Rebuilding a wasteland
Another speaker at the Green Practice workshop held in August was Bhavana Dee, who founded the Auroville Village Action Group (AVAG) in 1983. When Bhavana arrived at Auroville in 1971 it was a barren wasteland and “it was not anything like a city”. She went on to describe how they all worked together, along with the local villagers to help, to build Auroville. Calling it a very colourful time, she said the community was a happy one despite the lack of many basic facilities. Bhavana said if people take up the cause many such barren lands can be restored to their past glory as “mother nature is right there, ready to cooperate”.