Page 1 of 12
The last dance
I pray that these words express to the best of my ability, Truth and clarity, and that I may be,
throughout this exercise, the most perfect channel for Light despite my innumerable shortcomings.
They, however, mostly came about before Bonke hurriedly and violently sent chainsaws and a
bulldozer into the first collectively managed forest sanctuary in Auroville, after I had made it clear to
him that I was strongly opposed to his plans and would not grant them access through Auroville forest
land of which I was responsible.
What follows was originally a letter that I was preparing for Bonke that attempted to provide a
detailed explanation of the reasons, spiritual and ecological, for my adamant refusal to collaborate
with his hill-project in the northern Green Belt. There is presently no reason to communicate with
Bonke, who has acted treacherously and violently, in utter disrespect of and contempt for the work
done out here by Aurovilians. He was very concerned about the speedy implementation of his plan,
placed upon me the ultimatum of either collaborating with him, or seeing the more powerful party
win. He also expressed his desire to avoid another “Darkali incident”, and wanted to rope in a few
forest stewards out here in order to avoid having the broader community even become aware of his
plans. Unfortunately, he managed with one, which allowed him access into the sanctuary.
It is evident that the most crucial question we need to answer as a community, is: Does the end justify
the means? Can Auroville ever realize itself if the means are not seen as the building blocks of this
spiritual endeavour?
What is his plan? It is to fundamentally alter the land-use of the northern greenbelt, to build a 30m
high hill over tens of acres of land within the Master Plan area, on Varuna land as well as on AV forest
land. The soil for the hill is from the lake being built around the Matrimandir. More than a hundred
acres of land within the Master Plan area, in the Green Belt, presently a mosaic of AV forests and
private land, has been labelled as “Matrimandir Team” land. The true intentions are obviously kept
obscure, but one needn’t be a genius to understand that the general idea is to open up large swaths of
land for infrastructure, energy and real-estate development at the expense of existing forest cover and
without the knowledge and consent of the community. The first step is to make a road that would
reach the site of the planned hill north of Fertile Field, where several acres of mature Auroville forest
is to be destroyed entirely. The access that was identified by the Matrimandir Team cuts through Nine
Palms, the NFA Sanctuary and Fertile Field. The section cutting through the NFA sanctuary has been
opened up already, without the stewards of the NFA being notified, except for one.
There is no public road in the entire area, which has kept development at bay because hundreds of
acres of land are not fed by a public road and all movement cuts through privately owned fields and
plantations. Access was needed for a project that would considerably and adversely affect the
environment and hydrology of the northern slopes of the plateau, a project that doesn’t have the
sanction of the community and which doesn’t figure on any planning document, and for which no
E.I.A had been prepared. I was first approached by Bonke to discuss this access. It was presented to
me as a fait-accompli. Time, however, was not on the side of these individuals who had to do things
quickly and with the least number of people being aware of them. Indeed, quite the divine manner of
acting, in opacity and darkness!
Either way, here is my position vis-a-vis all this that I intended on sharing with Bonke in writing.
Obviously, work is underway. The sanctuary has been pierced through for the road, and trees are
being felled to make room for the dirt.
• I was mandated by the community to steward Auroville land and restore it to forest, and the
project was sanctioned by the Forest Group, the Green Group and the FAMC that were
Page 2 of 12
composed of Aurovilians selected by the community. I am answerable to the residents of
Auroville, and therefore any change in land-use occurring on land for which I am responsible
must be run by them or the institutions representing them only.
• I strongly disagree with the hill project in the first place, and therefore granting the MM team
access through the forest I help manage would correspond to my agreeing in principle to it.
So even if I could make such a decision without the sanction of the Auroville community and
the pertinent institutions, even if the land were mine, I would deny the MM team access. By
forcefully making a road through the NFA sanctuary, they violated the authority that had been
bestowed upon me.
• More broadly, beyond mere access for trucks cutting through the forests for at least two years,
this hill project represents a massive change in land-use within the Auroville’s planning area
affecting several sub-watersheds, and therefore, it must be run by the community for
sanctioning. As long as I am a member of the community, I will abide by the simple principles
of its governance, namely that its residents have a say in the policies being implemented, in
the budgets being distributed, in the infrastructure being erected and in the landscapes being
created. There is not the shadow of doubt that the Auroville prerogative is for decision-making
to be structured around community participation, otherwise the whole thing beats the point
and one might as well hire a Chinese firm to build a city here within a fortnight.
I was made to understand that in Bonke’s mind, this hill project is a done-deal, that it has been
sanctioned by the powers-to-be, and that the only pertinence I have (and others working out here in
the forest) would be to help provide him with the best access route out there and to minimize potential
conflict.
I naturally don’t accept the premise of that assertion in the least. I don’t recognize the legitimacy of
the powers-to-be that may be sanctioning that project, and I certainly don’t accept the premise either
that this project has any more value for Auroville and the spiritualizing of the Earth than our work
out here does.
Justifying this project using Mother’s Name (as has been the habit over the decades in Auroville to
inflict violence onto others) and insinuating that building an artificial hill is actually Her idea, is not
only disturbing but highly dishonest. Mother, it is true, did mention a hill to some devotees close to a
century ago. But this, as you know, was at a time when She was vaguely contemplating the possibility
of settling, with Sri Aurobindo, on some land in the Deccan, where, in fact, there are natural hills
formed by the Deccan traps. She certainly did not ask her devotees to create an artificial hill on this
plateau by smothering existing forests and naturally regenerating Ebony so that they may enjoy the
view at sunset. And she certainly did not sanction such a project to be implemented against the will
and knowledge of the community at the behest of centralized government power. The sketch of Hers
that is being shared to justify the movements of oversized egos does in no way pin-point a particular
and definable geographical area. In fact, it indicates, if anything, a mound on top of the Town Hall.
It is a repulsive habit to cherry-pick things that Mother has said over the decades to her devotees,
always pronounced in context, to justify one’s egoistic desires cloaked in spiritual garb. She has said
countless things that directly contradict other things she has said. That is because She said those things
contextually, addressing specific souls across from her, in view of making them understand something
specific that was required at that particular time in their sadhana. There are many a thing She said
about trees and the need for planting them that one never hears about, obviously.
What better way to prevent the victory of Sri Aurobindo over Ignorance
than by destroying the life-support system of His children, the Material
Mother?
Page 3 of 12
There are numerous arguments (hydrologic, ecological, developmental and spiritual) that can be put
forth in opposition to Bonke’s project, but at this juncture in Auroville’s journey, shedding light on
what I take to be the central point of discord between Aurovilians is essential. Indeed, though we are
all actors on this stage, each with a particular role to play in this evolutionary process of impregnation
in matter of the Light Divine, the definition we have of Auroville is gapingly different.
One sees Auroville as a prefabricated township, perfect already in its subtle physical design and laden
with symbolism waiting to be literally manifested on these here lands, by any means possible.
Another sees Auroville as a journey of collective spiritual realization forged around a shared vision
of human unity and harmony in diversity and coalesced around the guiding principles of Sri
Aurobindo’s yoga of integral transformation. One understands Auroville’s mission to be the rapid
building of a township that, once complete, would physically house the brave souls taking on that
treacherous trail leading our species out of the Ignorance. Another understands Auroville as an
evolutionary process wherein the act of building this community itself represents the spiritual capital
needed for the ultimate spiritual transformation of this Earth and all its beings. One justifies the means
by the end. The other understands the means as the only tangibility and truth of the matter, the means
of building Auroville representing the actual building blocks of the new species to eventually come
about.
That which needs to be transcended, finally, is the illusory distinction perpetuated by the Mind
(ego) between Man and Nature, that false sense of separation between our species and the rest
of earthly creation which, in its totality, finds itself on this journey of spiritual transformation.
The experience of oneness with all beings on Earth is a prerequisite in order to climb that next rung
of consciousness.
In the subsequent pages, I will attempt to:
⚫ explain what work I and others have done and had set out to do in the NFA, for Auroville
⚫ explain what an evergreen forest is and what its role is in the regulation of the climate and
hydrology, and its pertinence for the Auroville project
⚫ delve into the intimate relationship between Nature and Sri Aurobindo’s yoga of integral
transformation and the problem of objective reality
My work and vision for the NFA
I’d like to take this opportunity to explain in some depth the forest restoration work that we have been
doing in Auroville and also to bring to light to the connection it has with Auroville and Sri
Aurobindo’s yoga of transformation. Not surprisingly, the ecological restoration work taking place in
Auroville is grossly misunderstood and the relationship between forests and the spiritual ideals of Sri
Aurobindo deserve considerably more exploration. That misperception dates from day one of the
Auroville adventure.
Nature and Sri Aurobindo’s task of terrestrial supramentalization: this relationship is clouded in
confusion.
The importance of this green work, and its spiritual significance, are paramount for the future of
Mother India. I am aware that only a handful will bother reading much farther, but that is fine. These
words will be a historical record, if anything. And they are addressed to those who will bother reading
Page 4 of 12
them fully. What follows over the next few pages attempts to clarify the actual work that was being
done in the NFA and the significance and meaning of forests.
Up here on the northern slopes of the plateau, some of use have attempted to forge sense of cohesion
in our restoration work. We view the fragmented forest stands as sectors within larger ecological units
the boundaries of which are the watershed divides/ridges. We created Auroville’s first collectively
managed forest wildlife sanctuary in 2018, situated at the geographic centre of the area. My goal was
to move Auroville forestry towards watershed-scale management and away from that of disparate
forest units existing in isolation with little cohesion. I suggested that all the forests of Auroville be
organized into larger blocks, the boundaries of which would be hydrologic, i.e. the sub-watersheds.
Each forest would be integrated into a larger planning unit, and the blue-print of these units would be
the hydrologic layer (watershed boundaries) superimposed by sound land-use plans. The idea was to
become more effective agents of Auroville’s forests, to increase collaboration, share resources and
implement planning at the watershed scale, to reduce when possible forest perimeters by a strategic
consolidation of land and to put forward a clear long-term vision for the forests.
At the centre of this northern area is the NFA sanctuary. In addition to being the core area of the
surrounding forests, intended to be a wildlife breeding ground and a stepping stone between the
Revelation and Kamataru sanctuaries, this forest is symbolically the centre of this project of collective
land management. Breaching it, especially in the way it was done, treacherously, is heavy in
symbolism.
When I began working the land out here ten years ago, I did so with a clear vision and generous
amounts of enthusiasm. I dreamed of setting in motion a third wave of reforestation on the plateau
using Kamataru as a nodal point. These northern slopes, draining into the Rayapudupakkam,
Aprampet and Mathur catchment ponds, were (and still are) the least affected by infrastructure
development. There was no public road, no over-head electricity lines and no irrigated agriculture.
Along the ridges of the plateau are rain-fed cashew plantations on thick layers of sandy, highly
percolative top-soil. Farther down the slopes to the north and west are the irrigated Casuarina
plantations. A discontinuous lens of ancient river pebbles exposed to the surface punctuate the
landscape in between, south of Mathur and westward towards Ousteri Lake. On these pebble outcrops,
north and west of Kamataru, I made a proposal to create the Sri Aurobindo Wilderness Sanctuary in
view of maximizing the hydrologic potential of the pebbles and their high transmissibility rates.
Page 5 of 12
Unfortunately, in the second decade of the 2000s, as today, planting trees “to change the climate” and
to prevent the earth from becoming a “desert moon” was not a priority. The “Green Belt” and
Auroville proper were made to become two very different and separate things. Simplistic statements
such as “we are not here to plant trees”, or “there are enough trees in Auroville”, or “Auroville is a
spiritual enterprise and not an ecological one” repeated over and over again, demonstrate that the
actual definition of Auroville deserves far greater attention and concentration. It points to a gap in the
essential understanding of Auroville’s purpose on Earth and, unless bridged, a gap that will prevent
the spiritual victory.
I had in mind to create a dense, closed-canopy evergreen forest with myriad species of flora that had
been rendered extinct regionally by the relentless destruction of forests over the centuries. It is of my
opinion that countless species of flora have long been eradicated and that only the most robust ones
(those capable of surviving recurring fires and able to coppice repeatedly) survive today. The species
composition of the thinning temple groves and the over-grazed reserve forests of the plains are not
an indication of this lost jungle. They are the outcome of forest fragmentation (a process started tens
of thousands of years ago by transhumant hunter-gatherers who had domesticated fire, that was
continued by princes and kings and feudal lords of lore and then essentially completed by the British)
and of the systematic depletion of forest resources (timber, firewood, fodder, wildlife, plant edibles)
by local populations over the centuries. The morphology of the forest patches remaining, fragmented
and stunted, are the consequence of sustained anthropogenic pressures and not of any geologic or
climatic determinism. What survives today is neither reflective of what once was, nor of what is
possible to reintroduce in the future. The glory of these lost jungles had to be restored, and Auroville,
the stage and symbol of the Earth’s changing consciousness, had to take part in this effort.
The framework for reintroducing this flora from different regions of India and from other parts of the
tropical belt had to be set. This required a rapid formation of an evergreen canopy using the drought- resistant and robust species growing in the bioregion and well-established in Auroville today (ex:
Diospyros ebenum, Tricalysea sphaerocarpa, Walsura trifoliata, Memecylon umbellatum, Garcinia
spicata, Aglaia elaegnoida, Drypetes sepiaria, etc.). Future reintroductions of species would be
planted in seed-orchards and once mature, they would be dispersed naturally in the surrounding
forests by natural vectors. This forest had to be tall, with a canopy of about 20 meters, in view of
accommodating the forest layers underneath composed of species brought in from far and wide. This
implied a forest methodology using the process of succession of species as a guide and framework to
ensure tall trunks and prevent stunted growth.
To increase the viability of the project as well as the robustness of the forests in the long-term, forest
corridors were required that would link the Old Forest Front (the O.F.F. from Two Banyans to the east
up-to Nine Palms to the west via Fertile, Baraka, Espace and Revelation) and the northern forest
satellites (Infinity, Azhaghu-Boomi, Kamataru, Freedom). Critical plots were identified, maps were
shared with various Land Boards. With less than 15 acres of land, the four northern satellites could
have been interconnected and linked to the OFF and the Revelation Sanctuary. The newly created
collectively managed forest sanctuary was to represent the core area and a wildlife breeding ground.
These corridors would have greatly enhanced biodiversity: fragmentation is the biggest impediment
to healthy forest ecosystems (fragmentation leads to ecosystem decay). They would ensure a plausible
long-term management and biodiversity increment of Auroville’s northern forests, providing wildlife
and natural disseminators a far wider habitat.
The expansion of genetic material in the northern forests was not the only goal. The idea was also to
create a microclimate, to increase rainfall (and regularize it throughout the year), to reduce
temperatures, and to ensure that the watershed would be capable of maximizing the highest rainfall
intensities of the century (above 500mm in 24 hours). The northern slopes of the plateau presented
all the advantages of pulling this off, given the availability of land for sale and at cheap rates.