“Sometimes, the epiphany comes in the most unexpected situations. It can be triggered perhaps by a random conversation, a film scene or even a simple word,” says Martin Littlewood, the U.K.-born volunteer of Auroville International, a global community working to promote the vision of Mirra Alfassa, The Mother, who founded the universal township in 1968.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is visiting the township on Sunday to inaugurate the golden jubilee celebrations.
Mr. Littlewood recounts a moment when A Dream of the Divine film about the City of Dawn, The Mother and Sri Aurobindo’s philosophy, was screened at a scantily attended screening in Kazakhstan years ago.
“After the show, there was a woman in the audience whose curiosity and imagination was kindled by the concept of Auroville,” he said.
Auroville International, which is a “worldwide network of Auroville friends,” was an initiative approved by The Mother for “a realisation of unity and harmony”.
Within two years of the founding ceremony, the idea was born to create an international network to mobilise support for the fledgling universal township. The need to get the international community involved in the building, and harmonious development, of Auroville had been in The Mother’s mind even as she led its founding.
Auroville Charter
According to Auroville International, there is a deep intent in beginning the Auroville Charter with these two lines: “Auroville belongs to nobody in particular, Auroville belongs to humanity as a whole”.
The world’s nations were invited to send representatives along with a handful of soil to the festive inauguration of Auroville and in return benefit from this “laboratory for a new consciousness and a new society”.
Some of the common challenges that the organisation was confronted with was clearing the misconceptions about Auroville — many think it is a religious sect or cult which could not be farther from the concept, Mr. Littlewood said.
“And, working for Auroville abroad and taking up residence in the township can be very different,” he said. The volunteer who recently moved into Auroville for good feels that it takes “another level of commitment and responsibility.”
