In memoriam - Fali Nariman

When, in 1980, the very existence of Auroville and its residents was threatened by an attempt to claim private ownership and power over Auroville and its residents, eminent individuals such as Shri J.R.D Tata, Shri Govind Swaminathan and Shri Fali Nariman stepped forward to forcefully defend the spirit and reality of Auroville.

Fali Nariman had been requested by J.R.D. Tata to argue before the Supreme Court the case of the people of Auroville, who had followed The Mother's invitation “to all men of goodwill to join the adventure of Auroville.”

The landmark judgment of the constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court of India settled for good that the teachings Sri Aurobindo and The Mother only represent their philosophy and do not constitute a religion, and that Auroville does not constitute a religious denomination.

Ever since, Aurovilians turned to him whenever they hit a roadblock on their journey and Fali, as we would refer to him, gave us a wake-up call by throwing heavy law books across the table:

“If you act like a Government Body, you are a Government-Body. Exercise the powers given to you under the Auroville Act”. And he explained that the Residents’ Assembly is one of the three authorities constituted by the Auroville Foundation Act, next to the Governing Board and the International Advisory Council.

My final meeting with him was in June 2023.

He had directed me to have Aurovilians write testimonies of their personal journey to India and their life and work for Auroville.

When I presented this document of over a hundred life-stories to Fali, he was happy and explained to me that the people of India listen to the heart.

Our hearts are filled with sorrow and gratitude remembering Fali Nariman.

Our condolences to his family, his colleagues and friends.