Auroville's monthly news magazine since 1988
May 2025 (5 months ago) Subscribers-only download Download PDF
In-depth feature — Authored by Alan
In the recent ruling of the Supreme Court of India, the learned judge, regarding the need for Auroville’s development vis-à-vis environmental protection, stated that “…while the right to a clean environment is a guaranteed fundamental right under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India, the right to development through industrialization equally claims priority under fundamental rights particularly under Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution of India. There is therefore a need for “Sustainable Development” harmonizing and striking a golden balance between the right to development and the right to clean environment.”
A wide-ranging dialogue with David Nightingale — Interview conducted by Alan
A year ago, architect David Nightingale talked about how Spiral Dynamics could provide one way of understanding the present situation in Auroville. The theory of Spiral Dynamics views development as a continuous, cyclical process where individuals, organisations and societies move back and forth through different stages of consciousness and understanding. It uses colour-coded levels (eg, Beige, Purple, Red, Blue, Orange, Green, Yellow, Turquoise) to represent these (see Box). The concept is based on the original work of Clare Graves and was developed further by two of his students, Don Beck and Christopher Cowan.
In-depth feature — Authored by Carel
In May 2024, the Governing Board of the Auroville Foundation approved the creation of the Auroville Physical Education Board (APEB), and allocated an in-principle budget of ₹2 crores (approx. US $233,500) for renovating and expanding the existing infrastructure of Dehashakti, Auroville’s school sports complex near Dana, including building a swimming pool which, in future, can be upgraded to Olympic-size.
A thoughtful note — Written by Alan
In 2016 a German forester, Peter Wohlleben, published a book which describes how trees exchange resources with each other through fungi on their roots. The Hidden Life of Trees was based upon work by Suzanne Simard, a Canadian ecologist, who discovered how trees are interconnected in this way, exchanging not just sugars but also transmitting distress signals to each other. Simard is a serious researcher and these were important findings, but at times her scientific objectivity slipped. For example, describing how ‘Mother trees’ ‘care’ for those around them she wrote, “the flow of energy from the Mother Trees is as powerful as the ocean tide, as strong as the sun’s rays, as irrepressible as the wind in the mountains, as unstoppable as a mother protecting her child”.
From the margins — Reported by Clam Aduelaie
There is an hour before dawn when the night seems darkest, when stars fade but the sun has not yet shown its face. In the old tales, this was often the hour when hope seemed most distant, yet also when transformation was closest at hand.
An introduction to Shalini — Words by Chandra
Auroville Today: What was your childhood like, how did your own musical journey begin? Shalini: My journey with music began very young. Singing was always central to my life, but never through formal education. It was always just me, in a playful yet deep process with myself. I would record my voice, experiment on my own, and put on shows for my parents. That started when I was really little – I honestly can’t remember a time I didn’t sing.
Art review — Story by Chandra
It’s easy to overlook the bark of a tree – especially here in Auroville, where trees are everywhere and we pass them daily, often without stopping to truly see. But Trees – Their Outer Garment, a quiet and thoughtful exhibition by Tim at Pitanga, invites just that: a slowing down, a re-seeing.
Organising gatherings and activities without prior approval and recognition of the GB-WCom In an unsigned circular addressed to all residents, newcomers and volunteers dated 11 April 2025 the Auroville Foundation stated that certain residents, newcomers, and others “continue to organize gatherings and conduct activities without prior approval” and that “those who are holding or participating in such unauthorized meetings, and any illegal and impersonating group claiming to be the Working Committee other than the one recognized by the Governing Board (GB-WCom), and those who participate in or support any activities organized by illegitimate groups, and the people impersonating office bearers in illegitimate groups themselves, shall be liable to face action and are in violation of the regulations of Auroville...
Response from the RA-WCom to the AVFO circular On 18 April, the RA-WCom responded to the 11 April 2025 circular sent out by the Auroville Foundation Office...
Meeting with Newcomers The GB-WCom invited Aurovilians and Newcomers to an Information Sharing and Joint Interaction meeting with the Governing Board-constituted Auroville Town Development Council, Funds and Assets Management Committee, Admissions and Terminations Scrutinizing Committee, Working Committee, and Auroville Foundation Legal...
News from the ATR On 11 April, the Admissions and Terminations Registry informed the community that it had received and verified 28 applications from people aspiring to join Auroville as Newcomers together with 10 children...
High Court Ruling awaited In a message to aspiring Newcomers, the Working Committee appointed by the Residents’ Assembly (RA-WCom) informed them that the entry process for Auroville is pending in the Madras High Court which has not yet given a final ruling...
RA decision recognising RA committees On 10 April the Residents’ Assembly Service (RAS) announced the outcome of an Emergency RA Decision-Making (ERAD) Process initiated by the Working Committee of the Residents’ Assembly (RA-WCom) to formally acknowledge Residents' Assembly entities as section 19 committees under the Auroville Foundation Act 1988...
Use of residential assets The GB-FAMC recently published “Procedures and Guidelines for the use and allocation of an Auroville residential asset,” aimed at transforming how housing is managed within Auroville...
Visa Extension of Frederick Shulze-Buxloh denied Frederick, an 85-year old German national who was among the first to be admitted as an Aurovilian by the Mother and who has been living in and working for Auroville for over 60 years, was denied the extension of his visa and has been requested to leave India...
A tribute to
Merry, born in Vermont, USA, passed away on 30 March. She was 85. She officially joined Auroville in 1999, but was already involved 10 years earlier. Merry is remembered by her friends and caretakers as “mighty willed, brilliant and the sweetest lady we know … Her strong individuality, inherent sweetness and sincere aspiration for the Divine Mother shone through, touching the lives of everyone around her.” Merry joined Auroville at the age of 50, and, being a lover of animals, soon got involved with the dog shelter. As a music teacher, she harmonised the lives of countless students, sharing the universal language that brought joy and beauty to all. She expressed her kindness and love for children through teaching and caring for many animals over the years. In later years Merry suffered dementia and severe hearing loss, which did not prevent her from being a regular customer at La Terrace where she had lunch and read the newspapers, with a pen in hand to write her comments in the margins! Merry’s remains were buried on 4 April at the Auroville Burial Ground. True Animal Stories, a book that Merry wrote and which was published in Tamil and English, is available at Thamarai and other Auroville schools.
Anand Prasad passed away on 8 April. Born in 1957, he studied at the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. During his school days, he participated in Matrimandir concretings. He joined Auroville as a volunteer in 2006 when he helped found the Saracon campus, bringing an invaluable contribution to its growth and spirit. He was also actively involved in various community activities including the Auroville Marathon and Aurinoco. Anand’s remains were cremated on 9 April at Karuvadikuppam, Puducherry.
Walter was born in Stuttgart, Germany, on 7 December 1950. His childhood and youth were difficult but he felt there was always a protecting hand over him. In 1970 he graduated as a landscape gardener, and later became a qualified engineer of landscape architecture and environmental preservation. At the office where he was employed in Munich there was a photo of the Nebula (an earlier design by Roger Anger, which later became the Galaxy) attached to a cupboard. Walter was always attracted by it. He had been introduced to the Integral Yoga early through his spiritual friend and guide Heinz Kappes (1893 - 1988), a priest who, after retiring, lived in the Ashram for one and a half years. He worked on a farm in Egypt between 1983 - 1985 and there was a German on the farm who had lived in Auroville for some time. Walter became curious. In 1986 he came to stay in Auroville for several months, falling in love with the Matrimandir and the idea of a garden design based on the Mother's Symbol. He came back for good in 1987 and jumped full-heartedly into participation in the design of the Matrimandir gardens and the park. He had a love for perfection and Mahalakshmi, the Mother’s aspect of Harmony and Beauty, became his inner aspiration. Walter had an intense inner life with lots of beautiful spiritual experiences. In 2023 he had an accident from which he didn’t fully recover. On 17 April in the early evening the Mother took him into Her arms while he was walking. His partner, Mechtild, received a last message from him on the same day. “Our dear friend Heinz has made it clear to me that I will never be able to give back what good deeds other people do or did to me. I can only say ‘thank you’.” A silent gathering for Walter took place at the Matrimandir Banyan Tree on 21 April. Walter’s remains were buried on 22 April at the Auroville Burial Ground.
André, one of Auroville’s early architects, arrived in Auroville in 1968, aged 26. On the invitation of the Mother, he started working with Roger Anger, Auroville’s chief architect, and was his first draughtsman. André was originally from Tunisia and spent the first 13 years of his life there. At the age of 14, he moved to France and attended the Ecole des Beaux Arts, where he studied Arts and Architecture. He became a painter and worked in architectural offices. Through a chance meeting with an artist in Marseille, André’s interest in spirituality was awakened. He read The Adventure of Consciousness and a brochure on Auroville. On its first page, there was a picture of the Galaxy, the Charter, The Dream and a photo of Mother. It was like a revelation, an immense joy. “But this is where I must live!” After selling his paintings he came to India overland. When he arrived in the Auroville area, he was taken aback because he did not find even the beginnings of a city he had been expecting. However, “I wasn’t disappointed – I wasn’t happy either – and I told myself that it was up to us to build the city; that we had to transform ourselves through doing it. It was a process that had meaning.” André began living in Auroville and working under the guidance of Roger Anger, and for the next 40 years, he helped create numerous private residences, apartment buildings and commercial facilities. His projects included the Centre for Research in Communication and Publication (CRCP) in Fraternity; Surrender community - a residential collective housing project; the Pavilion of Tibetan Culture in the International Zone; commercial units Shradhanjali & Auromode Atelier, both in the Industrial Zone; and the school at New Creation. For André, expressing beauty and harmony linked with functionality was his aspiration and the most important aspect of his architectural work in Auroville. André passed away on the night of 17 to 18 April. His burial took place at Auroville Burial Ground on April 20, the day he would have been 83. An autobiography by André Hababou (previously published in French) is now available in English at the Visitors Centre bookshop, under the title From Tunis to Auroville, In search of Truth.
Boris, Auroville’s entomologist and nature lover, passed away on 22 April at Marika Home, where he stayed for the past few years. He was 87. Boris was born in Krasnoyarsk, a city in Siberia, Russia, on 9 June 1937. He arrived in Auroville on 21 September 1991 at the age of 54. He came to live in the Aspiration community, and remained there for the next 30 years. About his life before coming to Auroville, he wrote, “For more than twenty years I worked legally in the Soviet Science Academy and I practiced illegally yoga for fifteen years.” Through yoga, he realized that “science is nothing compared to Yoga .... Yoga gives joy, health, wisdom for all the people of the world. It is from God. Science on the other hand can be, at times, from the asuras.” He described what he saw when he arrived. “I saw a child in every Aurovilian. And now my vision hasn’t changed. It is a city of very young people who created their own young world. This reality has a great perspective. The physical and spiritual atmosphere of the city creates the constant youth of Aurovilians.” His observations of the natural world, and also of human behaviour, appeared very regularly, during many years, in short but often pithy pieces of writing in the weekly News & Notes. Boris’s writing had its very own inimitable style. As an entomologist (i.e. a scientist who studies insects) he got plenty of opportunities to observe insect life, not in the least in his own thatched-roof home in Aspiration. In one of his pieces, he makes fun of Auroville’s attempts at organisation and governance while talking about termites: “The Working Committee of Aurovilian Termites has decided that all the termites which are residents of the city must work round the clock, all year long, every day including all holidays and festivals, without any salary. The results are obvious. Now the Housing Group of Termites successfully competes with the Human Housing group. In reality, the Auroville land belongs almost equally to man and to insect, although the insects are less serious and do not celebrate Deepavali.” (1998) Lately, Boris seemed very concerned about how the city development is affecting the life of nature and humans in Auroville. “The planet is in a dangerous sickness. Our Kurukshetra battlefield for its healing is here…” Boris’s remains were buried 26 April at the Auroville Burial Ground..
