1984
“In August this year Auroville hosted a week-long seminar on “International Understanding and Human Unity”, in which young people from all over India and a few neighbouring countries participated. They had come as guests of Auroville, chosen on the basis of essays they had written in the national competition in which Auroville had sponsored. The seminar received assistance from UNESCO through the Ministry of Education and Culture, Government of India. Several students from Africa, Nepal and Mauritius were also able to participate. This was the first major event to be held in Bharat Nivas, the cultural pavilion of India in Auroville. A significant group from Auroville had to be mobilised to handle the organisation and accommodation of the participants, who numbered about thirty. In this, Auroville made a new step in opening itself to become a forum where concerns of the human family could be discussed with the widest possible base, the least possible vested interest.
...
The seminar held its closing ceremony near the Lotus Urn, on 15 August 1984, where the following declaration, prepared in its entirety by the participants themselves, was read out by them in English, French, Tamil and Sanskrit:
“Today, our world is faced with an unprecedented crisis. The solution calls for a positive change in human attitudes, and the creation of an environment conducive to the development of each individual and a unified global perspective.
Therefore it is imperative that we, the youth of today, recognise our role as vehicles of this change.”
When the ceremony ended, the participants all went to a table placed below the Lotus Urn to sign this declaration which they had written; the sun was beginning to set behind them; the seminar was over and there remained only their return journey home. One did not feel cynical about what might be argued as an insignificant event in a remote place compared to the world situation. One knew that such events cannot be insignificant and there are no longer remote places.”[1]
- (Youth participant:) “When I first stepped into ‘Maison’, all those people who were not from our country struck me as being foreigners. One week later, however, they only seemed to be fairer Indians, I don’t know why. Maybe staying and working together did it”[2]
- (Youth participant:) “For me, one amazing aspect was the fact that every time our discussions converged on one entity – man, or, rather, us. This happened though we started from different issues such as evolution and education. This was clearly the undeniable achievement of the whole exercise.”[3]
- (Youth participant:) “The realisation that an intense and creative life is possible outside the false security of a decaying socio-economic set-up, was the most pleasant and eye-opening aspect of the Auroville experience. It helped in alleviating my malignant cynicism and apathy.”[4]
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