Personal sharing

Daniel Helman Lee grew up in Auroville, graduated from Future School in 2019 and studied in Maastricht, The Netherlands, before moving to Israel, where she is now enrolled in a Master of Fine Arts creative writing programme in Tel Aviv.

In 2018, Amrit published ‘Children of Change’, a memoir recounting his early life and the difficult years in Auroville when he and others chose not to take sides in the bitter conflict between the Sri Aurobindo Society (SAS) and the then-dominant Auroville collective.

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.

Aurodeva is an artist and art therapist born and raised in Auroville whose work displays a rich blend of creativity, introspection, and connection to his roots.

Sagarika was born and raised in Auroville. In 2019 she went abroad to continue her education and broaden her experience. Recently she returned to Auroville.

Born in Istanbul, Cansu has always been driven by a desire to explore diverse cultures through travel and the study of philosophical and mystical texts, shaped by her upbringing in the Sufi tradition.

Francesco, once a professional snowboarder (or “rider” in snowboarding lingo) from a mountain village in Italy, shifted paths after a family crisis and a snowboarding accident.

I stopped advertising and promoting the teaching of yoga a long time ago. It’s kind of a bitter irony, truly. Knowing something to be so precious, wonderful, excellent and full of meaning, yet extolling an impossible cost.

Seza is Auroville’s first Newcomer from Türkiye (Turkey). She moved here 1.5 years ago after her first visit eight years earlier. She describes her journey from Istanbul to Auroville as a quest for meaning, self-discovery, and transformation.

Bindu Mohanty, one of the contributors of Auroville Today, passed away on July 28th in a hospital in Germany at the age of 56.

One thing is evident at present: there is a complete breakdown in communication between those who favour the present developments and those who, for various reasons and to varying degrees, oppose it.

Aurosugan was born in Auroville. After completing an MBA in hospital administration, he worked at the Aravind Eye Hospital for many years. Recently he returned to Auroville and set up a primary eye centre here with ambitious plans to eliminate blindness in Auroville and the bioregion.

Amid the chaos of the crashing of Auroville’s facades, one can sense now, silently being born, but already immensely powerful, the re-emergence of Auroville’s orientation towards its true goal: a fundamental change of consciousness, the growth of a real, deep, unifying link between its residents, and another way of being.

Once, in later years, I went to see Roger in Auromodѐle, but it was different from the other times I visited him. I cannot recall why I went there, to discuss what.

“Midway in the course of our life I found myself within a dark wood, where the right way was lost.” First line of the Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

Having arrived in Auroville as a child with her parents in 1968, Marta provides a unique perspective as a member of the first generation of children within our community.

Mr. Srinivasmurty was a member of the Auroville Foundation administration for the last 28 years, serving many different Secretaries and fulfilling different roles.

Arun Kumar (age 24) and V. Vignesh (age 22) are both Kottakarai village youth who grew up in and around Auroville. Here they share some of their experiences and perceptions of Auroville the community, the project and the Dream.

I came to Auroville as an angry, friendless twelve year old who refused to go barefoot and hated the red soil, the stains it left on my clothes.

Over the past seven years, Lucrezia Fassi has been involved in various youth initiatives and projects including the Youth Center, Aura App, and Disha.

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 2022, Vishwa Chudgar, her husband and daughter spent a month in Auroville, before moving back to the USA. A little over a year later, the family is now calling Auroville home and Vishwa has started the newcomer process.

When I first saw the tree, I saw a Mother and her many children. Branches reaching out to all directions. Outward, skyward, earthward. The tree had roots that were branches and branches that were rooted.

Should one read Hitler’s Mein Kampf? Carlo Rovelli, the physicist/philosopher thinks one should if one wants to understand the roots of fascism.

About Auroville I have learned, again, that Auroville is a Dream, and as such it can vanish and disappear unless I learn how to nourish and nurture that Dream.

I am, for the most part, a creature of Time. The days race by with me following the clockwork of the hours that determine when I work, eat, play, and rest.

Massimo, a master cheese maker from Valle d’Aosta with decades of experience gathered in this art from across Italy, moved to Auroville with his partner Monica and three children in 2008.

Most people believe that order requires control, and that it cannot result from a lack of control, or even anarchy. Nietzsche considered ‘Apollonian’ order and ‘Dionysian’ disorder polar opposites, and even Einstein, the disruptor of so much received scientific knowledge, could not accept the ‘disorderliness’ of the quantum world, famously exclaiming that ‘God does not play dice with the universe’.

La Terrace coffee shop above the Solar Kitchen is a special place. Not only because of the quality of the food but also, perhaps especially, because of the warm welcome and excellent service offered by Sudhakar and Ramu.

I used to call myself a wanna-be hippie who missed the boat. Born in 1964 to a French Canadian father and American mother, it was too late for the Woodstock ride.

Bhavya grew up in Auroville, and is currently studying Urban Design in Ahmedabad, India. She will continue her studies in Milan, and eventually plans to come back to Auroville with her acquired study, work and life experiences.

Pushkar studied at the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education (Pondicherry), where he started studying music. He furthered his musical studies in Spain and at Oberlin College (USA).

Amudha joined Auroville 43 years ago. She helped start the Kindergarten in 1984 and continues to teach there today. Along with her husband and two sons, she runs Kottakarai Farm and Ganesh Bakery.

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.

Vega is a facilitator of Nonviolent Communication, a “language of compassion” focused on deep listening and deep awareness of what we perceive, feel, and need.

As a species, we tend to anthropomorphise everything. Kids’ books are full of stories of animals and plants wearing clothes, living in houses etc.

Spirituality is a very perilous word because its meaning can be adapted to whatever you feel like at any given moment. It is the magic hat of consciousness.

After many years of forward-thinking professional work and idealistic service, personal trials, and solo travels throughout rural Asia, English-born Helen chose to build the rest of her life in the City of Dawn, contributing her many skills and enthusiasm.

Since joining Auroville in 2016, Anandi Zhang has taken up various work in the community. But she feels the most important work is that which she is dong upon herself.

Although relationships between Iran and India have been close for centuries, less than ten Iranians have joined Auroville. Is this because of Iran's conservative theocratic regime?

The Working Committee recently shared a brief video address to the community by Dr Jayanti Ravi, IAS, who took charge as the new Secretary, Auroville Foundation, on the 5th of July.

Nikethana is a resident of Anitya community, the first community in the Joy of Impermanence (JOI) project, which aims at creating community spaces based on impermanence and self-sufficiency.

Before I had a child, I used to think that Auroville was an optimal place to raise children. There are forests to frolic in, fresh air, clean food, a kaleidoscope of colorful personalities and passions, activities from horseback riding to Awareness Through the Body, and, of course, the delicate and beautiful subtle atmosphere here.

Bliss forest is a city park that is densely planted to be a forest. Aurovilians from South Korea may be familiar with a similar concept in the city of Seoul.

In this month’s installment of our regular column about Auroville’s neighbours, we meet Rashmi Gandaki, who has been living next to Auroville for the last six years.

The term ‘community’ is used in a very loose way in Auroville. Sometimes it refers to the settlement where people live, sometimes to national sub-groups, sometimes to the residents as a whole, and sometimes to an idealistic or occult aspect of Auroville.

In the October issue of Auroville Today, we published a humorous little piece that pondered how the names of Auroville’s communities came about.

Home birth is rather common and very accessible here in Auroville, and I was one of those lucky children to evacuate my warm private cocoon straight into what would be my home for my first 19 years.