Pushing the future forward: An interview with Roger Anger

Auroville Today: Roger, in 1974, on the 28th of August to be precise, you wrote a letter to the Sri Aurobindo Society announcing your resignation. I quote a brief extract from that letter: 

“Given the present situation in Auroville I am led to explain the decision I have taken to withdraw from the organisation that administers the Town. I am more and more convinced, for reasons I have explained repeatedly and over a long period of time, of the incapacity of the present system to carry through successfully the material development of Auroville, and to infuse in its actions the message of unity and harmony which is indispensable for the building of the ‘city of the future’.”

It is now 1988 and you are back again. Has something changed?

Roger A: The situation has changed and so have I. What made me leave the committee of organisation of Auroville in 1974 is that it had become clear to me, even back then, that there were two contradictory forces at work. One a conservative one, and the other attempting desperately to move forward and call the future. It had become obvious that the conditions that the organisation was conforming to were an expression of an extreme traditional conservatism, while on the other hand you had a large part of the Aurovilians identifying themselves with an idea of revolution which in fact was nothing but the after-effects of May ’68. No authority was recognized; we were stuck between internecine power struggles that made all action impossible. During Mother’s time I attempted to push towards the imaginary, the future, but following Her departure it was no longer possible. The seeds, of what after the struggle was to turn into an ideology of incomprehension and intolerance, were already present. It seemed to me that I did not have the capacity to stand this. I had come to Auroville to dream, empower the imagination, not to have to bear the factions destined to collide in a disharmonious system, and in contradiction with the ideals of Auroville.

The Foundation Bill has just been passed in Parliament and you have returned. Is there a connection?

No, it is not because Auroville has been recognized by the Indian Government that I have come back. Over the last 12 years I have come back a number of times, going around on my own in Auroville, and I was always open to what was going on. Frankly, the seven years I spent in close contact with Mother means my heart is in Auroville. However, the rupture became definitive when actual fighting took place for ideological reasons. People were attacking each other in the name of Mother. That was unbearable for me; for me it was not my time.

Is it now the time? 

I am convinced that things have changed as far as I’m concerned towards Auroville. With the passing of time I have become aware that things will take a while to fall into place and that a certain struggle and resistance are inherent to the progress of Auroville. Undoubtedly there will always exist contradictory force fields which will make the experience difficult. My role, I believe, is to push the future forward.

Auroville will turn 21 this year. It is, I believe, useless to look backwards. The pioneering phase is over. What now?

What I find encouraging are the men [and women!!? – eds.] who have formed the crucible of Auroville. There are impressive human resources to draw on here. What has struck me the most in Auroville are the men here and nature. There is more fraternity and more authenticity than before. What is fantastic here are the human instruments, (whether they are aware of it or not) that have been brought together here to participate in the realisation of this formidable experiment, and what has most moved me in rediscovering Auroville, which when I left was literally a desert, is the will of Nature to collaborate with all her force. Does that mean that all the right conditions are there? This I do not know. One has to also recognize that the power plays are still there, the parochial divisions, the fanatic ideologies that go against the ideal and which are terribly limiting, and today I am convinced that the only thing to do is to come together towards the unity that is the basis of Auroville. A mutual understanding that I feel is already taking place.

You are aware of the contents of the new bill that has made Auroville a foundation. What do you think of this?

I am convinced that it is a means for Auroville to break out of its torpor. It is a new chance that is given to Auroville. There was a first chance given by Mother in ’68, a fantastic chance, an ‘explosion’ of hope. Anything was possible, everything was ready to help Auroville, but slowly that chance dried up. For the time being I do not believe that there exists a better solution; I do not say that it is the only one and the best one, nor that it is without danger, but I believe it is the only acceptable one for the time being. It is up to Auroville to impose its vision of the City, its life, its future on the Government. I believe it represents a new opportunity that is given to us which may be a rapid and enlightened awakening of awareness; if not, Auroville risks to fall asleep again for years and years.

After 23 years, are the designs of the ‘galaxy’ still future-oriented?

I strongly wish that we would stop referring to the galaxy plan as ‘Roger A.’s plan’. I would like to clarify this once and for all. It is not my vision, but the logical result of the researches of a whole team over many months, but particularly of the presence of Mother, Her inspiration and influence, that gave birth to the concept of the galaxy. This concept contains in its entirety the message of Mother and the dream She had for us. Let me quickly recapitulate it: First of all there is the concept of the four zones which springs from a sketch of Mother, and which no one contests, I believe.

Mother gave sufficient explanations concerning the basis of Her concept of spiritual urbanism. Following this we brought Mother a plan. That was radiocentric but we quickly realised that what we had come up with was no better than the military cities, so we reworked it with Mother and attempted to make this city more moving and living with perspectives. We came up with a succession of projects until we finally arrived at the Galaxy. One can try to break away from it, but if one takes into consideration all the elements, those of Mother, and of the landscape, one always comes back to it. You cannot shake it off. I’d say it is not the image of the Galaxy that imposes itself on Auroville; it is the necessity of the city corresponding to Mother’s guidelines that leads us to the Galaxy. It has a dynamic of its own.

Are there any modifications possible?

The set-up proposed in the model of the master-plan is only a finish to give the city a sense of reality. Moreover Mother has said that the city is already built, that it is there. Now it is for us to bring it down, to make it descend on earth. Everything remains to be done. The model is only the back bone, the skeleton. Of course one can’t go back on it, but everything still remains open, free, and I am quite sure that the urban studies to be undertaken will bring in many new modifications as regards the final form.

A city with 500 inhabitants is a village. How to bring in the 50,000 inhabitants Mother spoke of?

I think one has to convince the Indian Government that Auroville represents a stupendous chance for the country – for its image as well as for its future – but I think that they have already understood this. It must be India that helps propel Auroville into an international dimension. And in this way the whole world helps Auroville as India already has, but this is already happening. For instance the fields of electronics and afforestation are examples of the type of help Auroville can provide India. A city that would have the fantastic function of being a yeast. For instance, let us create the University of Human Unity. This could be come a centre of thought as regards the bringing together of nations to fight against segregation and all the problems of racism and division. It could bring a universal understanding with regard to the safe keeping of Peace and Nature. This all lies within our capacities. It is a dimension Mother always wanted from Auroville. If we could understand the necessity of this dimension it would create a second wind for Auroville. The more we are demanding of ourselves and the higher we set our sights the more chance we will have to be understood by governments and to receive international assistance.

Exactly. If Auroville develops, how to integrate the surrounding villages?

We have studied the possibilities of building one, or several model villages. But it needs to be discussed. A model village that would respect the traditions and habits of the villagers would be an important step forward as regards the integration of Auroville in India. The work already done by Co-Evolution and New Creation is impressive but one must take it farther and dream more ambitiously. One has to connect the villages to the economic development of Auroville, and raise the standard of living of the farmers and workers. I remember that the question of the integration of the local population and Auroville, although problematic, was an important priority for Mother. The presence of an experiment like Auroville necessarily brings up the problem of regional development. It is impossible to visualize Auroville’s development without taking into consideration the standard of life in the surrounding villages. Model villages would be experimental whose inhabitants would consist of volunteers; it would be a process of adaptation.

A city is defined, first and foremost, by its inhabitants ...

Yes, and the difficulty is exactly this: how to find the exact balance that includes nature and habitat. The differences in density, the integration of space in which one communicates, in which one feels freed from the heaviness of buildings. This has never been attempted in the world; one has never made an experimental city of this nature. Auroville, on the level of urban research, involves a search for different types of zones, low, medium, high; a city that can be lived and experienced through one’s eyes, incorporating perspectives, moments that surprise you and catch your attention, others that convey a feeling of rest and tranquillity, others a feeling of surprise. Flat cities are a hell.

And what about the problem of communication so necessary and yet so lacking in Auroville today?

I have just completed the model of a project (1/100) on 1 hectare of land – 3 buildings with piazzas (squares), cafes to meet, places for many-sided cultural activities. For example, in each building there could be a children’s section where they could, if they so wanted, play and live together. Apartments where everyone can, if they want, be alone with themselves but also meet others ... Buildings with patios and courtyards. One has to learn to live together as one will not always have enough land to build a house kilometers away from one’s nearest neighbour, and certainly not in Auroville. This is the story of Auroville, the true story of Auroville, and it is the business of Aurovilians to have the right attitude that is part of the work that we all have to do. It is of course a simple example. Situated in a residential zone; 120 to 150 per building. One can relocate all of Auroville onto one hectare. It is for Auroville to know what it wants. One has to take an inventive step, an urbanistic one, this is part of Auroville’s message. One should include contemporary life, human relationships, technology and the respect of nature, within a very creative context to show to the world that it is possible. Of course, for the time being we are simply continuing to perpetuate a hollow, comfortable and uncreative system that has nothing to do with the future, nor with the Mother’s dream. It is a revolution from within that one must envisage. All new ideas are welcome. All new ideas can combine in a balanced and intelligent use of space, where life, human relationships, cultural activity, commerce, and our relationship with nature are all renewed. We have to once again begin to dream in Auroville. If we stop dreaming we will never build Auroville. We dreamt for years with Mother and She had the power to pass Her dream on, and now if we don’t wake up we are risking to forget Her dream after all these years of material difficulty and struggle. To begin with we must learn to become voluntary servitors to be able to take Her dream as far as possible to its fulfillment.

What will be Mairimandir’s relationship to the city?

I believe and continue to respect what Mother said: A spiritual Centre in the middle of the city – a garden zone to protect it – and then immediately after that the city. Matrimandir has to be present in the city – the heart of the city visible from all sides, present everywhere, if one comes up with the right proportions for the gardens – which still remain to be defined. The Matrimandir will be a means of communication; a latent yet anchored presence. I still go against a certain idea that it should be in some way isolated. It has to be a zone of respect, of serenity, of meditation, almost a place of initiation. If it is isolated from the city, then we are dealing with two opposing approaches. Mother also spoke of Matrimandir as a focal point. And the sequence of buildings near Matrimandir is like a setting. It involves research, almost a quest, that has to be undertaken, but I am not here to impose anything – it is up to Auroville to find it, to define itself.

You say all the Aurovilians must participate. Is it feasible that everybody takes up everything? 

For a long time Aurovilians tried to deny my existence. But I think now they recognize the capacities and abilities of everyone. Urbanism is always very complicated because it touches psychoanalytic fields – the dream of everyone to build his own house, and Auroville is the only place in the world where one has the possibility to do so. I think now we have reached the point where we are coming to the end of our wild experiences. One has to accept the necessity of a structure, which does not necessarily exclude marginal experiences. More and more we will be led and forced to respect the Charter and the ideals of Auroville.

As concerns your presence in Auroville – or should we say your repeated bouts of absence—what should one make of it?

As far as I feel myself capable of bringing something to Auroville I will be present. When I am not there, it means I have no desire to waste my energy on internecine struggles that strike me as childish. I was thrown out of Auroville once, I could not bear it another time – I would die.

As far as I can help to bring a dynamic impetus I am ready. But I do not want to redo what I have already done 20 years ago. I do not want to have to go back to the drawing board. Twenty years ago I started a school of architecture in Auroville and formed people capable of building Auroville. Now I no longer have the force, nor the desire to do so. What interests me is that Auroville becomes the bearer of its own message – there, of course, I feel fully involved. Today I can tell the Aurovilians how to start a school of architecture.

When Auroville will be completed, what will Auroville be? 

Auroville will undertake a perpetual search for the future with beings of high quality who will have, for a great deal, overcome their limitations, achieved a true communication, a true fraternity, based on openness, and an understanding of the other in a beautiful and harmonious environment within the context of an exceptional city, where each man’s dream will be part of life, and where experience will always renew itself, integrated in an unending consciousness of spiritual values incarnated in matter, as well as a harmonious balance with nature. I believe Auroville will be a place where man’s fear of not being able to live at the levels of his expectations of himself will be overcome. A certain form of human ego will have been left behind. Conflict and blows will be stimulating instead of destructive. Auroville will be a beautiful city, whose children will be beautiful. I believe in ‘The sun-eyed children’. And I also believe there will be many more Aurovilles in the world, each one different, bearing relation to the particular problems of each country. I believe Auroville will finally become reunited to an inner law and then it will be like a lighthouse – an unbelievable fire. But one will always have to remain vigilant and not allow oneself to be come a sect. I think we have skirted this danger and for the time being, at least, it is not about to resurface. I hope so in any case. I also believe the notion of the elect and the servitors are two different things. We are not the elect. That is madness – we are voluntary servitors, or perhaps chosen servitors.

(October 12th, 1988. Due to lack of space we could publish only extracts of the interview – eds.)