Tamil language

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.

On 16th-17th December, this festival brought together some of the best Tamil writers, educators, thinkers and philosophers, in the categories of poetry, literature, art, culture and the works of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother.

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

Auroville’s Institute of Integral Health Santé and the Auroville Village Action Group have issued the booklet “Nal Valvu” (Good and meaningful life), which aims at raising awareness about COVID-19 – how it spreads, how to manage the risk of infection, what Community transmission and herd immunity are, and how the Covishield vaccine effects immunity.

From August 2-9, the 7th Auroville Children’s Book Fair was held at Ilaignarkal Education Centre in Auroville. This highly anticipated scholastic event showcases no less than 50,000 books in Tamil and English, specially selected for the young student audience.

In a quiet back street of Edayanchavadi village there is a neat house. Beside it is a beautiful garden of plants and creepers with a magnificent statue of Ganesh.

Recently, discrimination has been a hot topic in Auroville. It was brought to the forefront by two Tamil members of the Working Committee who felt they had been ‘discriminated’ against by not being allowed to meet the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, on his recent visit.

Meenakshi, our acclaimed Tamil poet, has just brought out a bi-lingual collection of her poetry to coincide with Auroville’s 50th birthday. Pebble contains one or two poems that have been anthologised elsewhere – like the lovely “I am the golden flame” – but many are new, at least to this reviewer.

A new online English language magazine, Vaasal, has just been released. “We would like this magazine to be an entrance into the world of Tamil ideas, art and culture for anyone in Auroville who is a non-native, from another (village, country, habitat, that place that belongs to you and you to it)” it announces.

On August 22nd, Aurovilian Karpagavalli Selvanambi left her body in a Madurai nursing home to which she had been taken after a stroke in 2013.

Roger Toll left Auroville in 1979 after eight years of living at Matrimandir and Certitude. Today he is a magazine editor and writer living in the United States.