Upasana

Elle, the Indian edition of the worldwide lifestyle magazine of French origin called Elle, has awarded the ELLE Sustainability Award 2024 to Aurovilian Uma Prajapati for her work in the field of sustainability in the last 20 years.

The word ‘pivot’ became the marketing buzzword of 2020 in many parts of the world. It captured the agility of businesses that could quickly change direction and move towards practical solutions to address the COVID pandemic.

While Tamil Nadu is in a second lockdown, Auroville entrepreneurs reflect on how they handled the first lockdown.

In Auroville, the prevalence and the meaning of face masks has shifted radically in recent months. From something that was previously worn to protect two-wheeler motorists from dust and pollution, the mask has now become ubiquitous as a signifier of a public health disaster.

Nilesh Premji Nisar, of Arc-en-Ciel community, passed away on Tuesday, 5th November, at the Kidney Centre in Pondicherry. He was 49. He had suffered from weak kidneys for some time and had needed frequent dialysis treatment.

Tsunamika, the colourful cloth doll representing post-tsunami renewal, returns in a new avatar. She has now grown into the voice of the oceans, urging us to protect our seas and, ultimately, ourselves.

Auroville Today reported on the social outreach work of Upasana in January 2009, eight years ago. Today Upasana is 20 years old. What direction is it taking now?

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.

On 20th November, The Hindu newspaper reported that an initiative had been launched to make Puducherry and Auroville the world’s first ‘Fair Trade Twin Towns’.

The story of the Tsunamika doll is well-known to Aurovilians and friends of Auroville. The Tsunamika came from Auroville’s Upasana design and garment unit when the people involved felt moved to help alleviate the tragedy of the December 2004 tsunami.