Auroville's monthly news magazine since 1988
Apr 2015 (126 months ago) Download PDF (free download)
A Q&A with Divya and Marco Feira — Interview conducted by Carel
On March 1st, 2015, the Auroville Festival in Chennai was launched at the ITC Grand Chola by the Governor of Tamil Nadu, His Excellency Dr. K. Rosaiah, in the presence of the former Chairman of the Governing Board of the Auroville Foundation, Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, dignitaries of the Tamil Nadu Government, representatives of Auroville’s Governing Board and International Advisory Council and Aurovilians. It was the beginning of a month-long programme which included seminars, lectures, art exhibitions, exhibitions of commercial products and a cultural festival, held in venues all over Chennai.
An inward look — Authored by Kavitha and Ing-Marie
A young boy stood at the table, his pencil hovering over his paper, his mind searching for what to write. He had spun a colourful wheel in the “Quality Game” at the Festival of Ideas held on Mother’s birthday, February 21, and had landed on the word, “Courage”.
Impressions from the event — Written by Alan
The Auroville Retreat, which took place on 12th and 13th March, brought together members of the International Advisory Council (IAC), the Governing Board (GB) and around 160 Aurovilians to examine the present state of Auroville and to draft an action plan for the near future.
A Q&A with Ramesh, Anandamayi and Shahar — Interview conducted by Carel
Auroville was unaffected by the violence that erupted on January 14th in the neighboring village of Bommaiyarpalayam following the brutal daylight murder of the husband of its panchayat president. Traffic on the East Coast Road was blocked for hours, but the violence spread no further. “They knew that Auroville had nothing to do with it,” says Ramesh matter of factly, “so they left us alone.”
A Q&A with L’aura Joy — Interview conducted by Carel
Restorative Circles, a system of conflict resolution which is based on the principles of Nonviolent Communication, is proposed to become part of Auroville’s Conflict Resolution Policy.
Book review — Written by Alan
Prisma has just released a new book that focuses upon one of the most beautiful gardens in an Auroville community. Gaia’s Garden in Auroville contains many photographs, taken through the seasons, of the flowers, trees and interesting corners of this labour of love of Dutch Aurovilian, Kireet Jak, a project which he describes as “an interaction and play with nature waiting for the unexpected surprises of Mother Nature”.
A Q&A with Balu — Interview conducted by Ing-Marie
On the weekend of Mother’s birthday, February 21-22, the Puducherry Village Heritage Festival was held in the neighbouring village of Alankuppam. Just one week prior, the Director of the Tourism Department of the Puducherry Government approached the Mohanam Cultural Centre organizers who had proposed to organize the festival and gave them a green light. Government officials knew of Mohanam’s past work, and were confident it could prepare and execute a successful festival in such a short time period.
Editorial note — Reported by Alan
An open letter — Story by Anonymous Aurovilian
A tribute to
On Wednesday March 4th, Auroville architect Tony Barter suffered a stroke and passed away at his home in Felicity. He was 73 years old. Tony designed distinguished buildings in Israel, Japan and India before joining Auroville 12 years ago. A native of England, he travelled widely and was profoundly influenced by each of the cultures where he lived. In Auroville, Tony initially started out with the then ‘Aurofuture’ team. His interest, and deep concern, has been largely with the town planning of the city. He was also actively involved in participatory meetings on planning, in the renovation of Pondy’s Park Hotel, worked with an architect team on the master plan for Santé, the new Institute for Integral Health on the Crown Road, and co-designed Maitreyi II. Tony’s remains were cremated at Auroville’s Farewell funeral grounds in Adventure on Sunday 8 March.
