Auroville's monthly news magazine since 1988
Nov 2021 (47 months ago) Download PDF (free download)
Feature — Words by Peter
A look back at the event
Feature
On October this year, the Ministry of Education of the Government of India appointed Auroville’s new Governing Board and new International Advisory Council. On these pages we present a brief overview of the new members. The data and pictures, where available, have been gleaned from the Internet.
A Q&A with Sanjeev Ranganathan — Conversation led by Alan
Dr. Sanjeev Ranganathan is the initiator of the STEM Land educational experiment, (STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths) which we covered at its inception six years ago [see Auroville Today # 317]. What is STEM Land, how has it developed, what has it achieved, and what are the plans for the future?
Feature — Words by Alan
Feature — Words by Divya Lieser
Reflection — Words by Alan
Experiences — Words by Peter
A Q&A with — Conversation led by Archana
Feature — Words by Lesley
Auroville’s Centre d’Art in Citadines hosted two photography exhibitions concurrently in October, with photographs by Auroville’s Eric Chacra and Chennai-based photographer Arun.
Phone tower concern On the instruction of the Auroville Foundation, a Vodafone antenna tower was installed on the roof of Mitra Hostel, in the densely residential area nearby the Town Hall...
Emergency RAD A total of 343 registered residents participated in an Emergency Residents Assembly Decision (RAD) called by the Working Committee to decide if a so-called Provisional RAD process is to be used until a new RAD process is in place, which, it is hoped, will manifest within 9 months...
Aadhar camp At the end of October, an Aadhar Card Camp was organised in Auroville for two days for holders of Entry Visa, Indian Aurovilians and Overseas Citizens of India...
ATDC’s responses to Crown questions The Auroville Town Development Council (ATDC) has responded to a number of questions posed by residents during the ATDC’s presentation concerning the Crown on September 10th in short video clips posted on Youtube...
Monsoon rainfall Rainfall in the months of July and August (the south-west monsoon) was significantly higher than average (163 & 198 mm compared to the average of 73 & 129 mm)...
COVID cases in Auroville After some time with no positive COVID cases in Auroville, five Aurovilians contracted COVID 19 in October (as recorded by the Santé Coordination team)...
India allows foreign tourism Lockdown restrictions in India are being lifting in increments...
Honouring
At noon on Sunday 10 October, Gerard Carabin passed away in his room at Marika House due to issues related to Parkinson’s Disease. He was 73 years old. Gerard was born in Paris and came to join Auroville in 1973 at the age of 25 after watching J.P. Elkabach’s documentary on Auroville, which includes a Darshan of the Mother. A bass player in the Paris music scene, he arrived in Auroville where he was offered work in the construction of Auromodele with Pierre Elouard and Cristo, for this was the need of the time. A film lover and passionate about cinema, soon enough he started to organise film screenings in Auroville. First in 16mm, then with a set of two 35 mm portable Russian film projectors in Aspiration, and then in different places, like Certitude, the Auditorium at Bharat Nivas, and Fraternity, all under the umbrella of the service he created with friends and called Aurofilm. They would also do film screenings in the neighbouring villages with Poppo, assisted by some young Aurovilians like Selvaraj, Raman and others. SAIIER was created in the early 80s under the inspiration of Shri Kireet Joshi, and Aurofilm was an obvious inclusion. At Aurofilm, apart from doing research in cinema and presenting films to the community, Gerard made a number of short films, from documentaries to fiction and poetic or experimental expression. In 1986 he went for a trip to Paris to make a film on Pondicherian Bharata Natyam dancers Pichaya and Vasanty Manet, and there he also worked for nearly a year as projectionist at the French Cinémathèque (equivalent to the National Film Archive). Sri Aurobindo and Mother have always been his inspiration. In the early 80s, during the ‘fight’ with the SAS, he was one of the Aurovilians going to jail, wanting to help Auroville to stay free from these ‘forces’. But in 1988 the Auroville Foundation was about to be created and the Government was taking over. Like some other Aurovilians, Gerard (along with his then partner Surya) left for France, only to return for good at the end of 1994: whatever the situation, Auroville was his home and dream. Gerard and Surya restarted the film screenings in the Sri Aurobindo Auditorium, upgrading the film projection with good professional 35 mm machines made in Pondicherry from an Italian model. These “Friday movies” are now happening at the Multi Media Centre, which welcomed Aurofilm when the Auditorium at Bharat Nivas was closed for long lasting repairs. Gerard always took great care of the choice of films screened in Auroville, choosing them from all over the world, classics, recent, “difficult” or “slow”, entertaining, and with an emphasis on presenting the richness of Indian Cinema. Regular Film Festivals have been conducted every year thanks to his initiative. His film selection always aimed at quality and a possible way to uplift our human condition. The current Aurofilm team will strive to keep up this goal, but already misses him a lot. Since a couple of years, Gerard had started developing Parkinson’s Disease and little by little withdrew from the office and screenings. Last year he moved from his simple studio in Citadines to Marika Home where he was welcomed and gently taken good care of, and where he passed away on Sunday 10 October, quite prepared. Gerard’s remains were buried at the Auroville burial grounds on Friday 15 October.
