Published: August 2025 (2 months ago) in issue Nº 433
Keywords: Roy’s Boarding / Malarchi, New Creation community, Kuilapalayam, Village children, Family, GB-FAMC and Change
References: Roy (Alistair Wicks), André Tardeil, Tixon and Vanitha
Malarchi boarding closes

The Malarchi children, helpers and caretakers celebrating Christmas in 2024. Tixon is second from left in the back row; Vanitha is fourth from right in the middle row
Inspired by André’s vision, Roy returned to the UK to settle his affairs and soon came back to Auroville. Within six months, he was deeply involved in New Creation School*, aimed at serving children from the impoverished village of Kuilapalayam.
Roy soon discovered that many of them came from dysfunctional or underprivileged families and that some had no relatives at all. Moved by their circumstances, he built a modest home in a quiet corner of New Creation community to house up to nine children alongside himself. Roy’s Boarding, as it soon became known, developed into a loving home for many village children. Roy sustained it through his pension, the rental income from his home in England, and with donations from visitors — many of whom became long-term sponsors for individual children.
In 2003, Roy underwent an unsuccessful surgery in a Pondicherry hospital and had to return to England for specialized treatment.
But unexpectedly, the Indian immigration authorities denied him re-entry into India. While Roy continued to support the boarding financially until his death in 2016, the day-to-day running of the home was taken up by Tixon, a young man from Kuilapalayam who had lived there since the age of six.
“Once it became clear that Roy wouldn’t be able to return, we renamed the boarding ‘Malarchi’,” says Tixon. “‘Malarchi’ is a Tamil word meaning ‘blossoming.’ It reflects the personal growth we saw here. More than 35 children have lived in Malarchi — some for over a decade — and we watched them flourish. Some even earned university degrees. Malarchi was a real success.”
“The boarding was like one big Indian family,” adds Vanitha, Tixon’s wife, who has shared in both the caregiving and management of the home. “There was so much affection. The older children would always look after the younger ones. The bonds were very strong. And Tixon and I could always rely on several senior Aurovilians in case of need. They appreciated the well-versed running of the boarding, and its firmly established social and disciplinary ways.”
But in May this year, the Funds and Assets Management Committee (FAMC) constituted by the Governing Board informed Tixon that Malarchi would need to close. The reason: Malarchi lacked the official permissions required for a boarding that houses children under the age of 18. “We consulted a lawyer who told us that the FAMC was correct,” says Tixon. “But we are sad that the current governance system has become so discouraging of initiatives like ours. So Malarchi will close and the four children who are living here at present will have to go back to their families.”
“It’s heartbreaking,” says Vanitha. “We’ve been doing this for more than twenty years. It’s not easy to let go of something you’ve put so much of your heart into, something that we have loved doing for all these years.”
“But perhaps it’s the right time,” reflects Tixon. “The situation in Kuilapalayam has improved significantly since Roy first started the boarding. While there are still some issues, the days of hearing about drunk, abusive fathers are largely gone. Welfare services have expanded, and the need for a place like Malarchi has lessened. We see the FAMC’s decision as a sign that it’s time to close this chapter and move on.”