Issue Nº346 – News in brief

The Hall of Peace, with its magnificent Peace Table for Asia, envisioned by late George Nakashima and crafted by Nakashima Woodworkers, New Hope, USA, has finally been completed with the installation of seven Conoid Lounge Chairs. Also referred to as Meditation Chairs, these are among Georges Nakashima’s most famous designs, and are also on display in the George Nakashima room of the Metropolitan Museum in New York. The seven chairs have been a joint donation by the Nakashima Peace Foundation, the American Foundation for World Education, the Dutch Stichting Aurofonds and an individual donor. The chairs were inaugurated on February 26th in the presence of members of the Nakashima family.

In response to complaints about poor road quality, the Auroville Earth Institute has clarified that the poured earth concrete road stretch between Certitude and the Solar Kitchen roundabout was made hastily as it had to be opened before the visit of the Prime Minister. Citing technical and human problems as the main reason for the premature erosion, the Earth Institute clarified that the parts that are eroding will be repaired. The 788 m long road was made in 22 days at a cost of around Rs 24.5 Lakhs, or Rs 777 a square metre. This makes it the cheapest and fastest executed road ever made in Auroville.

Since the removal of all speed breakers on Auroville roads for the visit of the Prime Minister, an increase in the speed of both 2 and 4 wheeler traffic has been observed, highlighting road safety concerns. Auroville’s Town Planning Department, together with the Auroville Safety and Security Service team, has identified locations where traffic-calming measures are needed and are studying solutions that allow for ease of driving while reducing speed.

Between 2nd – 5th August, the All USA Meeting 2018 will celebrate Auroville, Matagiri and the California Institute of Integral Studies in their 50th year. The gathering will be held at Matagiri and the Ashokan Center (http://ashokancenter.org/). The theme is “Art as a Bridge”. “Auroville House”, part of Matagiri’s new infrastructure, will also be inaugurated during the event. For more information and registration visit www.matagiri.org/events/.

Stray dogs constitute a public health hazard, sometimes acting aggressively towards people and other pets and disturbing the peace at night by barking. The Auroville Council has constituted a group to conduct a dog audit through mass mail which, it hopes, will lead to a supportive and responsible group of dog owners and dog lovers. Jointly with this group, the Council also intends to write guidelines to help dog owners; find solutions for spots where dogs tend to congregate; and raise funds to be able to sterilize and vaccinate at least 70% of stray dogs in the area to keep the dog population stable.

In order to address the issues and feelings related to discrimination in Auroville, the Auroville Council decided to form a subgroup. Together with members from the community, it plans a year-long focus on this theme through events, courses and multicultural happenings “that celebrate our unity in diversity and enable us to hear and understand each other on a deeper level.” The first event will be the Cross Cultural Dialogue hosted by the Restorative Circle team that will take place on April 28th and 29th.

On the occasion of Auroville’s 50th anniversary, the postal authorities of France and The Netherlands have also issued a special postal stamp.

The Land For Auroville United team has launched a crowdfunding campaign to acquire the lands for Auroville. An estimated 200 million dollars will be needed to purchase all the land in Auroville’s Master Plan area – but right now, it says, “we could do a lot to safeguard Auroville with 20 million dollars!” Direct donations to crowd funding can be made via https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/auroville-land-funding or visit http://land.auroville.org/donate/ or the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Aurovillefunding.