From law to sound: Niva’s unexpected journey

Auroville Today: How did you come to Auroville, Niva?

Niva: By accident, really. I was between jobs in Israel and wanted to travel abroad. Some friends told me about a place in South India called Auroville they wanted to visit and invited me to come along. I wasn’t particularly interested in Auroville; I said, “Okay, I’ll come — but only for one day in Auroville. Then I’ll go on to Kerala or somewhere else.” But then, in Auroville, I met Pepe.

We had booked ourselves in at Quiet and were looking forward to the Watsu sessions we had reserved. But when we arrived, they told us all the sessions had been cancelled because of a retreat. I was really upset. I said, “Look, I’m here for just a few days and I booked this a month ago!” Pepe, the Aurovilian who by chance was at the Quiet office, relented and offered me a Watsu session on his free day. One session led to another, and a friendship began. Later, we married.

But Auroville? It was nice, but it never crossed my mind that it might become my future place. Far from it. The three-week holiday ended and I returned to Israel and started my new job. Pepe came to Israel, he liked Tel Aviv, but felt it wasn’t the right place for children to grow up. “Children should grow up in Auroville, not Israel,” he said.

So, when our first daughter Luna was born, I took a four-month maternity leave in Auroville. Two years later, when our second daughter Lola was ten months old, we decided to move for good — to give our daughters a beautiful place to grow up. That was in 2010. I took care of the kids and found a job stacking shelves at the Pour Tous Distribution Centre — quite a transition from my previous work.

What was your job in Israel?

I was the head of the legal department for Israel’s main television channel. It was a very sexy job; I met celebrities and politicians regularly. I enjoyed the fast-paced decision-making. Israel is highly regulated, with new rules emerging constantly. My background in the telecommunications industry gave me an edge; I was familiar with the regulations and good at finding solutions quickly. My forte was negotiation. I once was told that “many lawyers were deal-breakers; you are a deal-maker”.

How was the transition to Auroville?

Many people in Israel thought I was crazy to leave such a career for “some place in South India.” But if I thought Auroville would welcome me and my expertise, I was mistaken. At the time, the Entry Service wasn’t keen on pregnant women or young mothers joining. They told me, “With two small children, you won’t be able to contribute to the community.” I argued that if I could work as a Vice President Legal Counsel in Israel, I could also work as a Newcomer with kids in Auroville. But it didn’t convince them. My Newcomer period dragged on for about three years until Pepe got fed up and went to the Entry Group. Shortly after, I became an Aurovilian.

During those years, as Aurovilian-in-waiting, I worked part-time for the Pour Tous Distribution Centre as an unpaid shelf filler. Honestly, it was one of the best jobs I’ve ever had. No responsibilities, no staff to manage, no decisions to make — just making sure the potatoes, toilet paper, and sugar were on the right shelves. And when I finished, I’d happily go over to PTDC Kitchen and help peel potatoes or cut veggies. I really enjoyed it; it was pure service, just working from the heart.

Later, I joined Wellpaper, helping with business development, for two years. [Wellpaper is an Auroville unit that trains local village women to transform recycled newspapers into art and accessories, eds.] Then, in 2014, I joined Elvira and Mukta in Auroville’s budding conflict resolution service called Koodam. We did that work for almost 10 years.

So, you returned to your old profession?

In a sense, yes. I had studied mediation in Israel and had used it extensively in my previous work. The work at Koodam was very meaningful, a great opportunity to learn and know the Auroville community in its layers. It was a great experience for me to work with professionals and dedicated people such as Elvira and Mukta. The work included training and coaching other Aurovilians as mediators and arbiters. We did a few trainings, including one exclusively for Tamilians, as there is a large cultural difference from Westerners. The Tamilians are used to the Panchayat, a system where someone or some group in authority tells them what to do. We asked the Tamil trainees how best to adjust the mediation process to their culture; they offered a few tips. We eventually introduced arbitration as an option to end the disputes when an agreement couldn’t be reached.

Over the years, we handled hundreds of mediations and around twenty arbitrations and appeal process cases. Most mediations ended with the parties reaching agreements; all the arbitrations were implemented (some after 2 years) and brought the conflict to an end.

At one point, we had a call to move on, for several reasons. The atmosphere in the community had changed, the collaboration with the working groups got a twist and we realised that we had changed too. Koodam closed.

So, you moved to sound?

Yes. I joined Svaram as a business consultant. One day Aurelio gave me a session on the Nidranantar, the sound bed, in the Sonorium. The Sonorium is Svaram’s dedicated sound room which has at its centre the Nidranantar – a wooden table with 50 strings underneath – which is surrounded by large scale instruments each tuned to the healing energies of 256 Herz. As I lay there, he played the strings. It was a deep experience; I was in a higher space. That sparked my fascination with sound and its healing effects on body, mind, and spirit. I was clear that Svaram has a treasure to share with the world, the Sonorium. We developed the Svaram Sonorium training and I found my new path as a sound practitioner. I now work with the sound bed, gongs, bells, sound stones, drums, flutes, and, increasingly, with my own voice.

How do people experience this?

People’s experiences differ from one person to another. Some people get deeply relaxed or uplifted. Some report having an experience outside the body. Some go back to childhood memories. Others experience old traumas or a physical tension suddenly being released. A few come out of the session with inspiration for new ideas.

You mentioned your intuition has developed…

Each session is intuitive. I am very concentrated, connected and feel the person’s energy and follow it. During sessions, I spontaneously started using my voice. I’m not a trained musician and never sang before, but it came naturally. In some sessions I realised the person was entering a very deep state. I knew what the person experienced, I could feel what the person liked and didn't like, and what fears there were. It’s difficult to explain, but I simply knew. Sometimes, I felt their experience in my own body. It was as if the person’s consciousness and mine had become one.

My voice is changing from one person to another and sometimes doesn’t come at all. I’ve learned this often relates to throat chakra issues. My voice naturally adjusts to the person’s needs: if I hear my voice in lower tones, I know the client needs lower frequencies, higher notes for higher frequencies.

One powerful moment was with a Palestinian woman. The events of October 7th, 2023, were still raw. I asked if my being Israeli was a problem and offered her the option to have another facilitator. She said ‘no, no problem’, but I could sense a tension.

We entered the Sonorium sound space. I gave her a full session and ended in silence, allowing everything to integrate. That’s the time when I sometimes receive ‘messages’. In this case, it was pure silence and an incredible feeling of unity. Did she feel it too? Yes. All the walls had fallen down. We both started crying, we hugged and said how much we hope for peace for our people. It was a true and touching heart to heart connection, brought about by sound. It couldn’t happen anywhere else but in Auroville.

Do you also work with groups?

I also work with couples and with families. The dynamics are fascinating. I sense the couple’s dynamic through their reactions to the sounds. Sometimes, they are in shock when I share my observations. Doing couple work resembles to some extent mediation – but on a more subtle, energetic level.

Do you use the sound of OM in your sessions?

Very much. OM is incredibly powerful and harmonising. In group sessions, I often end with OM and then the participants join in. That’s the time when people discover themselves in a different space. When they open their eyes they are smiling and soft to each other. It is because they are tuned to each other. That’s what makes this work so interesting – it is very powerful and vast. It is Auroville’s gift to people and to me.