Auroville's monthly news magazine since 1988

Issue Nº313-314

Sept 2015 (122 months ago)
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Auroville’s spirituality

Feature, By Carel

King Aswapati (standing) discusses the fate of Savitri with Narad, the heavenly messenger, while the Queen and Savitri look on

“Auroville is created to realize the ideal of Sri Aurobindo who taught us the Karma Yoga. Auroville is for those who want to do the Yoga of work.

Scenes from Sri Aurobindo’s Savitri

Event review, By Alan

A testimony to stubborn persistence

An interview with Chandresh, By Carel

Chandresh supervising the laying of the optical fibre cable

Watching YouTube is often vexing. Downloading is slow, the wheel appears time and again and much fun fades in the waiting. Auroville’s telephone-based internet of 700-odd lines is limited in capacity and unsuitable for high speed internet access.

Initiators and sustainers

Editorial, By Alan

Economics for People and Earth - Part 2

Book review

The Integral Entrepreneurship Lab (IEL)

An interview with Aurelio, Gijs, Daniel Emden and Torkil, By Alan

From left: Aurelio, Daniel, Torkil, Gijs, Taranti, Mark, Dhanya

One of the most interesting initiatives to emerge out of the Auroville Retreat was the Integral Entrepreneurship Lab (IEL). Here some of the core team talk about its objectives and what they have been working on so far.

“There are many more Aurovilians in the world”

An interview with Kavitha, By Ing-Marie

Kavitha presenting Auroville at the Global Ecovillage Network Summit in Scotland

Kavitha was one of four Aurovilians who recently attended the Global Eco-village Networks’ (GEN) 20+ Summit, held in Findhorn, Scotland. There she represented Auroville as well as Youth Link.

YouthLink takes off

An interview with Kavitha, Vika, Angeli and Luca, By Alan and Ing-Marie

YouthLink office

YouthLink is a new youth group that aims to engage the youth in Auroville and the surrounding area and to work towards providing Auroville youth with, among other things, better opportunities in housing, higher education and employment.

Two new land campaigns

Event review, By Mandakini and Sigrid

The recent land purchase nearby the Matrimandir

The Acres for Auroville Phase Two and GreenAcres campaigns were launched on August 15th.

Reading the runes

Reflection, By Alan

One of the new road signs

A friend of mine would regularly examine the annual 21st February bonfire to see if the coming year would be a good or a bad one for the Auroville community.

A 4000 ladies’ special

Event review, By Inge van Alphen

Performers at the Women’s Solidarity Festival

Six years ago, Auroville Village Action (AVAG) organized its first Women’s Solidarity Festival. Thousands of women from AVAG’s Women’s Self-Help Groups came together in an event that was described as unique, path-breaking and intensely motivating for all participants.

Reviving Vegetable Diversity: A Seed Savers Guide

Book review

Cover - Reviving Vegetable Diversity

Barely twenty years ago, around Puducherry, the staple food was fermented ragi and a particular variety of kambu (Bajra). That variety of kambu is now virtually extinct and today’s staple food is polished white rice.

Journeys: Trajectories of Education & Empowerment among Young Women in The Auroville Bioregion

Book review

பயணங்கள்

The Life Education Centre (LEC) has published Journeys / பயணங்கள், a narrative documenting its 24-year journey since 1991 as seen through the eyes of its graduates and current students.

Integral Yoga: Psychology, Cosmology, Transformational Practice

Art review

Evolution Fast-forward, Part II, Sri Aurobindo’s Integral Yoga

Sopanam Auroville has released its second DVD in the series Evolution Fast-forward. This 50-minutes DVD directed and scripted by Manoj Pavitran gives a brief introduction to Sri Aurobindo and The Mother and their ashram, and then deals with Sri Aurobindo’s concepts of evolution, cosmology, yoga-psychology, parts of the being and principles of transformational practice.

Blessed are those....

Book review

“Blessed are those..

In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the first meeting of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother in 1914, the Sri Aurobindo International Institute of Educational Research (SAIIER) has published its second compilation of remembrances of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother.

Matrimandir and the Park of Unity

Book review

Two and a half years ago, Ireno Guerci presented a photo exhibition in the Unity Pavilion on ‘Matrimandir and the Park of Unity’. The photos were a selection from the many thousand photos that he has taken over the past 30 years of a place that is very close to his heart.

The Path of Later On

Book review

“The path of later on and the road of tomorrow lead only to the castle of nothing-at-all,” is the conclusion of a small boy who, after postponing the day’s chores to tomorrow, has a nightmare which shows him the truth of never putting off till tomorrow what one could do today.

Newcomer housing The Housing Board is struggling to find accommodation for those without funds, as it can on average only allocate five pro bono houses each year.

India Land of Light The Mother once described Sri Aurobindo as having “a face from eternity”. That same quality of deep spiritual timelessness pervades many of the photographs in Aurovilian Olivier Barot’s photo exhibition that premiered on 4th August in the new Kalinka Gallery in Pondicherry.

International Youth Day International Youth Day was celebrated for the first time in Auroville on August 12th. Originally, the United Nations designated this day to draw attention to youth issues worldwide.

Housing issues The Housing Board has published a note on the way its deals with house pricings and transfers. The stewardship of newly-built houses is being allocated at cost price, while the transfer price of existing houses is assessed on the basis of a valuation made by a certified valuator.

Big buses not welcome The Working Committee and Auroville Council are taking action against the presence of big buses in Auroville. Pointing out that the volume of large buses is increasing day by day and that the Auroville roads are not suitable for large vehicles which are, moreover, are putting other road users in danger, all tour organizers have been asked to inform their groups to come by mini-bus.

The Matrimandir: honouring Piero The first part of a film The Matrimandir: Honouring Piero Cicionesi was shown at Cinema Paradiso on August 28th. The film, says its maker François Gautier, shows the true story of the Matrimandir, from the beginning till its completion, which, he writes, “would never have been built without Piero’s quiet and unceasing efforts, day after day, for twenty five years.

Budokan house warming On August 30th, a house-warming of the “Auroville Budokan” (House of Martial Arts), the new Aikido Dojo, at Dehashakti/Dana took place. The formal inauguration will take place during the forthcoming meetings of the Governing Board and International Advisory Council in the beginning of October.

A critique of high rise buidlings As part of a two-day meeting held in Auroville on the topic of affordable housing by the Gubbi Alliance for Sustainable Habitat, an association of habitat professionals and researchers which seeks to mainstream sustainability as a core concern in design, policy and habitat management, Professor Ashok Lall, former Dean of the TVB School of Habitat Studies, New Delhi, presented “A critique of the current belief and accelerating trend toward high-rise high-density as the panacea” on August 22nd at the Multimedia Centre.

The underground rooms of the Amphitheatre The two large underground rooms at the Matrimandir amphitheatre have been cleaned out. The electrical department vacated the room beneath the eastern side of the amphitheatre, which will now be turned into green rooms for all those who will come to perform in the Amphitheatre.

French Pavilion’s third foundation stone The third foundation stone of the Pavilion of France was laid on August 15th, 22 years after the laying of the first Foundation Stone by J.R.D.

Bell of Peace The Peace Bell [see AVToday # 305 of December 2014] has arrived in Auroville during the dawn bonfire on Sri Aurobindo’s birthday, August 15th.

Auroville in a crossword ‘Chance discovery of final archaeologist at Auroville ruins (10)’ is the cryptic crossword puzzle that appeared in The Hindu newspaper on July 11th.