Auroville’s 50th anniversary

On February 28th 2018, Auroville will celebrate the anniversary of its 50th year. The occasion presents an unprecedented opportunity to honour the birth and vision of Auroville, to increase the recognition of its relevance for India and the world, to attract people of all ages from India and abroad to visit Auroville and participate in the events, and to document and share its journey of 50 years.

The Chairman of the Governing Board of the Auroville Foundation, Dr. Karan Singh, who once described Auroville in Parliament as an ‘arrow shot into the future’, writes: “Auroville is poised for significant growth while moving towards its Golden Jubilee for which a broad array of projects has been planned.”

In 2015, Auroville’s 50th preparatory team was beginning to be deeply involved in envisioning what Auroville’s 50th birthday could look and feel like. As the team collected and sorted through dozens and dozens of ideas and proposals from the Auroville community and from friends around the world, a visualization of how the celebration could take place came to them and this was entrusted to a newly constituted Envisioning Committee to take forward. This new committee, which consisted of two members of the Governing Board, one member of the International Advisory Council and two Working Committee members, took the recommendations of the 50th preparatory group, and evolved a comprehensive programme for the occasion. In December 2016, the Governing Board submitted this finalized proposed programme to the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), requesting funding through a special grant.

The total budget requested was 28.5 crore rupees (approximately US$ 4,3 million) and covered 17 different areas. These included symbolic ceremonies, Auroville presentations in India, conferences, cultural offerings, afforestation projects, a youth hostel and events, an Auroville fair, art installations, celebrations with the neighbouring villages, collaboration with UNESCO, as well as the release of a postal stamp and a commemorative coin. Following the initial budget proposal, many months of juggling with different scenarios took place as we were unsure how much the Government of India would be willing to provide. Budgets for 20 crores, 10 crores, and 2 crores (US $ 3 million, US $1.5 million and US $ 300,000) were carefully prepared.

In order to organize and plan this enormous and invaluable task, the Working Committee asked Chali, Fabienne, and Frederick (as well as Marianna who initially took part) to become the Core Organization Team. Their job is not easy one, for it includes preparing detailed plans, planning event coordination, administration, dealing with media and communications, liaisons and public relations, as well as documentation and information dissemination, and finally monitoring and evaluation. Additionally, as India’s Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi has in principle accepted an invitation to join in the celebration, the anticipated level of activity has increased even further.

In August, the MHRD forwarded some questions regarding the proposed special grant. A response to these questions has been sent but Auroville still awaits news regarding the total amount that may be sanctioned. In the meantime, the 50th core team continues to work on a basic celebration packet, called the ‘bare bones’ budget, which currently totals 75 lakhs (approximately US $ 115,000). Soon, the team will commence additional internal and external fundraising.

Not all Aurovilians rejoice at the prospect of this massive celebration, but when the 50th team organized a meeting at the Unity Pavilion on the 25th of September to provide updates and seek additional support and involvement from the community, people stepped forward with offers to carry and manifest our aspiration for a beautiful celebration. The calendar of tentative events is rapidly growing. When February’s menu unrolls, there will be food for all palates; elaborate and grandiose, as well as quiet and refined.

Frederick, a pioneer, active ambassador of Auroville, and member of 50th core team reflects: "Half a century in the making. My first vision of Auroville was in the Nataraj Temple in Chitambaram. Floating on the dark waves of a heaving sea I looked back and saw the black contours of the coast with a golden glow of a rising city on the hill. I knew I was permitted to make landfall after years of wandering. The first work The Mother gave me was to build a permanent house with cement and bricks to show to the world that we are here for good. That was the rooting. Now comes the spreading, reaching up and out wide to become partners to the world. India is home and nourishment; the nations of the world, our family. I sense the same mounting wave to carry us to our next manifestation – let us surf it together.”