Here's the official call for the meeting recorded yesterday at the Unity Pavilion.

"The Auroville Council and the RAS invite you to bring your updated FAMC mandate-related questions to a question and answer Q&A session with members of the FAMC on proposed changes to the FAMC mandate. The draft mandate was published by the AVC in the N&N [491] 23 March 2013, with a request for feedback, and is attached at the end of this week's issue of News&Notes for your consideration again in the lead-up to Wednesday's meeting."

Not many residents attended. Read more

On 8th of May at 4pm at Unity Pavilion the community is invited to a General Meeting regarding Reve situation. Statement : Following the occupation of a house in Reve by a group of aurovilians “to accomplish a healing process", they invite the RA to this GM to share point of views on the diverse issues raised by the situation in Reve and to find together ways to resolve them. It will be moderated by the RAS and will focus on information sharing and listening. La Piscine Team informs us that the work on the pool deck is still in progress! Read more

Thiago came to Auroville seven years ago to fulfill his call to 'come out' from the western society. He and his partner Ana settled down in Sadhana Forest helping Yorit and Aviram in the reforestation project. Later they moved to Windarra - Terra Soul community. In the website of www.terrasoul.org the place is defined as " ... a learning community, our holistic approach embraces farming, arts, education and healing." Today Thiago is leaving Auroville. He's going back to his roots in Portugal. Listen to his experience, dreams and projects.

Maybe it was coincidence but many Aurovilians came together on the Labour Day to discuss about the increasing gap between the working groups and the residents of Auroville. This gap is steadily increasing, and since few months one of the most important of Auroville's working groups (the Working Committee) is not able to function properly. Despite the heat the meeting was well attended and many residents expressed their concerns. Another meeting will follow to begin the 'healing process', and the sense of optimism was present. Read more

Nicole Christine is from Munich, Germany. She organizes and leads silent meditation retreats in India and abroad. In this interview Nicole delves into the source of silence within our own selves. She introspects on the transformative and pathfinding personal experiences that led her to look for truth and meaning beyond mind and matter. For her it is important to look at silence as a living "presence" as opposed to perceiving silence as an "absence". Therefore, the need to integrate the practice of being restfully and quietly aware here-now. Read more

Minutes of General Meeting on Auroville Water Maintenance Service to clear out the dead point on the unit(or service???) closure, splitting assets...In the goodwill of all present resident, with the reminder of Residents Assembly Service before the beginning to keep it to the agenda which was (except little outburst of "washing the laundry") kept at most of the time, the meeting was steered in real process of work - collective yoga. Result is a suggestion that last existing team along with Marcus and Dirk find the proposal for the new AWMS. Read more

A community interaction with the Governing Board happened on Saturday 6th of April at 6.00 pm in SAWCHU. A good number of residents came to meet with Dr Karan Singh (chairman of the Auroville Fundation) and the members of the Governing Board. The discussion was open by a short introduction by the chairman Dr. Karan Singh. During the meeting the residents spoke about internal issues and policies to protect the development of Auroville. Later on on most of the participants attended to the community dinner at Solar Kitchen. Read more

Yesterday's General Meeting called by a group of Aurovillians concerned about the work of Working Committee, facilitated by RAS in Unity Pavilion has attracted many. Politics in its worst to some, struggle for power ,and who got control, or what it is perceived by some to opposite of what we might expect from working groups...what are spiritual core vision and values of Auroville. All those questions and some particular answers were given to the table, and a call of many for a transparency and sincere service to the community with interactions Read more

Maybe the discussion's number it's wrong, but the point it's that Auroville is piling up much more meetings and presentation than facts and actions. It seems that the further we go in the development harder it gets to take decisions and act consequently. This may sound slightly negative but was the feeling expressed of some of the participants at the meeting. The frustration reflects the little progress Auroville has achieved recently. Maybe it's time to act? Please download the pdf of the presentations 1 & 2. Happy birthday Mother. Read more

One Billion Rising is a global campaign by women, for women. The movement calls for an end to violence, and for justice and gender equality. On February 14, 2013, a one-day event will be held, a call for one billion women around the world to walk away from their homes, businesses, and jobs, and join together to dance in a show of collective strength. The word "billion" refers to the one billion women who are survivors of abuse. Please join our Auroville team in this event on Thursday. Read more

On Friday last week six members of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile gave a presentation followed by a Q&A session where Aurovillians was free to post questions to the Parliament members. The Tibetan Parliament is a one month trip in India to raise awareness about the plight of Tibetans with various government officials. Earlier in the day they had a meeting with the Pondicherry government officials. There has been a sharp increase of self immolation's over the past few months with the return of the Dali Lama still in question. Read more

Given the recent news attention to the rape case in New Delhi and other cases of violence against woman across India. Anandi and Noel organized a special meditation session for Aurovillian's to radiate love and kindness to protect and support all woman in India and across the world. Anandi also displayed two very old wooden Goddess statues. One includes a Rain Goddess from Africa. The meditation was opened by Noel and lasted for fortyfive minutes. Thanks to the twenty plus people that came to meditate. Read more

Louis de Svedam a cree cette communaute il y a plus de 20 ans. Depuis 1973 il avait deja muri son projet pour tout quitter et rejoindre Auroville. Commme un long fleuve tranquille, tout au long de sa route, il erige des passerelles entre les habitants et les artistes de passage, pour batir des liens profonds et universels.Dans le but de realiser son prochain projet de communaute des Artistes, il organise tous les 15 jours des diners suivis de spectacles pour recolter les fonds necessaires. Vous etes tous les bienvenus. Read more

This is a peace program for children, youth and adults, about how they can solve their conflicts peacefully. This is for creating awareness at every age in order to create peaceful surroundings.Be True Not Violent is a violence prevention programme for schools and social institutions. The curriculum is structured in a way so that it can be used internationally: for children in trouble spots, in developing countries and also in a daily environment in the western context.It was written by Rita Erben, Astrid Kummer and Emanuele Scanziani. Read more

Elvira, Luigi and B are back with their series on dissolving polarities in the planning and manifestation of the "city the earth needs." Special guest is veteran forest steward Rita. She has for more than thirty years planted and nurtured a ten acre forest in the Residential Zone just south of the Solar Kitchen and bordering Edyanchavadi Village. As she says: "The trees have grown, but have we?" Where is the right place in this forest for the radial road that is planned to go through it? Read more

Back at it again with the usual suspects, Elvira, Luigi, and B. This time it is with Matriprasad, the caretaker / steward of Existence. Existence has become a forest of about fifteen acres next to Matrimandir which town planners are considering for developments. How will the “city the earth needs” deal with it?

Luigi and B continue their series on "Bridging / Dissolving Polarities" with Elvira (RAS) and Toby (development for L'Avenir). Hear the realities of planning and implementing Auroville at this moment when a new energy is moving in the community for change. Elvira brings her extensive experience as a facilitator of the RAS and advocate for participatory development and transparency of the process. Toby, a veteran of a former L'Avenir, brings his executive awareness of the bigger picture of all that goes into development in the Auroville context. Read more

Today between 7 to 9pm at Verite we can join FULL MOON ASANA SESSION with Andrea At Future School presentation of Rio+20 at 5pm by Philipp. Electric Konarak Band on Wednesday at Bharat Nivas. Deep Depression over southwest Bay of Bengal: Cyclone Alert for North Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and adjoining South Andhra Pradesh coasts. Under the influence of this system, rainfall at most places with isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall would commence over coastal Tamil Nadu and Puducherry from today onwards. ... Read more

After months of discussing, and trying to make sense of what the community really value, and where do we want to go on collective level-which should be our priorities, yesterdays meeting brought lots of positivism. Despite rain shower the number of present residents was high, participants eager to start with the work. After short introduction by RAS members Jesse and Elvira, groups were around the tables with chosen topics - affordable housing, entry, participatory planning, economy, and violence in Auroville&disobedience of decisions. Read more

in today's news we feature an excerpt of interview with Jan from Svaram talking on his reasons for hunger strike since last Friday incidents. One would expect that power cuts translate into lower electricity consumption bills but this not always the case. The culprit is the backup inverter with battery storage. About 30- 45% of energy that passes through an inverter system is lost. Tamil Heritage Centre Team invites us to celebrate Dasara Festival of Evolution at ILAIGNARKAL EDUCATION CENTRE every day 4pm to 6.30pm from tomorrow until 24th. Read more

As it is tradition for the first term holidays, the children of Transition School and TLC spent two weeks rehearsing a play performed last Saturday at the Visitor's Centre: High Heels on the Old Town Tonight. People of the Old Town are producing bricks during the day, but their real life starts at night when the "High Heels" opens its doors. Passing visitors find a friction between owners of the club, imposing strict rules for admission, and carefree dancers, wishing to participate. Dr. Basketball requests from all to search for the solution. Read more

B and Luigi are at it again, as the seventh edition of their talks hits the air. Andi steps in for Marlenka, and the talk attempts to sift out the obstacles that hold us back from human unity. An opening letter from M. Joshi sets the tone of "universal fraternity". But how do we get there? Auroville, overflowing with beautiful idealism and goals, struggles with the practical implementation of such ideals. Featuring: discussion of territory, different aspects of mobility and the courage needed to isolate the city center through road planning. Read more

The women's circle met Wednesday evening to discuss the always-pressing issue of women's safety on the roads in Auroville. One male represented, and new ideas were brought forth. The general sentiment was to release the fear, as we attract what we focus on, as well as to find a way to empower the men who are abusers. An evening group meditation under the banyan tree for protection and more safety checks were proposed. The group struggled to branch the gap between the physical and the metaphysical solutions. Contact Anandi to get involved.

Do you have concerns with women on the roads in Auroville? Tune in to hear a short interview with Anandi from the Women's Circle, discussing that topic for today's meeting at 5pm in Unity Pavilion. Also we have a note from Krishna regarding the Permaculture Kitchen Garden Project and some words about two upcoming movies to be shown Friday.

Wednesday meeting of the leaders(panchayat) of villages in the Auroville neighborhood tried to raise awareness of local population on what Auroville stands for - from the beginning to today. Recording is in Tamil, and you can find Tamil text here. Read more

In their last two months of activity the Auroville Council has been busy mainly with complaints related to territory issues : extensions of fences leading to disputes among Aurovilians, misuse of AV assets, non authorized construction on AV lands or by Aurovillians on their family land inside the Master Plan area. If ownership is becoming the main achievement then we are drifting away form the dream of a more conscious society. Tomorrow at 6pm at Unity Pavilion at Women's Circle Macarena will share Mapuche's Sacred Dance with the community. Read more

In today's news we feature interview with Bridget from L'AVenir d'Auroville/TDC who shares exciting updates on their work. On 13th of June they will work on awareness building and communications on both governmental local and central governmental level. It will be panchayat leadership awareness course ... The Auroville Council is updating the list of arbiters who will be asked to serve as a team of 5 to study and give conclusion in case of conflict, that is beyond mediation, or in case of review of someone's status on the Master List. Read more

There is a World Sand Ceremony in the Thamarai garden in Edyanchavadi! to bless traveling sand, mixed by children in over 35 countries. Please join TLC where children will offer performances and presentations. There will be various stalls to discover, and delicious treats made by the children. Kalki Subramaniam, gender activist and actor presents 'The Lives of Others', a presentation on the lifestyle and culture of the Hijras-transgenders of India. There is a workshop to explore Nonviolent Communication, the work of Robert Gonzales. Read more

Finishing with the free dinner donated by Tanto Pizzeria, the meeting begun 3 hours before, and brought more questions than answers. More than 450 Aurovilians attended to this meeting organized by the RAS. If you failed to listen to the almost 3 hours of recording you'll have the chance know about the long list of topics discussed. Are you new to Auroville's matter? Then listen to it till the end and enjoy how the Auroville's resident are trying to make happen the Auroville's Dream. Next step? Another meeting but with just one topic: The land. Read more

Auroville Bakery Erumalai, member of Auroville Council shares what’s on the Council table. Auroville welcomes the return of Mr N. Balabaskar, as Auroville Secretary once again, and at the same time bids farewell to Mr S. Loganathan, who has been Acting-Secretary. ALL IS ONE - breakdance and rap music for peace - Indo-German fusion; ‘EachOneTeachOne’ with Mohanam Youth Project offers workshops. FIRST AID Workshop: Learn Basic Life Support: how to react to everyday accidents, what NOT TO DO! Call Pitanga for further information. Read more