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City of Dawn
' Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid' - Mathew 5:14.
The seed for Auroville was sown in Mother's mind. This project is
one of the biggest of all times. It is not easy to acquire so many acres of land, bring people of different countries together for a common goal of Divine knowledge. The very thought is mind-blowing. Only someone of Mother's caliber can make such a dream, a reality.
Being in Pondy, I was so ashamed that I had not visited the Auroville city for 23 years.
Auroville City is the place where the Aurovillians make a living. On my 24th birthday, I accepted my friend's
invitation and visited the city.
The breath-taking East Coast Road made a turn on to a rugged, dusty path. I was surprised that the road to the Auroville city is no road at all.
My friend, sensing my disappointment, explained that it was a planned act. The Aurovillians did not want traffic and pollution. The best way to keep the traffic population in check is by building no roads.
I was dumb-founded by this explanation.
We first halted at a small coffee shop. My first thought was, "Boy! So many foreigners." I have never before seen so many foreigners in a single room. In fact, I did not see any Indian but ironically I felt more foreign
amidst them. They all belonged there and I was just an onlooker. My friend and I ordered for coffee and I tried to make myself more comfortable.
For my friend Sumithra, Auroville is her sanctuary. She retreats there very often and is working her way to make herself a home in Auroville. For me, it was a touristic spot. Coming back to the coffee shop, the coffee was strong and the woman very friendly. This made me more comfortable and with that oh-so necessary refreshment, Sumithra and I marched ahead to the interiors of the city.
Auroville is a jungle area. That was the first time I was seeing so many trees, plants, birds and feeling the breeze in a human-inhabited area. My good friend, sensing my surprise gave me another sweet shock. When the particular area was spotted for Auroville city it had very few trees. The pioneers resolved to change it to what it is today.
In fact, I read one Aurovillian telling Mother that they had planned to plant 1000 trees a particular year. As I explored the interiors, it was very hard for me to believe that this place was a barren strip once.
The houses there are so beautiful but they are all hidden by trees. I was mesmerised by one such house when I heard the peacock singing. I could not find the peacock but I knew that I was in a wonderland.
Sumithra tried to drag me away but I was unable to move from that residential area. She told me that it was just a beginning and indeed it was.
Our next halt was one of the museums of Mother. Once again I was surrounded by foreigners but this time I was ashamed because they were doing Yoga and reciting Sanskrit verses which were all alien things to the Indian in me. I was so proud of my country and her power. I saw various photos of Mother, her childhood snaps, her family album, her life in Japan and last but not the least her destiny in my dear Indian soil.
A particular incident about Mother's view on India and Indians moved me a lot. Once Mother had received a report about the attitude of superiority of some non-Indians towards Indians.
She said people coming to Auroville from abroad should know that India is a host country and they are on the soil of India. India is the country of spirituality and even a peasant here is nearer to the Divine in his heart than the philosophers of Europe. People in Auroville must recognise this fact; and those who do not, have no place in Auroville. The spiritual status of India is an absolute knowledge.
Then she wrote a message in French, dated it, and advised its distribution.
 "From the spiritual point of view, India is the foremost country in the world. Her mission is to set the example of spirituality. Sri Aurobindo came on earth to teach this to the world. This fact is so obvious that a simple and ignorant peasant here is, in his heart, closer to the Divine than the intellectuals of Europe. All those who want to become Aurovillians must know this and behave accordingly; otherwise they are unworthy of being
Aurovilians."
This passage made me understand my country and her people with a new sense of respect. Moving on, I also saw the facial expressions on Mother's face as she discussed Auroville with Roger, the architect. She was so child-like, so engrossed and so divine that it was impossible to turn away from the photographs. Sri Aurobindo was so radiant that his face looked like a ball of fire to me.
Mother full of love and Sri Aurobindo full of divine firmness - that is how I perceived them. The pair was quite a soul-steering spectacle for me.
After having visited the museum, we sat under a eucalyptus tree and had a nice intellectual conversation.
Both Sumithra and I felt revived and charged up.
We then went to a place called Savithri Bhawan. We saw a lot of paintings and literary works of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. Never before had I been to an art gallery and I regretted not having visited one earlier. These works helped me to grow so much.
It was one in the afternoon and the morning coffee had long since been digested. We went to a nearby restaurant and ordered food. We had a quiet lunch. For me, it was a very pensive moment. Around me were people from different countries, speaking different languages, all sitting and enjoying their lunch.
The world outside is working so hard on making their boarders strong and safe whereas the people in Auroville have no borders.
All these made me want to understand Auroville better. Questions like what is Auroville? How different is it from the outer world? What was Mother's idea behind starting this Utopian World? Such questions kept hitting me.
This later made me do a lot of browsing and talking. I read a lot on Mother's aspiration to complete this project.
"Auroville is created to realise the ideal of Sri Aurobindo who taught us the Karma Yoga. Auroville is for those who want to do the yoga of work.
 To live in Auroville means to do the yoga of work. So all Aurovillians must take up a work and do it as a yoga." - Mother.
This quote of Mother made me realise that Auroville was started based on the teachings of Sri Krishna - work is worship. Do your work and leave the result to God. Auroville is synonymous with work.
Once the meaning was understood, my next question was how were the people selected. People, I read, were critically examined by Mother before they were given permission to enter Auroville. Luckily, I did not have to search much. As always, Mother's quote was easily available.
Mother said in Auroville she did not want number but quality. Twelve good men would be better than hundreds of stupid persons.
Auroville is not for comfort but for the servants of the Divine. People in Auroville should not shirk hard work.
Now I was clear of the fact that hard work is the sole ingredient of Auroville. But that is what the outer world also talks about. Everyone of us knows that hard work is the secret of success and those of us who want success are well aware that the short cut to success is hard work.
So popped the second question: how different is the work in Auroville from that of the outer world.
"Auroville has been created for a super humanity, for those who want to surmount their ego and renounce all desires to prepare themselves for receiving the super mind. They alone are true
Aurovillians.
Those who want to obey their ego and satisfy all their desires belong
to sub-humanity and have no place here. They should return to the world, which is their place." - Mother.
People are given the option to do any work of their choice. Livelihood is not dependent on it. One is supposed to work to attain the divine.
 After knowing only one-hundredth of what Auroville stands for, I concentrated on the pioneers. These people came from all corners to live in the world created by Mother. After all, without these pioneers, this dream of
Mother would have been just a dream. Many books and some people told me that they came here for progress. The progress which moulds a person's intelligence and gives satisfaction.
But the demands made on these pioneers were overwhelming. There was the hot, humid climate, absence of water and electricity, the arid earth, limited financial and technical means as well as psychological difficulties, which (in case of Western Aurovillians) resulted from the sudden transition from a highly developed civilisation to a kind of rural wilderness where suddenly every bucketful of water, every nail and screw became desired objects which one could never be sure of.
Moreover, everybody had imported all his own ideas and concepts, and these were not always identical with those of other pioneers.
Mother did give general guidelines for the development of the city and also regulated many details, but, at the same time, she expected from the Aurovillians that they should open to the higher consciousness and receive directly the answer for all those never-ending problems.
So, as I assumed, this place is not an Utopian society. It was faced with numerous setbacks.
I was more shocked when I came across a letter to Mother from an
Aurovillian.
"In Auroville at this time there is very little love, trust collaboration, aspiration. There is much doubt, distrust, and waste divisiveness. I see this in myself and it seems to a general condition in Auroville now. I wish there was some concrete way for all of us in Auroville to place ourselves as a collectivity before you, exactly as we are, and in all sincerity call upon you to help and guide us to become whatever it is we must become..."
This letter made me understand the challenges they faced. Coming back to the restaurant where I was having my afternoon lunch with Sumithra, now I understand what an indomitable spirit these people have. I look at these people with a new respect.
 After our lunch, Sumithra took me to the Tibetan pavilion and also to a Tibetan shop where I did some window-shopping. Much later, I read that the Dalai Lama visited Auroville. On his excursion, he was told that there was no Tibetan in Matrimandir workers camp, he remarked, "We will join."
Coming back to my trip, we concluded our journey by visiting the Matrimandir. Mother had said the life line of Auroville would be the Matrimandir. Standing in front of that spherical globe I once again became pensive. The name Auroville derives from the French 'aurore' meaning 'dawn' and Auroville signifies the 'City of Dawn'.
Auroville was planned for a population of 50,000 on an area of 15 sq miles. It comprises four zones/sectors - residential, industrial, cultural, international.
The lifeline of Auroville would be the Matrimandir - The Temple of Mother.
Today, Auroville is more than 34 years old, with people from over 30 nations making up its current residential profile of 1,700 inhabitants. Mother had said in November 1970, on
Matrimandir.
"Matrimandir will be the soul of Auroville. The sooner the soul is there, the better it will be for everybody, and especially for
Aurovillians."
So, in 1971, the foundation was laid for Matrimandir in the form of a spherical glob, constructed on the scaffold of four pillars, which represent the four powers of Mother. Inside the globe a meditation hall was built - a spiritual dynamic power centre. After visiting Matrimandir, I was more awed and I felt the power of God around me.
On my way back, there was still one question nagging me. Why do people accuse this spiritual place as a hideout for sex lovers?
T his was clearly not the intention of Mother. Once when Mother was posed with the question of babies in Auroville, she had replied, "Do they believe that I want babies in Auroville?... You tell them that it is not so. A way is found for taking birth differently. We do not want babies by the ordinary way." - Mother
Mother had an experience in May 1969 in which she showed Sri Aurobindo in the subtle-physical how Auroville would be and should be eventually. Even details such as kitchen and food were noted.
This means, in other words, that the city is already formed somewhere, completely designed in its ideal shape, and the only question that remains open now is: when will it be fully manifest?
I conclude with this apt quote of Shyam Sunder Jhunjhunwala. "Her love, her training, her urge for progress, her helping hand, her solicitude and tail for me, for Auroville, for all. I remember her holding my hands in hers before I would leave. My hands would carry the smell of the perfume from hers, and something more would go
within..."
This was exactly the perfume I carried back with me from Auroville - a gift from her to mankind.
N M Vidhya
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