Ashramites

“I had been afraid of meeting her. It had taken me six long weeks to get to this point because I was afraid of her. In some of her photographs we see how formidable she can be.

Maggi Lidchi-Grassi, an esteemed Friend of Auroville, passed away on the 30th of September 2024, in the early hours of the morning at her residence behind Fertile, at the age of 94.

John Mandeen left his body on July 7, 2024.

This 280 page book is a tribute to Kireet Joshi composed by two of his close Auroville friends, Frederick Schulze Buxloh and Alain Bernard.

Maurice Shukla grew up as a child in the Mother's School and now helps wherever he can be useful at the Ashram: translating, editing, teaching and, evidently, forever learning.

On September 19, Hashi Grandcolas, long-term Indian Friend of Auroville, passed away at Nallam’s Clinic in Pondicherry due to heart failure.

Rafael Vázquez Corona, named ‘Mali’ by The Mother, left his body in Spain on April 24th. Mexican by origin, he was an Ashramite and an Aurovilian.

On February 3rd, former Indian Independence fighter and Auroville’s oldest resident Mahalingam Sangukrishna left his body, at the age of 103.

Manoj Das, who passed away on 27 April 2021, was an inmate of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram and a well-known Indian author who wrote extensively in Odia and English.

The Dawn of Auroville, which is published by the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, is a book of early photographs along with an outline history of Auroville’s conception, inauguration and growth during the Mother’s lifetime.

The Government of India recently appointed Dr K. Parameswaran, Associate Professor of Law and Dean of External & Alumni Relations of the Gujarat National Law University in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, as Member of the Governing Board of the Auroville Foundation.

In September 2017, the Chinese Ambassador to India Mr. Luo Zhaohui visited Auroville and the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. Addressing a gathering at the 68th anniversary celebrations of the People’s Republic of China at New Delhi soon after his visits, Ambassador Zhaohui remembered Hu Hsu.

The Joy of Offering contains selections from Madanlal Himatsingka’s correspondence with The Mother. Madanlal, who passed away in 2004, was a great devotee of The Mother and one of her tireless fundraisers, in later years for Auroville, and in particular for the Matrimandir.

Tapas Bhatt has long been associated with supporting the arts in Auroville and, in particular, with connecting Auroville to the world and the world to Auroville through the arts.

With the demise of Dr. Kireet Joshi on 14 September 2014, the Aurobindonian firmament has lost one of its brightest stars. Born on 10 August 1931, he studied philosophy and law at the Elphinstone College under the University of Bombay.

George Katsutoshi Nakashima (May 24, 1905 – June 15, 1990) was a Japanese-American woodworker, architect, and furniture-maker, one of the leading innovators of 20th century furniture design and a father of the American Craft Movement.