Auroville products

On 13 August, the managers of Annapurna Farm received an email signed by three working groups constituted by the Governing Board – the Funds and Assets Management Committee, L’Avenir d’Auroville (Auroville’s Town Development Council) and the Farm Service – stating: “It has been decided to allocate 100 acres of Auroville land at Annapurna for the IIT [Indian Institute of Technology, eds.]

On April 1st, 2024, the Auroville Boutique in Pondicherry closed its operations. More than 50 years ago – the exact date is lost in history – it was started by the visionary André Tardeil who felt that an Auroville outlet cum information office in Pondicherry was necessary.

Antonello comes from Northern Italy and moved to Auroville in 2014, where he now lives with his partner and children. He runs ‘Gastronomica’, an Italian take away gourmet store - sometimes affectionately referred to as the Italian Pavilion - that has gained popularity within and outside of Auroville, thanks to its handmade pasta, Italian takeaway dishes, and imported Italian culinary products.

The following is the first in what may become a series of articles featuring Aurovilians who hold the city deeply in their hearts, even though they may disagree about the details of its manifestation

On World Ocean Day in June, a dolphin washed up on to Sri Ma beach. “It was a young dolphin that had not died a natural death, possibly related to pollution, or to swallowed plastic,” says Satya Agrawal, a teacher in NESS school, who was catalysed by this event to start collecting waste on the beach.

Lampshades were one of the first items produced by Auroville’s small handicraft units, which started up in the 1970s to provide an income for individuals and for the community.

Auroville’s grocery outlets have begun to be stocked with an all-new collection of hemp-based products. Hempseed oil, hemp flour, and hemp hearts have hit the shelves thanks to Hemplanet, an Auroville unit that aims to promote the use of a wide array of hemp derivatives and eventually begin hemp cultivation in Auroville.

Juan and Samai, the brothers who started the surf school in Auroville, arrived in 1995 at the ages of 11 and 10 respectively. Within a year’s time, they were introduced to the surfing world by the Auroville surfing pioneers, André, Patrick, Jacky, and Andy.

Margarita, jointly with Guidelma, runs MG EcoDuties, an activity under Auroville Activities Trusts. MG EcoDuties researches and manufactures All Natural, Biodegradable, Non-Toxic Cleaning and Well Being products that are 100% eco-friendly (“this means truly 100%, and not just a bit,” says Margarita), economical (“especially for Aurovilians who live on a low maintenance”); do not add to the landfills (“as people can fill-up their own bags and bottles”); are not damaging washing machines, fabrics and pipelines or are clogging sceptic tanks; and are beneficial for human health.

“Artisans cum aspirant artists,” says Luisa tentatively. “Players with paper,” suggests Hervé. They laugh, attempting to label the Aurovilians working at Auroville Papers – Christine, Jean-Jacques, Florent, Luisa and Hervé.

The large hall on the ground floor of the Centre for Scientific Research, earlier used for researching ferro-cement technology, now houses one of the work spaces of Prakrit, the wood working unit created by Danish Aurovilian Torkil Dantzer a few years ago.

Nicole, who has been part of the management team for the past 15 years talks about the function and challenges of running the Auroville Visitors’ Center.

Anusuya is a greenbelt community that was started at the end of the 1970’s. It was a difficult place to settle; people came and people went.