Clean drinking water, hot showers and toilets you can flush on: these are actually only a few of the things that I/we who are living in a more developed country expect always to work and are taken for granted. When it does not work, we got big problems.

The things we take for granted to exist is what others take for granted not to exist, at all times, everywhere. Here in Auroville, in India, I can not always find; clean drinking water, hot showers, running water, toilets you can flush on and so on. I am happy that I have all of these things at home and all people should also have that. Where to find something as basic as clean water should not be a daily question or headache when trying to make a livelihood and a life for one self.

At home we take long showers and baths, letting the water run while brushing our teeth etcetera etcetera. Why? Because we can. We can use (cold) freshwater without affecting for example India only because of our country´s privileged geographic position in the world. But what can we in for example Sweden or any other water-rich or capitalistic country do to help the world’s water scarcity?

Our hot water usage is wasting the Erath’s energy resources, so be aware of that and practise short showers and not leave hot water running is important. However, Amrutdarma talked about the water we do not see or know about, how much water it takes to produce clothes and food, “virtual water”. According to www.drickkranvatten.se 97 percent of our daily water consumption is invisible water, 2700 litre water is used to produce one shirt and what people living in the highest coffee consuming country should know is that it takes 140 litre (!) water to make one cup of coffee. As much as countries who are effected by a water scarcity needs to think about water-efficient alternative for producing textiles, we water-rich and capitalistic countries need to take responsibility in our consumption and way of thinking. The Auroville way of addressing the issue of consumption is interesting. For example at the Pour Tous Distribution Center you do not buy more than you really.

In Sweden we are usually rather good at looking up what additives our food contains and now days even more about which companies that produces it and are critical and try to be as environmentally aware as possible. I believe that we should add to that list an awareness regarding the virtual water that goes into food, products and clothing during the production phase and which countries the stores buy their clothes and fabrics from. We should demand that stores and purchasers are “water friendly”. How many times do we hear “do not buy too many clothes, think about the water”? Not once. How many people know that their shopping bags with clothes and food contains thousands of litres of water, that does not come from their “own” water supplies? How many people know that theirs overconsumption of food and the food waste contributes to wasting the worlds water supplies. That leads me to think about how much water we store in our wardrobes and closets that will not return to its owner, the earth? Hundred of thousands, some of us probably store millions of litres. Walking closets are just waterparks and runways during fashion weeks are just a lot of fancy and designed water.

//Jonna, Linnaeus University

This evening I had the pleasure of going to New Colors and visiting the (adorable) children who go there after school.  New Colors works with underprivileged children of the local village, Edayanchavdy, helping to provide them with not just homework help, but personal development skills.  After speaking with the organization’s founders, married couple Kumar and Renana, I learned some surprising things about education in India (as provided by the government schools).  For instance, one classroom can have up to 60 students.  This creates immense pressure for teachers and is problematic to students, given that their chances of individualized attention are slim.  Even in classes of 20, which I was accustomed to in primary school, students are all at different levels and possess different understandings.  In a setting of 60 young students, I can imagine the frustrations a teacher might have in attempting to teach them all; Kumar explained that the teacher thus becomes a “police officer,” which is, in my opinion, not conducive to a positive learning environment.  Coupled with that, many of these children experience violence in their homes and very few are able to get academic support, due to various circumstances.  This is sad to me, because I think every child, regardless of where they are born or to whom, should have the right to education in a safe place.  This is also the reason why I was drawn to New Colors.  They understand how fundamental it is not only for the children to actually understand what they are being taught in school (opposed to just memorizing what is in their workbook for exams) but also to develop their personality and build their confidence as community members.  New Colors lets their children (both boys and girls!) play and learn in a peaceful place, and I noticed all the children were very happy to be there and be participating together in various activities.  During my visit there, I helped the young students paint CDs for an upcoming Pongal festival, able to see how eager they were to use the different colors and the special glitter paint.  I also played ping-pong (on a home-made table) with the older students, who were having a blast.  All the children were very enthusiastic, despite not having much at home, which to me, was evidence of the resilient human spirit.  I also think the efforts of Kumar and Renana are extremely honorable; they both work during the day, and come home every evening and have the energy and heart to open their home to twenty-something children.  They are also adamant to providing quality attention to the children, and at one point had to limit the amount of children to retain this value.  More notably, they do this all for free because they are committed to making this environment accessible to “all” (i.e. not just those who can afford it), which really is incredible.

//CLH

Arts & Crafts for Pongal at New Colors!

Friday the 2nd of January, we went to Solar Kitchen, got on a bus and drove for 15 minutes. I knew we were going to a place called Sadhana Forest, and that the people living there were living a “hippie eco life” as someone expressed it. Judgmental, I know, but that was my knowledge of the place before coming there.

Sadhana Forest was like the way I sort of expected Auroville to be. Auroville has got electricity, Wi-Fi at several hot spots, water running from the taps and other necessities. Sadhana Forest had, besides the communal electricity for lighting the kitchen hut, none of that. They were living their life with a minimal impact on nature around them; eating only organic vegan food, not drinking alcohol, smoking or using other drugs, and dedicating their time there to reforestation. A life in a house made of cement is luxury in Sadhana Forest. The huts were made of bamboo and tied together with coconut ropes.

We were given a tour of the area and they sure had done remarkable things; by developing planting techniques to better fit the area they live in, they have a reforestation success rate of 80-90%. They are aiming to replant the Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest, the indigenous forest destroyed by the inhabitants of this part of India. After the tour, we got to see Cowspiracy, a film about how the cattle industry and its affects on the environment which were portrayed as worse than fossil fuel emissions.

Yes, the movie showed shocking propaganda and the numbers are probably manipulated to scare the audience as much as possible. However, maybe we need to be shocked when it comes to these questions? Isn´t it better to be shocked out from ignorance than fed with the usual “don´t eat meat” or “save our seas”? What if you do not have a understanding of the environmental crisis in any way; you do not live in an area at risk of flooding, you do not live in an area that is drought prone. It sure is easy to live with your head in the cloud, but for you to get your feet back on the ground you need some thunder and lightning, and I believe shock-tactics might not be entirely wrong.

I am therefore very thankful to Sadhana Forest for arranging these tours, where they expose their significant work and show movies within the genre of Cowspiracy. Thank you for the thunder and lightning.

//Anna, Linnaeus University

One thing that was pointed out to me before coming to India was the problem with the garbage. It was explained to me that they did not seem to have any particular understanding of how to take care of their garbage other than throwing it out in the street. It was the first smell that hit me, and it has constantly been present ever since I got off the plane.

We have been consistently educated in how diseases are transmitted and how we should use hand sanitizer to keep healthy. Just because we come here for a month, we suddenly need to act as we are in the middle of an epidemic or sanitary crisis. And yes, I understand we are not adapted to the bacteria here and that of course we need to be careful. But what about all the people who live in these conditions? Not, as we do while staying here, in a nice hostel with a regular toilet, a sink, and access to clean filtered drinking water. What about the rural villages?

Pondicherry dump

Since this has been in the back of my head ever since we left Sweden, I was really impressed when we visited an NGO called Yatra Arts Foundation. They work with what one would categorize as edutainment, or social marketing. They sing and perform plays with important social messages regarding health education. We got to see a movie about the issues raised dumping garbage, and how it could make you sick if not taking care of it in an appropriate manner. A few of us were even able to attend one of their live street performance later that evening where they sang in Tamil, and performed a play that focused on how dirty water could make you sick. It was truly wonderful to see how the children watching (and they were many, maybe, close to 50!) were laughing and participating in the play and in the vocal performance. They even took part in the dances on the little lit up area the artists were using.

Live performance by Yatra Arts Foundation

The work being done by Yatra is really important, and I believe it should be spread across India and to other countries that are facing similar problems. Grass root level edutainment comes across as a very effective way of teaching children about these issues, since they may not have access to other sources of information. How could they be exposed to a national television campaign regarding these issues if they don´t even own a TV or if they barley have electricity?

//Anna, Linnaeus University

Coming to Auroville, India there is an unique custom of bargaining with store and shop owners that  is not available in fixed price shopping in the European world. By making the price negotiable, there is an opportunity to satisfy consumers whose willingness to pay is significantly less than the shop owners asking price. Bargaining is a system of exchange by which goods or services are directly exchanges for other goods or services such as money. The bargaining system enables two parties to exchange goods or services based on mutually perceived value. It is enacted by an individual picking one or more items and bargaining the price with the producer of a product.

An instance in which I chose to bargain shop in the town of Kulapalayam, there was a negotiation of the price of a scarf that was initially 1,000 rupee. After many attempts to bring the price down to 800 rupees I chose to purchase two scarfs for 1,800 rupees. In the specific shop there were two brothers who were the workers under the direction of their mother who sat in the middle of the store as an overseer and keeper of the money. Realizing the relation between the three individuals, I recognized quickly that this was a family business who relied on the money to survive. Upon this realization I came to the question of “When is it alright to bargain when the consumer is in need when the family is in need to survive?” Is it proper to meet their asking price or is it proper to to honor your willingness to pay?

Finally, it is not a question of “who is more in need?”, but of “how can we both benefit from this process?” Watching the mother in the of the shop laugh at her sons attempt to negotiate made me realize that she is having fun with the process and was not counting on the profits of the night to sustain and was impressed with my bargaining skills. The process is not black and white and is built on a system of understanding. There has to be a middle ground to satisfy both parties that takes into account all of these elements. You get your scarves for a fair price and the family is able to sustain itself on their profits. 

Whether you choose to lap up the new-age and mosquito laden kool-aid or not, the beauty of Auroville is undeniable. Lush, green, and tranquil; it possesses a sense of calm (and western toilets, hallelujah) absent outside the Mother’s territory.

RMK