Auroville's monthly news magazine since 1988
Nov 2017 (95 months ago) Download PDF (free download)
A long read — Reported by Carel
On October 23rd, at the end of a three-day selection process, the community selected a new eight-member team for the Town Development Council (TDC) Interface Team. Unlike previous Town Development teams, six of them are women.
A Q&A with Anu Majumdar, Christian, Tejaswini, David Nightingale, Ganesh Bala, Helmut and Anupama Kundoo — Interview by Alan
A Q&A with Louis Cohen and Ananda — Interview by Alan
Sunship is a new housing complex of thirty nine apartments, and was conceived as the next step after the Citadines experiment in pioneering a different kind of collective housing in Auroville. On September 30th, it held an open house. Auroville Today spoke to Louis, the project holder, and Ananda, the architect from the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, to find out more.
A Q&A with Suhasini and Sonja — Interview by Alan
The Humanscapes project is designed to accommodate Aurovilians and interns between the ages of 20 - 40 years. The first phase, which is approaching completion, will provide 36 beds in apartments varying from studio size to shared groupings and larger family apartments. Auroville Today spoke to the architect, Suhasini, and to Sonja of the Housing Service, which is the project holder, to find out more.
Reflection — Authored by Tency
Traveling during the early seventies through the Indian subcontinent brought me to Agra. One afternoon, I found myself sitting on the borders of the Yamuna River while watching a sand barge being loaded right behind the Taj Mahal. The boat was connected to the sand loading place by a gangway. Laborers went up it with a head load of sand and down it with their empty cane woven baskets. The ongoing work was like a choreographed play, there was no talking, no sound, just a lone mother and her young child playing near the waterfront. The peaceful and graceful movements of the up and down rhythm of the workers, amplified by a surrounding silence with only the river water playing against the border, was like experiencing a visual mantra, slowly penetrating and transporting me to another reality. For a time, it felt like stepping into a timeless painting. It was an extraordinary soothing experience. I had no camera and could only retain the image within, keeping it embedded as a very special moment during a period when my journey was not yet clearly defined.
Book review
The theme of this year’s Matrimandir desk calendar is “Beauty mirrors God’s Delight”. The photos inside show the Matrimandir from the perspective of the Garden of Conscious-ness. Quotations from The Mother and Sri Aurobindo matching the flower theme of the photo are printed on the calendar page. Price: Rs 170 .
A set of Art Greeting Cards, featuring beautiful photos with the Matrimandir, is now available. The cards come with a short quote of The Mother or Sri Aurobindo on the upper second page. The cards are packed with a white envelope and sealed in a plastic cover. Price per set of 16 cards: Rs 320.
The Auroville Planner 2018 has as cover photo a wall painting at the Auroville Youth Center: ‘Le Petit Prince’ or ‘The Little Prince’, the well-known tale by Antoine de Saint Exupéry. Inside, 12 colorful photos depict daily life in Auroville. Each photo is accompanied by a short quote of The Mother or Sri Aurobindo. Format 11 x 16 cm, price Rs. 190. All prices are excluding packing and postage. All profits will be donated to the Matrimandir. For orders contact [email protected] or [email protected]
UNESCO draft resolution The Government of India has submitted a draft resolution for the upcoming General Conference of UNESCO...
Road improvements The Town Development Council has informed that in view of the visit of the Prime Minister in February 2018 new roadworks will be on the way soon...
Women’s Solidarity Festival Auroville Village Action celebrated the 21st edition of the Annual Women’s Solidarity Festival...
Garbology Integrated The Education Secretary for Tamil Nadu has agreed to integrate a Garbology chapter into the Social Studies textbooks for two grades and the Garbology information boxes for grades 1-10...
Auroville Library of Things (ALoT) The Auroville Library of Things (ALoT), which has been operating for six months, is gradually developing into a useful community service...
Evolution Fast-Forward The three Evolution Fast-Forward videos are now all freely available for streaming in their entirety online...
Correction Walk of Hope The list of 50th anniversary projects mentioned in our previous issue contains a mistake...
A tribute to
On October 8th, Andrey Grigorachtchenko from Russia passed away in Djaima at the age of 58. Called by Auroville’s ideals, Andrey first came to Auroville in 1985 where he was welcomed as the first Russian and lived for a short while in Ekta, Auromodèle. He went back to Russia to make some money and returned in 1997 with his wife Svetlana and their two young sons, Terentij and Ivan. Andrey’s remains were buried at Adventure’s burial grounds on October 12th.
