Finding Auroville

As mentioned in the description on the Uncovering Aurovillage page (which was originally called Uncovering Auroville), the purpose of the posts on this page is to bring to light the structural problems that have accumulated in Auroville over the past 50+ years of its existence. This exposition is a task that is necessary to do, because Auroville will not be able to move forward in an appropriate direction if these problems continue to be swept under the rug. This task of exposition will however require a very negative evaluation and critique of the situation in Auroville.

This first post in the series lays out the overall framework within which all these problems in Auroville have arisen. Future posts will look at the different aspects and facets of these problems one by one. Subsequent posts will use the term “Aurovillage” to distinguish and focus on that part of Auroville from where most of the problems of today and the past arise. Aurovillage is described in the second post of this series.

The first thing we have to understand about Auroville is that its outer facade, the one that is shown to the outside world, to visitors, guests and short-term volunteers is a very deliberately manufactured front that hides a very different interior situation. Understanding this is one of the main keys that allows us to grasp the reality of Auroville.

Visitors and guests in Auroville often have a very positive experience here. They talk about the positive energy, the green environment, and the uplifting experiences they have. Auroville has a plethora of activities, classes, workshops etc that visitors can partake in. These activities focus on areas such as environment and sustainability issues, alternative health and wellness, spirituality and “mindfulness”, all in a sylvan setting dotted with guest houses and restaurants. Much of Auroville’s economy has evolved around catering to guests and visitors. And Aurovilians have mastered the art of creating spaces and activities where such visitors have the positive and uplifting experiences that they come here for in the first place. In many respects it is similar to the creation of such experiential spaces in places like Goa, Chiang Mai and Bali.

Another aspect of this facade is the popularization over the decades of Auroville as a place that manufactures high-quality boutique items such as incense sticks, perfumes, pottery, handmade paper and the like. Overall, Auroville has been packaged as a space of consumption of products and experiences within the alternative liberal milieu.

Behind the Facade

What has been described above is the experiential space that has been created for outsiders, visitors and guests. But what lies behind the facade? Behind this surface appearance is a place where people are highly territorial, and are extremely protective of “their” space from the various “threats” from outsiders and the outside world. You are welcome to come to Auroville temporarily, to experience and consume Auroville at the carefully constructed surface level, but if you decide to stay longer and delve deeper into Auroville you will have a completely different, much more negative experience. Literally, the same facilitators who were smiling at you while you were partaking in a paid workshop, will now be scowling at you because you’ve been here too long and they’ve seen you too often in “their” space. You start to feel the negativity as soon as you decide to experience Auroville more substantially than a few days or week’s stay.

Auroville behind the facade is an extremely tribalistic place, and one of the key concerns of the tribe is to protect itself from the outside world and outside influence. Over the decades Aurovilians have created this space for themselves, and they are going to do everything to hold on to it, to keep it sparsely populated and insulated from the outside world. A tremendous amount of energy goes into making sure that this happens. The tribe is “activated” whenever there is a “threat” to its character and “safety” from the outside, and the tribe or a part thereof works diligently to eliminate that “threat”.

Many who have only experienced Auroville at the surface will find this description jarring. There are many who visit Auroville frequently and are only interested in having this surface experience. However if one seeks out people who have attempted to have a deeper and longer engagement with Auroville, or who have stayed on here despite facing continuous negative situations, this seamier reality of Auroville will be routinely narrated.

It is of course very ironic that there is such a sense of tribalism, isolationism and proprietary ownership in a place that is supposed to follow a Charter that begins with the words “Auroville belongs to nobody in particular, Auroville belongs to humanity as a whole”, and which is supposed to be a “universal township”. And this attitude is far far away from the sense of material detachment that a sadhak of Integral Yoga is supposed to aim for, while still being actively engaged with the material world. However the aims of Auroville as they exist on the ground now are very far from what they are supposed to be according to the purpose of Auroville.

This very briefly is the overall framework that one needs to be aware of to understand the reality of Auroville today, or the Auroville that has existed till recently. The facade that is presented to the outside world is very different from the reality of Auroville that exists just under the surface. Many questions arise from this short initial description. How did this situation come about? What is the nature of the people who have created this situation? How has it been allowed to exist and fester for so long? These and many other aspects will be discussed one by one in subsequent posts.