Assembly; I also disagree with many of the decisions that have been made. But I believe that the Secretary has come to Auroville because we needed a major kick to wake up. She is very active and has been making decisions including many that none of the Auroville working groups were able to make. Many Aurovilians agree that Auroville was stuck; our own working groups were unable or powerless to take decisions and carry them through. I think the Secretary is here because we need to rethink everything we have been taken for granted, from the lands to the planning, from entry to government. We need to wake up, come out of our restrictions, step out of our complacency. But has Auroville woken up to the necessity of rethinking everything? I am afraid most people are still sleeping, or are thinking that things will go ‘back to normal’ once the term of office of the Secretary ends. That would be awful, and a waste of the moment. It reminds me of Sri Aurobindo’s essay The Hour of God where he warns that woe will befall those who are caught sleeping or unprepared when the hour arrives. 

You have had many interactions with the Prime Minister of India and many other high dignitaries, speaking about Auroville. How effective are these interactions?

I have been able to give some perspectives on Auroville which they did not have before. Nowadays, it is primarily the Secretary who is interacting with the various ministries and officials; of course, she gives them her views on what’s happening and what she believes has to happen. There seems to be little drive from Auroville working group members to come out of their comfort zone and go to Delhi to meet officials. In the past I have campaigned for Auroville to have an office in Delhi to keep in close touch with ministers and bureaucrats, because everything happens in Delhi. Sadly, this has never manifested. But Auroville must have an active presence in Delhi.

Are you yet hopeful about Auroville’s future?

I am, because I feel that the presence of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother in Auroville is still very strong. But as I said, we have to start thinking about and planning for the future, and not waste the moment.