ISSUE 12 | DECEMBER 2019
The city was planned to be built
over 200 sq kms, but Auroville
owns only 84 sq kms till date.
Any expansion would call for
upfront payment by those
wishing to move in.
Fedrick, a German who has lived
in Auroville since early 1960s
("unable to come to terms with
the barbarity of Nazi Germany"),
says there are many waiting to
come in. The place has a lure all
it's own - people who taste the
life here, want to stay on. But not
everyone is allowed to. There is a
process involved. A newcomer
initially stays as a volunteer for a
fixed period, which used to be
three months but is currently
two years. This gives both
newcomer and the community
time enough to decide whether
she or he belongs here or not.
Many, like the Austrian Martin
Scherfler, who has been here for
12 years, came in for a look and
decided to stay on, but some
moved away. An 'entry service
group' clears a person for
permanent residence, followed
by an approval from the
residents' assembly.
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Ultimately, the question is, to
what extent has this different
model of living been successful.
Tewari says that the very fact
that Auroville has existed half a
century is not just a matter of
success but a "miracle". Toine
van Megan prefers to see it a
little differently. He believes that
if the "real Auroville" is meant to
be an instrument of 'inner
development', as envisaged by
the Mother, then there is "still a
lot to achieve".
Both seem to be right because,
while Tewari looks at the past,
van Megan has his eyes on the
future.
At the end of the first 50 years,
Auroville is a veritable success.
There are hordes of foreigners
living in various ashrams in India
- including the nearby
Aurobindo Ashram, which is
connected to Auroville only by
the spirit of Sri Aurobindo's
teachings and nothing else.
But these ashrams are primarily
religious communes.
Aurovillians, in contrast, are
hardly religious.
Ashrams have people living
abstemious lives, Auroville
doesn't 0 it's people may not be
wild fun-seekers, but they are
certainly not monks either. They
give up their personal wealth
and provide service to the
community, but only in the
spirit of pooling everything for
common use. Unlike in an
ashram, relationships freely
happen and break here. Some
smoke joint clandestinely. There
are no rigid social norms. But,
for sure, there is a certain
homogeneity among
Aurovillians. These are people
who have chosen to hunker
down and live quiet lives in
harmony among themselves
and with nature. It is hard to see
the lab-scale success of
Auroville being replicated
elsewhere. Yes, when waters
from over a 100 countries are
pored into an urn in Auroville
on February 28, Aurovillians can
look back at the past five
decades and allow themselves
a smile of satisfaction.
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ARTICLE BY RAHUL MEHTA (RESOURCED FROM WWW.AUROVILLE.ORG)