Issue Nº343 – In Memoriam

On January 29th, Nisha (K. Nishanthi), who worked as a nurse in Santé, left her body after a prolonged illness in Nallam Clinic. Her husband Raj and other family members were with her. She would have been 30 this year.

Hailing from Chidambaram, Nisha came to Auroville and, when working as a nurse in the Pondicherry Institute of Medical Science, PIMS, married Raj, who works as sysop in the Auroville Language Lab. She joined Auroville in 2013 and lived in Inspiration. Being a trained nurse with earlier experience in other hospitals, she came to work in Santé.

Nisha’s remains were buried the same day in Auroville’s burial grounds at Adventure.

On January 19th Chris Gray left his body in his Yantra after suffering a stroke. He was 75 years old.

Chris first arrived in Auroville in the early seventies, travelling overland in his blue Mercedes van. On reaching Promesse, he said he suddenly perceived a difference in the atmosphere which he later identified as the atmosphere specific to Auroville.

During his first ten years in Auroville, besides stewarding the land, he also started a first bread and biscuit bakery with Thomas (of Gratitude) in Aspiration and, together with Larry, Sundaram and Roy set up an oil drum oven in a Palmyra grove in Kottakkarai to create a bakery that made whole grain breads. Together with Jack Alexander, he also started and ran the first bike repair facility at Abri and trained local boys to twist wrenches on Raleigh and Atlas bikes.

Having teamed up with Jocelyn B, the couple went temporarily back to the USA in 1982. In the States, Chris was offered a job in marble work, a profession and knowledge that turned out to be of crucial importance when the marble work at Matrimandir began. Chris traveled many times to advise the Matrimandir team on the quality and particulars of the marble needed, taught them how to cut and clean it, and worked with the team for months at a time.

In 2001 he returned to Auroville for good and worked as a much appreciated massage therapist in Quiet. He also instituted a “Bike Repair Kiosk” near the Solar Kitchen to make simple repair needs available to the two wheeled converts to cycling in Auroville.

A small video clip of his work at the Matrimandir can be seen at goo.gl/jRdPmw.

His remains were buried on January 22nd at the Adventure burial and cremation grounds.