A letter in 2022 from some youth in Auroville to the Governing Board, signed by over thirty. It is being reproduced now as an example of the many attempts over the last few years to appeal for true collaboration.
Written May 2023
We, the undersigned youth of Auroville and the future of Auroville Aurovilians, write this letter to you with a deep intention for a spirit of collaboration in the way of moving forward so that there would be no further damage to the fabric of Auroville, on many levels. We would like to reinstate that ‘Manifesting Auroville’ is the only reason why we have all committed to be here, but we strongly believe that building Auroville should be at all levels, including human aspects, environmental and sustainable aspects, along with physical aspects of it.
We all have drawn inspiration from the very impactful work done here since day one, and to mention a powerful one among many others: our pioneers have transformed the landscape which has been the only reason that many surrounding villages, from where many of us originally come, have been protected from drought, migration, other economic and biodiversity losses. Auroville has been playing a key role in bringing education, sports and employment opportunities in the bio-region areas which has shifted their lives. These impacts have been on thousands and thousands of people, but it would be redundant if we try to see them just through a quantitative lens. The development of Auroville definitely has been far more reflective and integrated than just being contained through its physical limits and physical aspects. We hereby state that referring to Auroville’s growth as ‘stagnant’ does not at all reflect the true progress of Auroville, while at the same time we do not deny the fact that it could be at a faster pace.
We collectively present the following requests and statements before you, which are essential in aligning the process back to the spirit of Auroville and call for a progressively evolving way forward:
- We want to make a statement that we cannot be tagged as ‘residents against the development of Auroville’ because we have expressed differences of opinions on the methods currently used for the same. We are wholeheartedly for the development of Auroville and most of us are working in Auroville services that can foster the growth of Auroville, and we wish to continue the same.
We therefore sincerely request you to refrain from referring to us as ‘residents against development of Auroville’, and that could be the first step for a true collaboration. Similarly, we see you as a catalyst that can help the development activities and work with you in that spirit.
We really see the value of the three authorities mentioned in the Foundation Act, i.e. The Governing Board, The Residents’ Assembly and The International Advisory Council, essentially working together for the growth of Auroville as per the charter of Auroville rather than trying to overpower one another, which will only make the process difficult and derail it from the very spirit of Auroville. - Referring to RAD processes as ‘illegitimate’ bases on non-agreeable grounds and the presented reason of ‘lack of update in ROR’ is not justified. The processes have been conducted based on Residents’ Assembly approved policies and have been key in making many decisions in Auroville. While it’s a fact that there is room for improvements in the processes, we see the importance of doing it together to pave a way for the inclusive and sustained growth of Auroville.
- Appointing members for working groups directly against the decision of RA as well as attempts to take over the essential systems like email domain, residents’ intranet platform etc, has disturbed the regular functioning and does not reflect the collaborative spirit in which Mother asked Auroville to be built.
- We request you to hold meetings, sharings etc. in a truly collaborative spirit with an opening to integrate the feedback received. We promise you that it will be a rather complex process to do, but it will be very ineffective not to do it. The Auroville community is a very rich, diverse and complex collective and it would be redundant to move forward with partial movements that deny the collective wisdom that it holds.
With this, we would like to invite you to share space with a slightly wider group of residents (youth) in a meeting where we can express, discuss and talk about moving forward. We promise you that we will hold a truly interactive space in this meeting for all of us, as we see that as an essential space to move forward from where we are now.
Youth of Auroville