A Talk : 'My future was sanctioned & sealed by Her'

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My future was sanctioned and sealed by Her

  Ananda Reddy

Ananda Reddy

My association with Auroville began with the Foundation Ceremony on 28^th February 1968 with my participation in it representing Liberia. In fact when I held the flag of Liberia I didn't even know where it was! However, that was perhaps the seed sown in me. Around that time, if I remember correctly Roger and a couple of others had come to the Ashram school, which I had joined in 1958, and spoken to the students about the plans of building the Matrimandir—the soul of the city to be. He then invited the students to submit some drawings for the Matrimandir. And, quite in an Indian tradition, I had drawn a lotus design—a hundred petalled lotus as the form of Matrimandir. [Remarkably, the final design approved for Matrimandir is of lotus form (with four inner and twelve outer petals).] That's how my contact with Auroville began.

When I had completed the Ashram education in 1969, I had to choose the area of my work, for I had decided to do some work remaining in Pondicherry only. In those days there was absolutely no difference between the Ashram and Auroville, at least in my mind. As long as it was the Mother who was physically and spiritually guiding Auroville, it was for me an extension of the Ashram. But it was a question of joining some experiment that was absolutely new in conception and also something that was just starting. It had its own challenges but it would be a greater adventure. The Ashram was already something concrete in form and crystallized. Here was a new form of the Mother's dream—Auroville! I had come on a survey-

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trip to Aspiration—those days there were not too many choices too—and Auroville, with its red earth and its open green fields beckoned me, as if, to open myself to a new future—a future that would be unravelled for me by the Mother herself. Did not the Mother write to me once that as I go forward my future would be revealed to me? So, I said to myself: "This is where I belong!"

In fact, couple of years back, when I had a chance to go to America for higher studies, I had written to the Mother about wanting to join a college in the USA. She had given me clear enough indications in the letter that I should not be going to the States and then she added that if I wanted I could belong to the new world that is descending and that I should prepare myself for it. It was in the beginning of 1969. As the aspiration to belong to the new world was burning in me since the time the Mother wrote to me about the new world, Auroville had become for me, on the physical level, the manifesting form of that new consciousness and the new world.

I went to the Mother, it was sometime in 1970. When she asked me what I had decided about the place of my work, I told her: "Mother, I would like to join Auroville." The Mother then closed her eyes and withdrew for a while. When she opened her eyes she pierced my being with her look and said, with a benign smile, "Bien!" It was as if she had seen my place in the gamut of a whole new world that was taking a concrete shape and thus confirmed my joining Auroville.

Then she asked me, (the whole conversation was in French) "Do you know Andre?" I replied in the positive. Then she said, "Go to Andre, he will tell you about the work." The place of my work was approved by the Mother but the details of the work to be done would be decided by Andre-da. So, from the Mother's room I straight walked across to Andre-da's room—Andre-da, who all of you know is the Mother's son. I just walked from one room to the other in a daze, as it were. There was an overwhelming joy and at the same time a calmness. Another door to the future was opened: my future was sanctioned and sealed by her—the very creator of Auroville, the very epicentre of the new world to which I wanted to belong so very ardently!

After some discussion, Andre-da said, "We need at present a

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liaison between the Ashram and Auroville. I think you can take up that work of being a liaison." I then asked him a question, I still remember it vividly, "In such a work I may have to report to the Mother what I find incorrect at Auroville or the Ashram. But I do not like to make a judgement on any individual. What should I do in such a situation?" He said—I do not remember the exact words—that if I took it up as the Mother's work there would be no reporting against anyone but acting in the best spirit for the sake of work.

I accepted the liaison assignment but soon I had to go to Hyderabad for some work with my father Madhusudan Reddy whom some of the Aurovilians sitting here would know. He was a member of the Auroville Governing Board in 1995-96. You may be interested to know that way back in 1969-70, my father was given to start a university in Auroville. The Mother had asked him to come to Auroville to start a university here. So I was a bit excited and I wrote to the Mother that, apart from what Andre-da gave me, if I could work with my father at Auroville University. I had sent the letter to the Mother through Andre-da. After long many months Andre-da replied, "No, on the contrary Mother is asking you to come to Auroville and work with the children here." Another direction was opened up for my work!

So I first came in 1970, to attend the opening ceremony of the Aspiration School. It was a brand new hut—that was to be the school for a long time to come. I was thrilled thinking that I was to begin from the beginning. The hut was to be the place of my adventure in education. The VIPs who had come from the Ashram had brought the Mother's blessings and the message about the languages that were to be taught in Aspiration School. There were a handful of students, from different parts of the world and the country!

But when do I come to live in Auroville? I waited eagerly for the day and the auspicious time! Well, it soon came. It was the 1^st January 1971. I still remember that because for the new year, 1971, the Mother had given a calendar with the message: "Blessed are those who take a leap into the future." And it was with that calendar in my hand that I had walked to my hut at Aspiration from the main road on the 1^st January, 1971! The

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future was the present—I had begun to live it! What a glory and bliss was it to be able to participate in her dream, to be young was to be in the very heaven. I was the very first Ashram school student to have come out to live in Auroville premises and I was very proud of that. And that too my stay was sanctioned by the Mother herself! In one of the letters I had sent to the Mother, through Purnaprema, the Mother's grand daughter, I was instructed by the Mother to work with Norman-da who was then in charge of the Aspiration School.

Slowly, as days passed by, I started working out a program, a syllabus and wrote about all that to the Mother. I took quite many directions from her regarding the system that was to be developed at Aspiration School. For this occasion I have brought two of the letters. They have interesting guidelines for those who are in the field of education. The first one is the letter giving us an idea of how we used to run the school in those days. Here I read out from my letter to the Mother:

Ma, we have divided the Aspiration School students into three groups. Children below five years, children between five to eight years who through play and art are introduced to languages and mathematics and the third section children are above eight years. And these students, who number about 60, are divided into eight groups according to their capacities of comprehension and self-expression. And these groups are named Aspiration, Boldness, Clarity, Devotion, Enthusiasm, Friendship, Goodness, Harmony and they have a fixed time table for the entire week.

I gave a few more details. The first question I put to her was: "Do you approve of the system? If you do so, do you want us to continue for a further length of time, say till the end of this year?" And the second question was: "Do you feel now that we should attempt a new system which would be more in line with Auroville because the present one is only an improvement of a 'teacher-teaching-a-subject' method? Indicate to us the concrete steps towards the new system of education. Pray guide us closely at every step." This letter is dated March 16, 1972. And the Mother's approval was for the first one, for a regular

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teaching. She said, "Yes. It has my full approval." And for the second one,— whether we should start on some new experiment,— she said a blunt "No." May be the time had not yet come for such a new step to be taken.

Like that I used to ask her for every little detail—especially when I had started the physical education programme at Aspiration. I did it absolutely in line with the Ashram school as I was an ex-student of the school.

So my experience at Auroville has been solely in the field of education. I felt very responsible for my work in the administration of the school because we, some of us selected by the Mother, like Shraddhavan, Shantiben and Deepshikha and others, were attempting something new in the field of education. I had also asked the Mother on some occasion, the meaning of the Last School and the connection that was between the Ashram school and Auroville. I do not now remember her answer.

The second document gives details of the weekly programme. Here it is...the big schedule containing the Mother's signature or rather signatures! The Mother signed twice on it: once on the left side and a second time on the right side of the document. I don't know to whom I should pass it on, but I am sure there must be some Auroville Archives, where I could give this thing if it is kept safely and with due reverence.

Well, I asked the Mother for her guidance in every little bit— even if we had to go with students and spend a day in the inviting ravines that were strewn in Auroville land. Had we not done so, how could we have been saved on the night of our camping on an island of the second river—on the way to Cuddalore? The children and we had camped on a small island and at night there was a rising of the river water almost drowning us when we were asleep!

Well, as I was feeling more and more responsible for the children, I felt the need to be more in contact with her directly. Subsequendy I asked the Mother if I could come and see her once a month. She agreed to it and till March, 1973, I went to her once a month.

I remember the last message she had given me regarding my own work. As there were some major changes in the Aspiration

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School, I had asked the Mother if I should continue with the work or if she had any other work for me in her mind. The Mother replied in the letter: "Continue to do the work you are doing."

Since those days many things have changed in the Aspiration School as well as in Auroville but I seem to have continued with my teaching work, wherever it may be. In fact I have now returned to Auroville to teach once again, though not children but adults, some of them may be the ones who have grown up since 1971! What Andre-da had asked me to do, may be I am doing it now in the right spirit—of being a liaison between the Ashram and Auroville. At the same time, I have kept up my promise given to the Mother—to continue to teach. Subjects have changed, students have changed, place has changed but my teaching continues, for that seems to be my sadhana, my path to the Mother's consciousness!

Lo, we have looked upon the face of God,

Our life has opened with divinity.

Book XII

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