Issue Nº343 – News in brief

The continuous reading of Sri Aurobindo’s epic poem Savitri will start in the Savitri Bhavan, Sangam Hall on Monday 19.02.2018 at 3a.m. (‘The hour before the Gods awake’). Four hundred and seventy one people from all over the world are participating, representing ninety-nine countries and states around the world. They have responded to the invitation to provide video or audio recordings of Savitri passages assigned to them.

These recordings have been assembled to create a continuous reading, starting from the Ashram in Pondicherry and circling the earth from east to west following the sun, to end in Auroville, the City of the Dawn on the Mother’s Birthday, February 21, 2018. The corresponding Savitri text is being added in the form of subtitles to each filmed reading, along with the reader’s name and country. The ‘parayan’ is expected to take about 48 hours. The final product will be simultaneously released on YouTube so that it can be viewed from around the world. The project has been initiated by Auroville International France and Auroville International The Netherlands and is hosted and supported by Savitri Bhavan.

Participants come from India ( Puducherry, West Bengal, Assam, Gujarat, Goa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, New Delhi, and Uttarakhand); Central and West Asia – Nepal, Tibet, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Iran, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan; Africa – Egypt, Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Rwanda, Madagascar, Reunion, South Africa, Ghana, Senegal and Algeria; Europe – Greece, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Moldova, Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Lithuania, Poland, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Netherlands, United Kingdom, and Ireland; North America – Canada (Québec, Ontario, Alberta), USA (Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York City, Virginia, Ohio, Atlanta, Wisconsin, Missouri, Colorado, Washington, California, New Mexico, Texas); Central America and the Caribbean – Mexico, Haïti, Trinidad and Tobago; South America – Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, and Colombia; Oceania – French Polynesia (Tahiti), New Zealand, Australia (Victoria, New South Wales, Western Australia); East Asia – Philippines, Japan, South Korea, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka.

On the initiative of the Auroville units Restorative Auroville, Prisma, Auroville Village Action and Aikyam School, Auroville hosted a Walk of Hope for Peace and Human Unity to spread the message of oneness, inclusion and respect among Aurovilians and the village communities around Auroville on January 28th and 29th. The walk was led by Sri M. (Madhukarnath), a spiritual guru, educationist and social activist, who had taken out a 700 kilometres ‘Walk of Hope’: from Kanniyakumari, the southern tip of India, to Kashmir in 2015-2016.

On the first day, the 10 kilometre walk started at the Irumabai temple and traversed Kottakarai, Bharatipuram, Auroville’s International Zone, Edaiyanchavai and concluded at Aikyam School in Kuilapalayam. The next day, a shorter 3.5 kilometre walk took place from Auroville through Alankuppam, ending at the mosque in Rayapettai. A brief address by Sri M. in Tamil and English, and planting a tree at each stop was part of the schedule.

Many people from among Aurovilians, guests and villagers joined the walk, as did the Lt. Governor of Pondicherry, Ms. Kiran Bedi.

A conversation between Sri M is and the Chairman of the Auroville Foundation Dr. Karan Singh, can be heard at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmpbbTmBHk8.