Sri Ma / Far Beach

On 20 March, the Ministry of Education, responding to two Right to Information requests dated 25 and 26 February, sent the applicant a copy of the Minutes of the 68th Meeting of the Governing Board (GB) of the Auroville Foundation held on 5 December 2024, which have since been widely distributed in Auroville.

Daniel of Tanto (Daniel Emdin) left us suddenly on 4 March 2025, due to cardiac arrest. He was 77 years old. Daniel came to stay in Auroville in 1977, after having visited a few years earlier.

After months of erosion see [AVToday # 422, September 2024], Sri Ma beach sands are returning. From now until March, the sand will accumulate because the current is coming from north to south.

The gradual erosion of the Tamil Nadu coast is a well-known phenomenon. Erosion happens when the shoreline is worn away by the movement of sand and waves.

On July 15th, residents of the Sri Ma community received an “Emergency Evacuation Notice” signed by the Deputy Secretary of the AVFO, mentioning that “the sea erosion has reached a critical situation today and the buildings may collapse at any moment”.

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?’

Daniel Emdin first came to live in Auroville in 1977, after a career as a radio journalist and an art dealer in Paris and as a pizzeria manager in Italy.

In the past decade, relentless sea erosion has badly affected some of Auroville's beach communities. Auroville Today reported on the problems a number of times, most recently in the article "New hope for our beaches?"

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

On World Ocean Day in June, a dolphin washed up on to Sri Ma beach. “It was a young dolphin that had not died a natural death, possibly related to pollution, or to swallowed plastic,” says Satya Agrawal, a teacher in NESS school, who was catalysed by this event to start collecting waste on the beach.

On July 10th, Jean Neal, wife of Bob Neal, peacefully left her body at the age of 86 in her UK home. She had been in constant pain for years and had got to the point where communication was not possible anymore.

Ranging in activity from restaurants to consulting, fashion, construction and more, Auroville has over 250 commercial units. Many of them have developed a reputation for excellence that extends beyond the community, often becoming a first introduction to Auroville for those far away.

My mother, Jocelyn of Ravena, was an adventurer. After having me in Berlin, she travelled overland through Europe and Asia, baby in hand, until she reached Pondicherry.

The Housing Board has informed the community that it believes that the development of Sri Ma as a beach resort, a large-scale income generating unit with a 50-rooms guest facility, is not developing as planned.