Issue Nº379 – News in brief

The Housing Board decided on the principle that assets that have been left after the passing of an Aurovilian ought to, where possible, be presented to the community as houses against recognised work (formerly pro-bono houses). Some exceptions will be necessary, for example where a house is very large, requires high maintenance etc. In these cases, any funds from the transfers would go into new housing developments. Initial assets identified as being suitable for this process include Roma’s house & Roger’s house.

The selection of new members of four main working groups (the Working Committee, the Auroville Council, the Entry Board and the Funds and Assets Management Committee) took place on January 21st and 22nd in accordance with a selection process that had been approved by the Residents’ Assembly in December 2020.

An unprecedented number of more than 260 people participated in the selection process, which took place in three different locations - the Bharat Nivas Auditorium, the Bhumika Hall and the Unity Pavilion - due to the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Over 70 candidates had expressed their willingness to serve in one of these working groups, contesting a total of 26 vacancies.

The event was organized by the Residents’ Assembly Service. Presentations from the working groups and by the candidates were streamed from the Bhumika hall to the other two venues.

Participants could interact with the presenters via Zoom. In each venue, a facilitator organized the questions and answers sessions. Silent Presence Keepers held the atmosphere and supported on a subtle level throughout the selection process.

Although great care was taken by the Residents Assembly Service to organise a fair and transparent selection process, complications occurred when the selection cards for the Working Committee at the Unity Pavilion were collected. It appeared that in one of the three selection booths, 15 of the 18 boxes had been tampered with. The RAS subsequently annulled the selection of the Working Committee at the Unity Pavilion and organized a re-selection on January 25th and 26th by the selectors from the Unity Pavilion.

On January 28th, the results of the selection process were announced. It appeared that only 12 candidates had passed the quorum of being selected by at least 50% of the total number of selectors, as was stipulated in the approved selection process. The Residents’ Assembly will now be asked to approve that the quorum of 50% will be lowered to 30% in order to fill the 14 remaining vacancies in the Auroville Council (5), the Funds and Assets Management Committee (5), and the Working Committee (4). The vacancies for the Entry Board were all filled.

The tampering of the selection boxes will be investigated. A follow-up article about this matter will be published in a future issue of Auroville Today.

The ‘hangout’ is a space where people of all ages can come together socially, have some refreshments, chat with friends, read the newspaper, play games, learn Tai Chi or Quigong, enjoy regular dance nights and other such activities. It’s an informal thing intended for having fun and increasing fraternity. The hangouts happen every Saturday between 2:30 and 5pm and everybody is welcome.

On 27th January Solitude farm invited people to participate in a food performance with live music. They were blindfolded at Solitude Cafe’s entrance and guided through a localicious, vegan, seven-course meal of locally-grown food and fusion cuisine. This is a co-created event where, together with special live music, food, and facilitators, people were invited to open all their senses to the blessing of Mother Nature’s nutritional gifts.

Auroville has purchased 13.72 new acres of fertile agricultural land near Irumbai Lake across from the Irumbai Temple. This vital addition to Auroville’s land area was funded by private donations to Acres for Auroville. Acres for Auroville write that we urgently need to secure valuable farmland for Auroville as the “basecamp for regenerative agriculture”. Why? Auroville’s farmers are committed to working for Auroville’s goal of self-sufficiency in food. However, Auroville’s financial support available for investing in land – and the associated needed infrastructure – food processing capacity, irrigation systems, solar energy, training and research etc. – is very limited. Auroville’s regenerative work, research and outreach in regenerating poor soils in order to grow food, and its experience in practising agriculture with greatly reduced water use, are key elements for the future for food production not only in Auroville but also for India.

Hundreds of visitors and Aurovilians visited the 3-day Auroville International Potters Market held at the Visitors’ Centre from January 24-26. Artists from all over India and Auroville displayed their pottery.

The Citizens’ Assembly and Auroville Water Group invited people to watch some video's of Aurovilian water players reflecting on our water situation. Throughout the months of February and March, videos presented in the recent Citizens’ Assembly on water will be shown in the Multi Media Centre every Thursday at 4:30pm.

As agreed earlier, the ABS monthly meetings now take place on the second Monday of every month. The aim of the regular monthly ABS meetings is to hear and address the concerns and needs of our services, and to build together a flourishing Services and Prosperity economy for Auroville, as envisioned by The Mother.

After an incident with a verbally aggressive visitor, Santé has issued a public statement that Santé is an essential service to the Auroville community and it is intended as a place of healing and care, and not a space for conflict resolution.

The Auroville Health Services (AVHS), which provides social and medical homecare for senior Aurovilians, is often asked to extend this service to the elderly parents of long term Aurovilians who, for health reasons, need to be with their children in Auroville. AVHS has, however, stated that this facility is not available and that Aurovilians need to organise such homecare themselves or via a professional homecare provider.

The month of January 2021 has seen an unprecedented rainfall of 208.3 millimetres, against a monthly average (calculated over the last 44 years) of 12 millimetres. This is an increase of 1720.7%.

The 6th annual edition of Art for Land opens on 31st January at the Unity Pavilion. We invite you to join us as we celebrate a month of ‘art with heart’ by very talented artists, musicians and performers from all over. The entire month will be devoted to our enriched art exhibition and will include concerts, performances, stimulating talks and other favorite events, including the Grace Lottery and the annual Generosity Fair!

Art for Land has already made a significant contribution to Auroville’s land consolidation and is a recognized showcase for the creativity of Auroville’s artists, and artist friends from the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, the AVIs, India and abroad. Each of the participating artists has generously donated works to support Auroville’s land, and we sincerely thank them for their great generosity and the creative inspiration they share. In addition to the high quality of the artworks and the Exhibition, there will be weekly events, with several broadcast live from the Unity Pavilion. Works can be viewed and reserved at the Unity Pavilion.

(daily 10 AM to 4 PM) or online at artforland.in

The Working Committee reported that the minutes of the last meeting of the former Governing Board, held on line on November 7th, 2020, have still not been received for information to the community. The term of office of the former Governing Board ended on November 15th; the appointment of the Chairman and members of the next Governing Board is still awaited, as is the appointment of new members of the International Advisory Council (vacant for the last four years) and the appointment of the Secretary of the Auroville Foundation (vacant since July 2019). The government of India also substantially reduced its normal grant for Auroville. In the financial year 2020-2021, a total amount of Rs 1.5 crores has been received while the Auroville Foundation had submitted a request for the usual amount of about Rs16 crores.

A branch office of the Auroville Foundation Secretariat in Pondicherry was inaugurated on January 1st, 2021. The space at 46, Marwadi Street, Kurchikuppam, Pondicherrry - 605012 (Ph: 0413-2222007), made available by the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, will serve as a liaison office.