Embracing the multiplicity of opportunity

When Lili arrived in Auroville with her mother and sister at the age of three, all of them “fell in love” with the place. Even though the family bounced between 17 houses in their first five years in Auroville, Lili describes her childhood as “fantastic”, thanks to the freedom kids were given to pursue their interests. “We ran around barefoot, and experienced so many cultures and languages,” she says. “I realise now, coming back from living abroad, what a privilege it was to grow up here. There’s beauty in the opportunity we have here.”

When Lili was eight, the family finally moved into their semi-completed house in Sukhavati, designed by her architect mother, Jana. As the second floor was still being constructed, the three women slept in the kitchen for a year. “We would pack the bed away in the morning, and the building work would continue,” recounts Lili, “and in the evenings, Mum would clear away the dust, and would unpack our bed again.” After a year of building, the house was finally finished on Christmas Eve, and the sisters celebrated having rooms of their own. “My sister was happy about that, as I used to kick a lot in my sleep!”

As Lili went through Transition school, she also did ballet, hip hop and Bharatnatyam dance, and made regular appearances in Johnny’s plays. She and her sister also became passionate about horses. Their first horse, Twinkle, was an injured thoroughbred rescued from a racecourse in Chennai. And a second horse, Monica, soon joined the family.

When she was 14, Lili went to Kodaikanal International School in southern Tamil Nadu, but was surprised to find that the curriculum didn’t challenge her. “That experience was a real validation of Auroville’s educational system, because we Auroville kids were so far ahead.”

She and her sister had shifted their horses to Kodaikanal, in an arrangement where Lili taught the landowner’s daughters to ride. The mountain weather was much better for the horses than the humidity of Auroville, so even though Lili disagreed with the philosophy of the school, she stayed on in order to remain connected to the horses. But after 18 months, she eventually decided to go abroad.

Education Abroad

Her first experience of the European education system was in Germany, which was a “big shock”. Although Lili had previously visited Germany once a year to see her father and grandmother, she was faced with a different reality in the form of cold weather, heavy clothes, and the difficulty of studying subjects like physics and history in German. “I realised my German was really archaic. Mum spoke Hochdeutsch [high German] and had read Goethe and great literature to us, so I didn’t understand the way German teenagers spoke. It was a culture shock. English was the language I was comfortable in. And this small school in a small town had been told an Indian girl would be joining them, and then I turned up with blonde hair and blue eyes!”

After six months in Germany, Lili gained a scholarship to a boarding school run by Quakers in England. “It was very Harry Potter,” says Lili about the school, “with prefects and four houses. It was another big change for me.” She found interesting parallels between Auroville’s values and the way in which the Quaker community functioned. “Their decision-making process as a community is similar to the Auroville general assemblies where people discuss and make decisions by general consensus,” she says. “The spiritual side of the school suited the part of me brought up in Auroville. I liked the cultivation of the thoughtful side of seeking and interpreting.”

After finishing school, Lili wanted to study theatre and art at a university. She decided to remain in England and start a Bachelors Degree at the University of Birmingham. Studying theatre in England proved to be very different from treading the boards in Auroville. “I realised I’d been a medium sized fish in a very small pond,” she says. “I lost some confidence as I encountered the grueling, competitive audition process. There’s a lot of rejection, a lot of being told that you’re not right for a role. But, still, I loved it. I met a lot of great people.”

Lili also got involved with environmental activism at university. Her lived experience of Auroville’s non-consumerist lifestyles collided somewhat with the life experiences and attitudes of her fellow students. “I was baffled by how little life experience people my age had in the UK.”

During her studies in England, Lili continued to nurture her passion for horses. She volunteered at a horse rescue centre, and worked towards gaining her British Horse Society (BHS) qualifications as a rider, yard manager and horse riding instructor. After she completed her bachelor degree, her volunteer role evolved into a full-time apprenticeship that involved more than 10 hours work per day. The horse centre was visited by youths and convicts who came to learn horsemanship as part of their rehabilitation activities. “Here I was, a young woman telling a bunch of grown men who’d committed a criminal offence that they had to shovel shit! Most of them were lovely, but they didn’t want to be there. And combined with rescued horses that were not yet safe, it was really challenging. But in terms of developing confidence and leadership, it was a good exercise for me.”

Lili stayed on in Birmingham to do her masters degree in fine art. By this time she had moved out of a shared house with other student friends, and was living with her then partner. To fund her studies, she worked full-time at a BHS riding school and eventually attained her formal riding instructor qualification, all while trying to progress in her studies and sculpture practice. “Anyone in the equine industry will tell you it’s a lot of work. Mucking out horse stables is surprisingly good as a repetitive manual work that allows the mind space for creativity and ideas to take shape.”

Lili’s masters degree focused on philosophy and sculpture, and her thesis explored embodied ways of knowing. Her final artwork also had a connection to Auroville. It was a life-size floating polar bear sculpture made out of dried cotton maché that was shipped to Birmingham by Auroville Papers, who guided Lili over the phone about the technical aspects of completing her sculpture.

Returning “home”

After finishing her masters degree three years ago, a couple of factors spurred Lili to return to Auroville. Her grandmother had developed dementia and had moved to Auroville. Lili wanted to help her mother care for her, and she also wanted to pursue a natural horsemanship project with some other Aurovilians. The horsemanship project quickly fell through, but Lili soon after observed the Treehouse Community team building a small treehouse in Forecomers. “I was so impressed with the fluidity in the team, the consciousness and the dynamic of how they worked together. I thought, ‘I want to be part of that team!’” Lili had done some woodwork in her masters degree, so the team was willing to try her out. Over three years, she learned many aspects, including arborism, forestry, rope-assisted climbing, engineering, design, woodwork and carpentry. “Every tree offers a different shape and opportunity,” she says, “so every treehouse is different – it’s a very creative and innovative way of building.”

Lili describes the Tree House Community as a “special” team of people who have become family. “This embodies what Auroville should be, how a community can work. You have to be conscious because the work is very challenging, so everyone has to pull their own weight. As a team we each individually try to hold ourselves accountable and be reliable. It’s wonderful yet difficult to be working with your friends because you have to be honest and critical, as well as supportive and find ways of making it work.” Lili also speaks about the importance of sustaining alternative lifestyles such as treehouse living, saying that her team hopes to show that a treehouse can be a comfortable home, while also being part of the ecosystem and a way for people to reduce their carbon footprint.

Horses continue to be a big part of Lili’s life. At Ashwaganda in the Auroville forest, she practises ‘natural horsemanship’, a training approach that uses play to teach humans to understand horse psychology and what the horse is communicating, and teaches the horse to be a little more human – an interrelationship that develops confidence and trust.

Theatre also continues to be a passion for Lili. Her most visible role was that of the heroine Fleur in Jesse’s 2018 play Message in a Bottle. “It was challenging and exciting, with a huge cast of more than 30 people, with elaborate and beautiful costumes and set.” She has continued with theatre training, most notably doing a workshop with visiting French theatre practitioner Ariane Mnouchkine from Théâtre de Soleil. For the Auroville production of British comedy Noises Off, Lili built a complex set with nine entrances and exits, staircases and windows, which could be completely turned around as part of the production. “The actors had to climb in and out of the doors and windows, and the turning of the set worked perfectly and was the highlight of the play to me!” She constructed the set with help from the Treehouse Community, and used pipes from Matrimandir’s scaffolding.

More recently, Lili was cast in a small but pivotal role in a Tamil psychological thriller film, Pisasu (devil), by Chennai-based director Mysskin. Playing a German woman who falls in love with a tribal Indian man, Lili’s scenes – as the mother of the lead character – will be included as flashbacks to the main narrative. “It’s extraordinary to witness a film being made. I had to deliver my [German and Tamil] lines in front of three cameras and a crew of forty. Mysskin was excited about my experience in theatre acting, and asked me to help the other actors act more authentically, which was intimidating as they are experienced film actors!”

Currently on a break from working with the Treehouse Community, Lili now juggles three afternoons a week working in Quiet Healing Centre’s reception, along with a role as a trainee surfing instructor in Auroville’s Kallialay Surf School at Serenity beach. “From the trees to the ocean, it’s a big change! I’m supporting the instructors, and surfing as much as I can to improve my skills.”

As to the many strings in her bow, Lili quips, “Too many I think sometimes!” While financial security takes a back seat to shaping a meaningful life, Lili questions how young Aurovilians with scant financial resources are supposed to survive in Auroville. “If someone wants to build a house, how are they supposed to do it? Or to travel? It’s unfeasible on a maintenance. Even in India, it’s challenging to put aside money. I would like to engage with India and not be separate from it. I’d like to travel around India on my motorbike and visit artists and institutions and understand the contemporary art scene, as I’d like to learn more about training or collaborating with different groups or institutions of young people.”

While Lili emphasises that Auroville is “home” and holds possibilities for growth, she’s also open to spending more time outside. “I’m trying to find a thread where I feel fulfilled in what I’m curious about, and what I can contribute to Auroville and the world at large. I’m trying to find the silver lining that ties together art, performance and sports.”

Lili credits her mother Jana with being a “spectacular” role model and for giving her a sense “that I can do whatever I want.” She sees her form of integral yoga as being “fully present in a craft”, whether it is performance, dance or sculpting, as long as it is “bringing some truth in the process of making.”