Auroville's monthly news magazine since 1988

Issue Nº412

Nov 2023 (24 months ago)
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On the way

Editorial, By Editors

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The new Auroville Today website

Feature, By Pranav

Over the past year, a small team – Pranav, Elaine and Aishwarya – has worked tirelessly to create an impressive website for Auroville Today which incorporates the latest technology and design features.

The Matrimandir lake controversy

Feature, By Alan

Excavating the next section of the lake

In our July issue, we reported on recent developments on the site of the Matrimandir lake. These included the excavation of section two of the lake, which will be 250 metres long, more than twice the length of the existing test lake.

Potters’ tales

Feature, By Alan

From left: Angad, Adil, Roy and Gillian

Long-term Aurovilians Gillian, Roy, Angad and Adil met in Adil’s house in late September. Angad and Adil are working potters, Roy a former potter and Gillian, Roy’s partner, ran a crafts workshop and has been active in promoting village clean up and cycle path initiatives.

Ikebana: search for the heart of flowers

Art review, By Alan

Ikebana with sitaphal

The way of forgiving

Event review, By Peter

Ginn Fourie and Letlapa Mphahlele

In 1993 Lyndi Fourie, aged 23, died in the Heidelberg Tavern Massacre in Cape Town, South Africa. Thirty years later, Lyndi’s mother, Ginn Fourie, and the man who gave the orders that resulted in Lyndi’s tragic death, Letlapa Mphahlele, sit together as they lead a workshop titled Equity Matters at Auroville’s Pavilion of Tibetan Culture.

The sun ray in the Matrimandir inner chamber is off-centre

Reflection, By John Harper

30th Anniversary of the Auroville Choir

Event review, By Peter

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The Singing Festival

Feature, By Peter

The finale ‘We are the World’ sung by the performers

Study on Auroville’s organisation Contrary to our announcement in the previous issue, the 650-page study on Auroville’s organization made by Professor Raag Yadava and his team, has not yet been published.

Heart weaving expansion Heart Weaving was started in December last year in an effort to deepen our capacity for dialogue in Auroville and to be able to truly listen to each other across differing perspectives and opinions.

Dreamcatching Since August 2023 Dreamcatching sessions have begun again after a gap of almost 15 years on different roof tops, every Monday from 6-8 am. It is one of the multi-pronged approaches that were proposed by the Dreamweaving Core Team to unite people around common processes and values.

Self-education programme From the presentation of the Dreamweavers, a new initiative called the ‘Self Education Programme’ was launched on 12th September. 20 participants split into 5 groups are learning and sharing for 7 weeks about 5 major and often ignored topics of urban design; namely spatial justice, values and urban forms, art and culture, connectivity and access, and density and diversity.

Integration of Auroville borewells The FO L’avenir d’Auroville / ATDC announced that the preparation of the development of Auroville-City, planning and development of roads, sectors and facilities has implications for the borewells also.

AVFO asks for ‘No Dues Certificate’ in order to receive visa Now residents applying for a visa letter of recommendation (LOR) will not have their request sent to the Foundation Office until they receive a ‘no dues certificate’ from the AVFO ‘BCC’.

Satprem update On 19th June Satprem Maini was notified by the FRRO Chennai that he had to leave the country on or before 1st July, although he holds a valid visa until December 2025, since the Secretary had apparently withdrawn his recommendation to work and live in Auroville.

Earth Institute update Satprem set up and is deeply involved with the Auroville Earth Institute (AVEI), which has become one of the world’s foremost centres for excellence in earthen architecture, and a leader in the research, development, promotion and transfer of earth-based building technologies.

ROR final call On 18th October, K.Swarnambika, Deputy Secretary / DIR, issued a final call to those Aurovilians who had not updated their entry in the ROR, warning them that if they did not come to the office within ten days to do so, “any application after that shall not be entertained”.

Farm issues In July 2023, an email was received by Ayarpadi farm demanding that they hand over “the land parcel that you are farming in situated next to Windarra, as well as the service farm” so that the land could be reallocated to “Aurovillians [sic] who have undergone 6 months of training at Unity Farm”.

RA TDC reports on tree-cutting The RA TDC is continuing to document and report on instances of tree cutting across Auroville. Their report of 7th September 2023 shows that at least 378 trees have been cut on the proposed Crown and Outer Ring Road trajectories since the NGT judgment of April 2022.

David Nagel scholarship AVI USA has created a special scholarship fund in collaboration with Auroville’s Botanical Gardens and with sponsorship from HiDesign. The scholarship is created in the memory of David Nagel, originally from Brooklyn, who joined Auroville in 1978.

Botanical Gardens networking workshop In the middle of October a 3-day Botanical Gardens of India Networking Workshop was held at the Auroville Botanical Gardens. This event was supported by Botanical Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) with most of their partnered botanical gardens attending the workshop, and over 30 participants from 19 organisations across India attended.

Request to all electric cycle users The Auroville Vehicles Service, on the request of many Aurovilians, asks all electric cycle users to pedal while using the cycle paths instead of using the motor.

New Whatsapp channel for Auroville An Auroville Community Updates Whatsapp channel has been launched which is open to all members of the Auroville community (including residents, Newcomers and volunteers).

CHATGPT/ LLM/ generative AI user group Residents are invited to join a new ChatGPT group. As the invitation put it, “Perhaps you’re a student of Mother and Sri Aurobindo intrigued by the possibility that AI is an essential milestone on the road to the supramental being.

New book release A new book, “Prefiguring Utopia: The Auroville Experiment”, by Aurovilian Suryamayi Aswini Clarence-Smith and published by Bristol University Press has just been released.

Peace Tree planting On 18th of August, a small group who had been present at the planting of a Peace Tree in Campinas, Brazil on 25th June 2004, gathered at the Botanical Gardens to plant another Peace Tree in Auroville.

Neem Tree and Dropsy An interesting headline appeared on Auronet recently: “Neem Tree Eatery has joined Dropsy”. Dropsy is the old fashioned term for oedema, which is a build-up of fluid in the body.