Auroville's monthly news magazine since 1988
Jan 2018 (93 months ago) Download PDF (free download)
An interview with Uma Haimavati Prajapati — Interview by Carel
Auroville Today reported on the social outreach work of Upasana in January 2009, eight years ago. Today Upasana is 20 years old. What direction is it taking now?
A long read — Reported by Carel
Across the road from Humanscapes, a Rs 15 crore (US $ 2.5 million) housing project is coming up, consisting of 42 different-sized apartments, four offices, a caretaker house, a gymnasium and a covered parking for 70 motorbikes. The process of materialization has been tough.
A long read — Reported by Devdip Ganguli and Eric Avril
In September 2017, the Chinese Ambassador to India Mr. Luo Zhaohui visited Auroville and the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. Addressing a gathering at the 68th anniversary celebrations of the People’s Republic of China at New Delhi soon after his visits, Ambassador Zhaohui remembered Hu Hsu.
A long read — Reported by Alan
In December, a group of post-graduate planning students from Queen’s University, Canada, visited Auroville under the auspices of the Auroville Integral Sustainability Institute. This was the fourth time students from Queen’s have visited the community. This time they chose a topic which is both topical and sensitive – growth management of villages in the Green Belt.
A long read — Reported by Elvira, Mukta and Niva
Koodam, Auroville’s conflict resolution referral platform, recently published the “Koodam Impact Analysis Research Report,” presenting an overview of Koodam’s growth and development since 2013 and assessing the impact of its work. A summary.
An event in review
The 5th Auroville Film Festival was held from December 16-23, 2017. With more than 275 films screened in three venues, this edition of the Film Festival was the largest yet.
An interview with Meenakshi and Jonathan — Interview by Alan
A new online English language magazine, Vaasal, has just been released. “We would like this magazine to be an entrance into the world of Tamil ideas, art and culture for anyone in Auroville who is a non-native, from another (village, country, habitat, that place that belongs to you and you to it)” it announces. The first issue includes Sri Aurobindo’s translation of a classic Tamil poem, a simple language ‘hack’ to get people speaking Tamil, an interview with senior Aurovilian, Mahalingam, and advice about local customs. Auroville Today spoke to Meenakshi and Jonathan of the editorial team, to discover more about their intention and their ideas for the future.
Grant for 50th anniversary celebrations The Government of India has made a special grant to the amount of Rs 10 crores for fixed assets expenditure for Auroville’s 50th anniversary celebrations...
50th anniversary update On 29th of December, the 50th anniversary planning team gave an update to the community on planned events...
Fundraising Website A new website showcasing “What Auroville does for the world” – what progressive regenerative practices and culture are developed, demonstrated and taught in Auroville – has been created...
New Entry Board The Auroville Council and the Working Committee have completed the selection of an Entry Board...
L’avenir d’Auroville The new L’Avenir team has announced they will be holding regular interactions with the community...
Road works For many years, Auroviians and guests have suffered from Auroville’s dusty roads...
Exploring Prosperity The exploring prosperity team is investigating how the community can move closer to the system of prosperity as envisaged by The Mother and which operated in the early years of Auroville...
Line of Goodwill In late December, the team which is planning the Line of Goodwill, a megastructure that will stretch from Matrimandir to close by the Visitors’ Center, made their second presentation to the community...
Art for Land The third edition of ‘Art for Land’, in which artists donate work to raise money to acquire land for Auroville, was inaugurated on 1st January at the Unity Pavilion...
Golden Sunbeams A mixed-media outdoor exhibition of works by Auroville artists was held in the boulder garden of the Matrimandir in January...
Remembering
In the early morning of Wednesday 6 December 2017, Hans Pfunder left his body in Marika’s Senior Home in Samasti. Suffering from a terminal illness, his health had been deteriorating over these last years. He would have been 65. Hans, who had trained as an electrician in Germany, had been coming to Auroville in earlier years and joined in June 1996. Living till last year a solitary life in Silence adjacent to Vérité, his self-styled ‘Innovations Unlimited’ supplied Aurovilians with a wide range of handy electronic gadgets that followed the trend of the times. His yearly sojourns in small Buddhist ashrams in Thailand and Myanmar gave him perspective, peace and deep understanding. Hans’ remains were buried at the Adventure grounds on December 9th.
