Auroville's monthly news magazine since 1988

Issue Nº410

Sept 2023 (26 months ago)
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President of India visits Auroville

Feature, By Smt Droupadi Murmu

The Hon’ble President of India, Smt

On 8th August, the Hon’ble President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu, visited Auroville in commemoration of Sri Aurobindo’s 150th birth anniversary.

Extracts from Tamil Nadu Governor Ravi’s speech to the conclave

Feature, By Shri RN Ravi

Chairman R.N

The Auroville situation: a view from outside

An interview with Dr Debashish Banerji, By Alan

Debashish Banerji

Dr. Debashish Banerji is the Haridas Chaudhuri Professor of Indian Philosophies and Cultures and the Doshi Professor of Asian Art at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), San Francisco, where he also chairs the Department of East-West Psychology.

Sri Aurobindo and the modern academic world

Feature, By Prof Sachidananda Mohanty

Dr Mohanty

Dr Mohanty is former Professor and Head of the Department of English, University of Hyderabad. Winner of many national and international awards, he has published extensively in the field of British, American, gender, translation, and post-colonial studies.

Youth Day Festival 2023

Feature, By Sole

The vista from the entrance of the Time Boulevard

August 15th, 2023

Feature

Bonfire at Inuksuk

Auroville-bioregion sports events July 30 - August 13, 2023

Gallery

Kabaddi match in the New Creation sports hall

Animating ‘Sri Aurobindo: A new Dawn’

Event review, By Peter

A screenshot of Sri Aurobindo meeting Krishna in Alipore jail

“We do not belong to the past dawns, but to the noons of the future.” At 09.30 am on Sri Aurobindo’s 151st birthday, Manoj Pavithran premiered ‘Sri Aurobindo: A new Dawn’ in Bharat Nivas.

Sri Aurobindo and the Earth’s Future

Art review, By Alan

Illustration of Sri Aurobindo

The Auroville Literature Festival

Event review

The Auroville Literature Festival

A proposal for social transformations

Event review, By Alan

Highlighting the interactions and overlaps of the 'Conventional Age' (blue), the 'Rational Age' (orange) and the 'Subjective Age' (green). The space at the centre expresses the opportunity for our collective to come together in our search for more..

In the General Meeting of 1st April, the Dreamweaving Core Team (David, Mona and Omar) committed themselves to making further proposals to the community.

Mother is not dead

Reflection, By Alan

In memoriam - Jürgen Klein

Feature

7 Juergen library final

German-born Aurovilian Jürgen Klein left his body on August 14th in his room at Mahalakshmi Home at the age of 78. He had suffered a stroke a week earlier.

Mr. Srinivasmurty retires On July 31st, Mr. Srinivasmurty, the former Under Secretary and a few times Acting Secretary of the Auroville Foundation, retired as an officer of Auroville Foundation.

New Deputy Secretary appointed The Ministry of Home Affairs has appointed Ms. K. Swarnambika, IPS, as Deputy Secretary / Director of the Auroville Foundation. No information has been shared by the AVFO as to the nature of Ms Swarnambika’s new role.

Legal update On August 11, Justice N. Seshasayee of the Madras High Court pronounced judgment in a case started by an Aurovilian challenging the decision of the Officer on Special Duty of the Auroville Foundation to reconstitute as many as 14 Committees or Units of the Foundation by a unilateral Office-Order, dated 12.04.2023.

Entry Service annual report The Entry Service reported that in the period April 2022 to May 2023, 49 new Aurovilians joined, 10 Auroville youth turned 18, 113 Newcomers were admitted, as well as 3 Friends of Auroville and 2 relatives/spouses of Aurovilians.

Residents’ Assembly decisions The Residents’ Assembly Service (RAS) announced that the Residents’ Assembly of Auroville had approved two proposals with majority vote. The proposal that the RA can make an emergency Residents’ Assembly Decision (RAD) at a petition signed by at least 300 residents was approved by 402 participants (98% of all votes cast).

Food security work plan After interactions with the farmers and directives from the Governing Board, The FO Farm Service and FO FAMC announced they have come up with a work plan for farming and food security in Auroville.

VIP Road: removal of farms In an open letter to the Farm Service, the FO FAMC and the Secretary of the Auroville Foundation, Auroville farmers raised their concern as to the announcement that three farm areas (Buddha Garden, Siddhartha and Shambala) are to be removed to make place for a road, parking lots and convenience facilities for a planned VIP road, a road which is not mentioned in the gazetted Master Plan.

VIP road: removal of dog shelter The planned VIP road will also pass through the existing Auroville dog shelter. The dog shelter team were happy to inform the community that after productive discussions, a compromise could be worked out in which the new access road will be built without destroying any dog enclosures or important infrastructure of the shelter.

Matrimandir Lake tree removal The RA TDC shared a report on the second phase of the Matrimandir Lake excavation and tree cutting. The excavation is taking place over approximately 4 acres of land and endangers around 125 trees including “a large number of very old Neem trees”.

Thirukkural study group Sri Aurobindo wrote that the Thirukkural, the most revered Tamizh text of the last 2000 years, “is gnomic poetry, the greatest in planned conception and force of execution ever written in this kind”.

New planning programmes Residents are invited to participate in a self-education programme designed to improve the community’s understanding of planning issues. This is part of a new initiative launched by the Dreamweaving core team (see page 6).

Art for Land 2023 On August 13, the Art for Land exhibition cum sale 2023 was inaugurated at the Unity Pavilion. Art for Land is a collaborative action of Aurovilians and friends of Auroville to raise funds for the purchase of the still-missing lands to consolidate Auroville’s Master Plan area.

Auroville News podcasts On August 5, 2023, Auroville Media Liaison, an activity approved by the Working Committee selected by the Residents' Assembly, launched the first episode of the new "Auroville News Podcast".

Dog shelter limitations The Auroville dog shelter team issued a warning that it is only dedicated to rescuing dogs that can no longer survive on the streets due to illness, age, or accidents and that the shelter’s current capacity does not allow it to accommodate healthy puppies which people find on the streets.