Future School

It all started in September 1998. Jean-François and I were at home when a group of teenagers, familiar faces from the Auroville schools, walked in with a quiet determination.

Vedic astrology, called Jyotisha Shastra in Sanskrit, is the traditional Hindu system of astrology which has its roots in the Vedanga Jyotisha, one of the earliest texts about astronomy within the ancient Vedas.

Sathiya, a second-generation Aurovilian, speaks about her upbringing and her unwavering commitment to Auroville's ethos despite external pressures.

Recently, Jay Naidoo, an ex-freedom fighter from South Africa, visited Auroville and addressed an important question to the youth: “You say you are open to everyone and invite people from all over the world, but have you actually created an environment where African people can integrate into the community?”

Bonjour! My name is Nivetha Narayanaswamy, and this is the story of how I came to master French. Growing up in Auroville, I never could have guessed the journey I would be taking when my father expressed his desire for one of his daughters to speak French.

In Future School, students can choose to follow an elective course in which the writings of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother as well as the ideology of Auroville are discussed in an informal manner.

The lockdown which began in March 2020 required schools to shift from classroom teaching to online teaching. Auroville Today interviewed Divya Lieser, a teacher in Future School, to understand the challenges of online teaching and to hear about her other perspectives on education in Auroville.

One Saturday morning in November 2017, a bunch of Auroville youth hanging out in the Solar Kitchen parking lot had the ‘wild idea’ to clean-up some of the ever-increasing amounts of rubbish in Auroville.

Many people come to Auroville as adults, but some of us were born here or came as kids. What is it like, being a child of Auroville? How is it different to grow up in an intentional community?

Even before India entered one of the strictest lockdowns in the world, among the first measures it took to stop the spread of COVID-19 was to shut down schools across the nation.

Sagarika Bhati was born and raised in Auroville. She is among the few students who chose to follow the Free Progress system of education offered in some schools in Auroville.

I have been in Auroville for 20 years since the age of 10. I worked as a teacher in Future School, a writer for the Auroville Today and Auroville Village Action Group, and served a term in the Working Committee.

We are Julian, Jonas and Anadi, three Auroville youths that run Tree Care, an arboriculture business. In case you are wondering what arboriculture is, let us tell you: arboriculture is the synthesis of tree science (biology), physics, chemistry, physical coordination, strength, heavy machinery, and of course some yoga to stay calm and focused throughout technical and dangerous procedures, or as Google would define it: the cultivation of trees and shrubs.

On September 1st, young Thupten Landhen suffered a road accident near Pitchandikulam at 1am in the morning in heavy rain. He was 24 years old.

Written by Mona Doctor-Pingel, with additional essays by Chamanlal Gupta, Pino Marchese and Poppo Pingel, the book presents the work of two pioneer architects who, along with other architectural ‘forecomers’ like Roger Anger and Poppo Pingel, have left an indelible mark upon the fabric of the community.

“In this place, children would be able to grow and develop integrally without losing contact with their souls; education would be given not for passing examinations or obtaining certificates and posts but to enrich existing faculties and bring forth new ones.”

For some years, Vikram has been very much involved in youth and sports activities in Auroville. He is also deeply interested in conflict resolution and meeting process.

One offering I had always wanted to make to Auroville was the Ganga Yatra experience. Why? Firstly, I have always had a fascination with the Himalayas and the Ganges.

Continuing the series of talks with young Aurovilians about their life in and work in Auroville, Jonas Suchanek, a young Aurovilian who has returned to Auroville recently and joined Tree Care, shares his thoughts on his life and what it means to be a young working Aurovilian today.

Peter Klingspies, a young Aurovilian who returned to Auroville in 2012 and works in Sumark Construction, shares his thoughts on his life and what it means to work in construction in Auroville.

Aurevan, Suryamayi and Kavitha are part of an enthusiastic team working on developing apprenticeship and internship programmes for Auroville youth.

Besides the interviews, 54 students of Future School aged 14 to 18 filled in a questionnaire, asking them how they would define spirituality, whether they think schools should be the channel that teaches the work of The Mother and Sri Aurobindo, whether they would like to learn about the history of Auroville and The Mother and Sri Aurobindo at school, and how they would like to be introduced to the work of The Mother and Sri Aurobindo.

The article “Auroville’s spirituality” in the August-September 2015 issue of Auroville Today contains a section on the Auroville schools. Concern is expressed that many of Auroville’s youngsters hardly know of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother and that most of the Auroville schools do not communicate anything of their vision.

Chali was born in San Francisco in 1967. She attended the inauguration of Auroville and was taken to Mother while still very young. She moved to Auroville in 1969-70 with Mary Helen and Narad (who she mainly grew up with), but left with her mother at the end of 1980.

My name is Manjula, I was adopted at a young age by Sanjeev and Miriam, who have lived in Auroville for a long time. The Auroville experiment on human unity in diversity started right at home.