Auroville's monthly news magazine since 1988

Issue Nº409

Aug 2023 (27 months ago)
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Sri Aurobindo and The Earth’s Future

Feature, By Carel

A still from the film Sri Aurobindo and The Earth’s Future showing Sri Aurobindo meditating in the dim, dust-laden storeroom on the first floor of Motilal Roy's house in Chandernagore

A two hour twenty minutes documentary ‘Sri Aurobindo and The Earth’s Future’ will be released on YouTube on August 15, 2023 at 4:30 am Indian time, the hour Sri Aurobindo was born in 1872.

We need to rethink everything

An interview with François Gautier, By Chandra and Carel

Francois with PM Modi

François Gautier came to India in 1969 at the age of 19, with the first Auroville caravan. Deeply impressed by Sri Aurobindo's writings, he chose to reside in the Sri Aurobindo Ashram for about seven years, after which he joined Auroville, where he has been living since.

I am always with you

Book review, By Carel

Cover - “I am always with you”

Many people have met The Mother. Some were blessed by Her responding to their questions in writing. One of those is Frederick Schulze Buxloh, who first came to India in 1960 when he was 20 years old and then met The Mother for the first time.

Prosperity and decline since antiquity

Feature, By Deepika Kundaji

Beginning of Auroville – Canyons near Utility

Deepika Kundaji is known in India for her work in seed-conservation and land regeneration. She is regularly called on to conduct training for farmer groups and to speak about her work.

Forest Group report

Feature

Forest ambience

In June, two members of the Funds and Assets Management Committee appointed by the Secretary of the Auroville Foundation (FO-FAMC) sent an email announcing that this FAMC will stop maintenance payments as well as the regular Forest budget to green workers from July onwards.

Go with grace

Event review, By Peter

Documentary film "Conversations on Death with Aurovilians"

Death is a topical theme in Auroville this year, reflected in the numbers of those who have left their bodies in recent months. Mauna, who has for years compiled our community’s obituaries, has pointed out that half way through 2023, we have already recorded as many deaths (16) as were recorded in each of the two preceding years (17 Aurovilian deaths in 2022 and 15 deaths in 2021).

Follow the flowers

An interview with Serena Aurora, By Peter

Serena filming

Serena Aurora is an independent filmmaker based in Auroville and the creator of Aurora’s Eye Films. She has produced many community, spiritual and environmental documentaries conveying some of the explorations in Auroville and elsewhere to a wider audience.

Death doesn’t exist

Book review

Cover - Death doesn't exist

Last year Prisma released a second edition of their 2015 compilation on the theme of death. As its title indicates this includes the ‘death of death’, exploring Sri Aurobindo’s passing and his journey into the unconscious and Mother’s grappling with the transformation of death.

Upholding the Auroville we love The Working Committee of the Residents' Assembly (RA-WCom) has stated in an open letter that it is exhausted and pained by the state of affairs in Auroville, with multiple cases in Indian courts and takeovers continuing.

Clearing Outer Ring Road Since the first week of June 2023, the Land Board appointed by the Secretary of the Auroville Foundation has been clearing areas of Revelation Forest, one of Auroville’s largest forests, to prepare for the Outer Ring Road under direction of the Auroville Foundation appointed Town Development Council (FO–ATDC).

Budget cuts The Funds and Assets Management Committee appointed by the Secretary of the Auroville Foundation (FO-FAMC) and its subgroup the Budget Coordination Committee (FO-BCC) have cut all Aurovilian maintenances and all workers’ salaries of the Forest Group, and over 75% of the maintenances of Aurovilians working for farms.

Foodlink and Farm Group dissolution Food Link serves as an intermediary service between farms and consumers. On June 20th, two long-standing executives of Food Link who have been working there for 25 and 7 years respectively were dismissed without prior notice or explanation or following due process.

Objection to Ayarpadi Farm decision The Auroville Farm Group has sent an open letter to the FO-FAMC and the newly created Farm Service questioning their decision to request Ayarpadi Farm to give up five acres of their cultivated land to be used by volunteers to explore a farming future.

Restrictions on new borewells The FO-ATDC announced that it will no longer approve new and replacement borewells in the Auroville City area. Exceptions will be made only if no other water supply possibilities are available.

New donation guidelines The Donation Channeling Group set up by the Foundation Office clarified a new procedure regarding donations for Auroville projects. For the registration of projects for which donations are already being received or for which donations are proposed to be raised, an on-line Project Registration Form (PRF) has been designed which needs to be uploaded on a designated portal.

More Aurovilians in visa trouble An increasing number of Aurovilians are receiving recommendation letters for visa extensions from the AVFO that state that they are obstructing development or engaged in anti-government activities.

Auroville Timeless A new service unit “Aware Auroville”, with members appointed by the Secretary of the Auroville Foundation, is bringing out a monthly online newsletter called Auroville Timeless.

Voice of Auroville Two issues of the online newsletter Voice of Auroville, a publication endorsed by the RA-WCOM, which present an overview of what has been happening in Auroville over the past two years, have been posted.

Guest houses ordered to stop taking reservations Two of the team members newly appointed by the AVFO to manage Auroville’s guest houses have demanded that all guest house managers hand over their reservations list and immediately cease to take bookings.