Issue Nº362 – News in brief

The BCC announced that the budget for 2019-20 is ready and has been endorsed by the FAMC. 35 new full-time maintenance have been provided. The Auroville City Service contribution to be paid individually has been increased by 5% to Rs. 3,475 but this contribution is automatically waived for Aurovilians receiving a full-time City Service maintenance. Those with a half City Service maintenance will only need to pay half the contribution.

This year, the BCC focused on how to build on the basic Care Package, which includes the Health Fund, Lunch Scheme and In-Kind scheme and made adjustments only in the Cash and Kind amounts.

A guidebook has been published on Auroville’s architecture written by Aurovilian architect, Anupama Kundoo, and Y. Joshi. The guidebook includes four Auroville itineraries structured around the experimental township’s Master Plan and a fifth itinerary located in Auromodèle, which is outside the main part of the city. Three Pondicherry architecture itineraries are also included. Published by Altrim Publishers.

On Saturday, 17th August, there was a meeting of all European pavilion groups to discuss the future of the European House.

On the 24th of August 2019, simultaneous concentrations for peace in the world happened around Auroville’s Peace Table in the Unity Pavilion and simultaneously around Peace Tables in Moscow and New York.

YouthLink has launched a Part-Time Parent Initiative based upon the experience of two Newcomers who have developed a Part-Time Parenting process in their lives. It is a wonderful opportunity for potential parents and grandparents to connect with and provide support for younger generations.

Shortly after a General Meeting held on the topic of these Regulations on 12th April, 2019, the Working Committee updated the Governing Board about this meeting and informed the Board about a section in the Form I of the 2019 Regulations stating that “[...] Ownership of immovable assets in the Green Belt Area of the Auroville Master Plan is only allowed with the written permission of the Auroville Foundation.”

Since this clause has been inserted without prior approval of the Residents’ Assembly or the Governing Board, the Working Committee has requested the Board to instruct the Secretary that this section will not be used, and that no written permission of the Auroville Foundation will be given to any resident of Auroville to own immovable assets in the Greenbelt Area of the Auroville Master Plan. Meanwhile, 523 Auroville residents signed a petition objecting to this clause and proposing it be replaced.

Further amendments to the draft on entry and exit have been proposed and the Working Committee intends to have all these amendments approved by the Residents’ Assembly before these are submitted to the Governing Board for further approval and action. The Working Committee has decided to call for a General Meeting on September 3rd at the Unity Pavilion to update the community on the petition and the proposed amendments on the Entry and Exit topic.

UTSAV (meaning Celebration) – a mixed use commercial and residential development – along the Verite Radial in the Industrial Zone, is ready for the last phase of Building Application. The project offers space for offices, workshops and much needed volunteer accommodation.

In a presentation to the Residents Assembly on 23rd August, the Working Committee reported that while there is agreement that private development within the Master Plan is one of the most serious challenges facing Auroville, there is no consensus on the possible solution. On one side there are apprehensions that the constitution of a New Town Development Authority (NDTA) will infringe the autonomy of the Auroville Foundation, that it will not be an adequate guarantee that the Auroville Master Plan will be respected, and that an NTDA will bring more administrative and bureaucratic work.

Others felt that only a statutory land use approved by an appropriate planning authority has a strong grounding to be legally enforced. New proposals are being explored, also in view of the new Combined Building and Development Regulations recently approved by the Tamil Nadu government.

The new extension of the CRIPA building for performing arts was opened on Sunday, 25th August. Live music was provided by Matt, Holger, Suryan and Dhani.

Charlie reports that the Aurogreen community has received 260.90 mm this year so far. This represents a deficit of 29.23% over the average for this period for the past 42 years. There was no rain at all in the first four months of the year, and little in May, which meant that the deficit for the first five months of the year was 93%. However there has been more rain than average in both July and August, although there is still a 35% deficit for the south west monsoon period that runs from June until the end of September.

Charlie cautions that there are big rainfall differences in Auroville during the south west monsoon, and some parts of the city may have received as much as 30% - 40% more rain during this south west monsoon than communities like his towards the east.

Some time ago the Residents Assembly Service received a petition signed by 93 residents calling for a Residents Assembly to discuss and decide on the next steps for choosing the manner in which members for Auroville working groups are selected. At a General Meeting on the topic it was decided to constitute three task forces: to review our selection process, our organization, and to revive the Residents Assembly. The task forces reported back on their progress so far at a General Meeting on 20th August. More meetings are planned.

The Matrimandir executives are starting a new international open design call for the next four gardens around the Matrimandir, namely Light, Life, Power and Wealth. The previous open design experiment for the Garden of the Unexpected last year was quite successful and we would like to use a similar format for the new process. But this time it will be done in a more participatory manner and the community will be involved from the beginning in giving inputs for the design brief. Once it is finalized, it will be sent to potential members of the expert panel and landscape designers all around the world. Aurovilian designers are also invited to participate.

On 10th August, in Cinema Paradiso there was the premiere of a documentary, The Saints of Pondicherry, on an old people’s home for the destitute and homeless in Pondicherry, which was founded by Aurovilian Albert Zwaan who passed away some years ago. It was a very moving event as all the residents and staff attended, including Royal, the manager, who was Albert’s adopted son.

The Working Committee said that garbage dumping is taking place in and around Auroville by some Aurovilians/Auroville units and restaurants. They reminded the community that as responsible citizens it is our duty to keep our environment clean and set a good example and urged that everybody makes use of the efficient and effective services provided by EcoService.

For some time the weekly community news bulletin, News and Notes, has not been published as the editors are busy trying to create a sustainable basis for the work. In the interim, the Auronet administrators have put out a weekly news summary of some of the messages published on Auronet and on email mass bulletins.

The organizing group has received overwhelming support from the community for the decision to ban photography at the 15th August bonfire. It was felt that this resulted in a much quieter, more concentrated and dedicated atmosphere. The vast majority of visitors were also very respectful of the ban. The ban on cameras and cell phones will remain for the bonfire on Auroville’s birthday, 28th February, 2020.

The organizing group is working to ensure that next time the latecomers are provided with comfortable facilities while they wait, including the audio of the sound track played in the Amphitheatre, and that they do not create a disturbance when they are allowed to enter the Amphitheatre after the meditation has finished.

The human library concept brings together people who might not normally meet to hear each other’s stories to challenge stereotypes and prejudices through dialogue. YouthLink had already organized two such events and for the third one on International Youth Day they invited older generations to come to hear the voices of the youth.

Savitri Bhavan has set up a flower nursery. They explain that it is “dedicated to the spiritual atmosphere that flowers create. Here we grow environmentally adapted plants with joyful loving care, whose flowers are given spiritual significance by the Mother. They will be offered to Auroville and the world as spiritually significant gifts. The aim is to grow in individual and collective consciousness by growing, exchanging and offering plants with spiritual significance that we intimately relate to; to create a field of synergy with people who consciously support it in diverse ways; and to inspire people to perceive and co-create beauty and harmony.”

AVSST is working hard to redirect visitors’ vehicles to the Visitor Center parking and make sure people who might disrupt the community are not let in. They reported that since January, 2019, over 452,000 visitors have come to Auroville. 100,700 vehicles have used the Visitors Center parking.

33,800 vehicles entered the main part of Auroville. Most visitors have been very cooperative, but 218 vehicles did not stop at check-posts.

Although there is no “retirement” in Auroville in the sense it is used in the outside world it is felt that after a certain age a maintenance paid to an Aurovilian should not be tied anymore to a particular workplace or a particular work s/he is doing for the community. Aurovilians above a certain age should be free to decide how they contribute to the community and be able to concentrate completely on their own yoga and spiritual work and physical needs. Aurovilians should be able to leave a workplace and have security that they will receive maintenance after a certain age.

A study group has formed to see how to manifest this ‘Silver Fund’ for older Aurovilian

An eight day course in Film Appreciation: History & Aesthetics Course given by noted film academician Prof. Sudipto Acharyya, will take place in early October at MMC/Cinema Paradiso.

There was a presentation on Universal Basic Income and the Sustainable Development Goals by Hilde Latour, a Basic Income activist from the Netherlands. The talk was part of a collaborative series with researchers and activists of Universal Basic Income launched at The Bridge, Auroville’s 50th anniversary conference.

It will be followed by an exploratory workshop on basic income in the Auroville context, at the Unity Pavilion in September.