Issue Nº435

Almost 37 years ago, on a rainy day in November, 1988, the first issue of Auroville Today was published. The main theme was the Auroville Foundation Act, which had just been passed by the Government of India.

From clunky prototypes to a thriving EV ecosystem, Auroville’s journey mirrors India’s evolving electric vehicle landscape – driven by innovation, resilience, and a vision for sustainable transport.

“What to make of French writers, who, to stay on the right side of the occupation authorities, decide to write about anything but the one thing all French people are thinking about, or worse still, who, out of cowardice, bolster the occupants’ plan to make it appear as though everything in France continues as it did before?”

Maël Vidal was born and grew up in Auroville before going to France to pursue higher studies, where he received a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in social anthropology.

The German Government set up the Weltwärts programme to allow young Germans to volunteer in a different country for 6-18 months in areas like education, health, environment, culture and human rights, in order to broaden their minds and strengthen international understanding.

The following are excerpts from volunteers' final reports after 12 months in Auroville A transformative year that still resonates Much time has passed since my Weltwärts year in 2008-09.

In a recent issue of News & Notes, a twelve-week course on kolams was announced. It would help people, it said, to “find their compass, reorientate and be able to prioritise direction, regulate boundaries and thresholds within themselves and the surrounding world”.

Societies are very complex organisms. Authorities in totalitarian societies attempt to diminish the complexity – which they see as a threat to asserting their will – by rigidly controlling the population through indoctrination and various instruments of coercion.

Between 5-24 September, Centre d’Art hosted an exhibition by the local artist, P Saravanam, titled “Together”. In a world which seems to be getting speedier and more complicated day by day, Saravanam’s art returns us to the simple joys of everyday life and encounters in the villages of India.

The Auroville women’s ultimate frisbee team, better known as Rhino Ultimate, has been around for almost a decade, and is the oldest women’s ultimate frisbee team in India.