Issue Nº413

Dec 2023 (23 months ago)
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Editorial

Editorial, By Editors

The second paragraph of the Charter of Auroville states that “Auroville will be a place of unending education, of constant progress and a youth that never ages.”

Designing an education for humanity

An interview with Sanjeev Ranganathan, By Gita

Dr Sanjeev Ranganathan (right) in discussion with Dr

Dr. Sanjeev Ranganathan has been an executive of the Sri Aurobindo International Institute of Educational Research (SAIIER) since August 2021 and was a SAIIER board member from 2016 to 2020.

Aspiration – Synergy – Practice

Feature, By Gita

Wasteless’ “Sea Change” progress

Feature, By Luise Pape

Education and Research: excerpts from a framework study

Feature, By Editors

In the October 2023 issue of Auroville Today [#411] we highlighted the 901-page framework study ‘Governance in Auroville’ of Professor Raag Yadava and his associate Nidhi Harihar.

Auroville needs the world

A profile of Marta, By Chandra

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.

“Auroville has given me opportunities to discover myself”

A profile of Induja, By Alan

Induja, a young Auroville architect, talks about how she came to Auroville, the work which inspires her and her hopes for the future.

A Supreme Strategy

Reflection, By Janaka

The current conflict in Auroville

Reflection, By Vikas (Alan Vickers)

Re-envisioning the Residents Assembly

Reflection, By Alan

Many years ago, Kireet Joshi gave a series of talks about Auroville’s organisation. As the architect of the Auroville Foundation Act, about which there is so much discussion and litigation at present, it is important to understand how he envisaged the role of the Residents Assembly in particular.

The Way of the Artist: the Audrey Wallace-Taylor retrospectives

Art review, By Peter

News in Brief

Study on Auroville’s organization The study on Auroville’s organization, made by Professor Raag Yadava and his team, can be downloaded from

Correction The report on Auroville’s Singing Festival, published in our previous issue, mentioned that “the festival was a diverse offering, not only in terms of performers and musical genres, but also in languages, including four Indian dialects, major European languages, Mandarin and Hebrew.”

5th Tamil Nadu Young Thinkers Meet The 5th Tamil Nadu Young Thinkers Meet was organised between 3rd and 5th November in Auroville’s Savitri Bhavan. The community was not informed of this closed event.

Auroville redefined by AVFO in Letters of Recommendation The AVFO recently changed the wording on visa Letters of Recommendation (LoR). The previous wording stated that “Auroville was founded by ‘The Mother’ of Sri Aurobindo Ashram on 28th February 1968”.

Voice of Auroville issue #4 The November 2023 issue of the bimonthly journal Voice of Auroville is now available from voiceofauroville@auroville.services. The journal, endorsed by the Working Committee of the Residents’ Assembly of the Auroville Foundation, aims at informing well-wishers and friends of Auroville in India and abroad on the current unfolding events with factual updates and articles.

Auroville Timeless Some months ago, a new magazine was announced by AWARE Auroville called Auroville Timeless, which aims to bring the reader “closer to the vibrant and ever-evolving world of Auroville”, while “exploring the profound journey of fostering harmony and understanding among individuals from diverse backgrounds”.

A new website for Stand For Auroville Unity Stand For Auroville Unity, the community-aligned campaign that was launched in December 2021 after the events at the Youth Center, Bliss Forest and Darkali, had faced technical issues with its website over the last few months.

AVFO Working Committee information meeting On 2nd November 2023, the AVFO Working Committee held a closed meeting at Unity Pavilion. The invitation, sent only to selected “friends”, explained “in the recent months, people have become confused by some of the stories and fears that have been spread … we want to take the opportunity to hear your views and questions and try to answer them as best we can.”

Foundation groups open meeting On 18th November, a meeting was organised by Community Connect for the four working groups that work with the AVF – the WC, the FAMC, the ATDC and an alternative RAS – to make presentations and answer questions from community members.

Entry Service clarification The Entry Service clarified that certain statements made by the AVFO Working Committee at the open meeting (see above) were incorrect. It was said that the Entry Board is maintaining a ‘blacklist’, of Applicants / Newcomers, and that emails asking for clarification were not being answered.

CPIO of AVFO reprimanded by IC Several Right To Information (RTI) requests addressed to the Auroville Foundation have gone to appeal due to incomplete or no answers from the Auroville Foundation’s Central Public Information Officer (CPIO).

Visa issues Many foreign residents of Auroville experience often long delays in obtaining the mandatory Letter of Recommendation (LoR) for their visa. Awaiting the letter, Aurovilians and Newcomers abroad have to find employment and housing; those in Auroville are facing penalties imposed by the registration authorities if their application for visa extension is received after the date of expiry of their current visa.

Pour Tous Purchasing Service (PTPS) update The Pour Tous Purchasing Service team announced they are “happy and proud to announce that we have now completed ONE full year in ‘full control’ as far as that is possible or even desirable...”

Legal update about the RA On September 4th, 2023, the appeal bench of the Madras High Court noted in an interim order that the Residents’ Assembly, as a statutory body, cannot be restricted from performing its duties as per the Auroville Foundation Act.

Legal update about the NGT On November 21st, India’s Supreme Court heard an appeal filed by the Auroville Foundation office against the ruling of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) of April 2022. which emphasized the need for comprehensive town plans and environmental clearance before embarking on any development, while giving conditional clearance for creating the Crown Road.

Other court issues Other legal proceedings are ongoing. One of these is with the National Green Tribunal Southern Bench, against actions by the AVFO which are believed to be in contempt of the National Green Tribunal’s ruling of April 2022, according to the lawyer for the Auroville petitioners

Land exchanges On November 29th, the AVFO Working Committee shared a letter received from the Special Officer of the Auroville Foundation which stated that the Foundation has exchanged 10 acres of unutilised land in the Auro Orchard and Hope communities for 15 acres of land owned by a private developer in the city and greenbelt area.

Pebble Garden under threat Many objections have been raised to the proposal that a major part of the land of Pebble Garden, a pioneering project in wasteland regeneration and research that is well known throughout India, are proposed to be allocated to Auroroyali, a contractor, as storage space for building materials.

62nd Governing Board meeting The RA-WCom has published extensive comments on the minutes of the 62nd meeting of the Governing Board, held in December 2022, which were only made public in October this year.

In Memoriam

Klara Brogli

In memoriam:

On October 30th, Klara Brogli, Aurovilian resident of Surya Nivas, left her body in her native country, Switzerland. She was 81. Due to a medical intervention which substantially reduced the quality of her existence, Klara chose to terminate her life for which in Switzerland officially recognised assistance is available.

Lucas Posada

In memoriam:

On October 13th, Colombian Lucas Posada arrived with his 10-year old son Salvador in Chennai to start his Newcomer year in Auroville. His wife Gloria and their 14-year old daughter Gaia would follow a month later.

Tara Nayak

In memoriam:

One of Auroville’s young children, Tara Nayak, had a lethal fall from the roof of Sunship on November 7th. She was 12 years old. Born in Delhi, Tara came to Auroville in 2019 at the age of 8 with her mother Fakeera, and studied at The Learning Community (TLC) and in later years at Deepanam school.