Contact with the Mother

On 17 April, long-term Aurovilian Frederick Schulze Buxloh was informed that his application for visa extension had been denied. The decision sparked widespread concern, leading to a petition addressed to Indian authorities that garnered over 4000 signatures.

Long-term Aurovilian Goupi (Jean-Pierre Bunel) peacefully passed away at Marika’s Home in the evening of Monday, June 24th. He had just turned 82 years old.

Kratu, an Aurovilian artist, passed away on July 7th. Kratu was born on the 2nd May 1942 in Lonigo, Verona, Italy. In his early twenties, his passion for art led him to live in various countries and to hitch hike around the Mediterranean.

Jacqueline Lacoste, Roger Anger’s long term companion and collaborator, came to Auroville in 1970. In a sunlit moment at the Centre d’Art exhibition Roger Anger, l’artiste, she shares insights into Roger's identity, where the lines separating artist and architect dissolve, and reflects on the transformative influence of his spiritual encounter with The Mother.

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.

Judith joined Auroville in 1971. Here she talks about her journey.

In April word spread that Frederick was seeking personal testimonies of what drew us to and kept us living in Auroville. He wrote, “In Delhi a senior friend and supporter of Auroville asked me: ‘What brought you to India 60 years ago?’

To celebrate Sri Aurobindo’s 150th birth anniversary, Savitri Bhavan hosted “Blessings”, an exhibition of the photographs of Sri Aurobindo made by Henri Cartier-Bresson.

In November this year, Aurovilian Dr. Mira Aster Patel, in recognition of “her invaluable contribution in developing Auroville”, was awarded the Auro Ratna award from the Overman Foundation in a ceremony in the Hall of Harmony of the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram.

The Joy of Offering contains selections from Madanlal Himatsingka’s correspondence with The Mother. Madanlal, who passed away in 2004, was a great devotee of The Mother and one of her tireless fundraisers, in later years for Auroville, and in particular for the Matrimandir.

Johannes Hohlenberg had important contacts with both The Mother and Sri Aurobindo in the early years of the century, and was the first writer to introduce the Integral Yoga to Europe.

Tapas Bhatt has long been associated with supporting the arts in Auroville and, in particular, with connecting Auroville to the world and the world to Auroville through the arts.

Auro-Orchard, one of Auroville’s biggest farms, took the decision to go organic in October 2012. How have they done? And how optimistic are they about the future of food production in Auroville?

On 23rd January, 2010, for the French Pavilion, Alain Bernard gave a talk on the background and passing of the Auroville Foundation Act. Here is an edited version of the translation of that talk.