Questions and answers

Q. What is all this we hear about raising a million dollars by August 15?

A. Well it is as simple as that, we are trying to do it.

Q. What for?

A. To buy the land that is currently on offer to Auroville.

Q. Why now?

A. Well actually the situation with the land has reached another one of those critical moments. This time it is a combination of lack of funds, pressure from real estate developers, and also one major landholder in the city area is willing to sell 15 acres. All this plus the fact that in order to maintain the momentum in the past couple of years, Land Fund received a credit line to buy land, and it is felt now that it would be good to get back on to level ground.

Q. Are the 15 acres the only land on offer in the city area?

A. No, in fact there is much more. If funds were available it would be possible to acquire around 40 acres within the next year. All the land in the city area is important to buy, but some of the land in the 15 acres is along roads, and so it is even more critical to secure it whilst we can.

Q. And the threat from the real eatate developer is real?

A. As real as the wall that he built on the 50 acre plot in the greenbelt, and the electricity line he brought in within the last two weeks. The last information we have is that if we do not come through with the money he will begin to develop a country club with swimming pools, tennis courts and farm house plots. At this point he is still willing to sell the land, but once again it is our lack of funds that is preventing the deal being closed. Obviously, as a business man, he is not going to wait forever.

Q. I suppose that this is not the only land available in the Green Belt?

A. Absolutely correct. There are many pieces on offer, some more interesting than others, meaning more or less related to already existing Auroville land holdings in the Green Belt. The more interesting ones are those areas that would link up existing forest and farm areas, and create large contingent blocks of forest, or agricultural land that would bring us closer to that elusive goal of growing our own food.

Q. So what are the actual figures we are talking about?

A. In a general sense we can say that for the land adjacent to the botanical gardens we need about $200,000, the 40 acres in the city would require at least $400,000, the credit line is just under $200,000, and the other land within the Green Belt easily would require another $200,000. So this is totally 1 million dollars.

Q. Ok that is simple and straight forward, but how are we going to raise the money? 1 million dollars is a large amount for anyone.

A. I agree it is not going to be easy. In fact when I first came to realize the actual situation it looked impossible to me, a figure far too large to contemplate. However, I began playing with the figure 1,000,000 in my head and came to realize that it is seemingly impossible simply because we cannot visualize a number this big. So I began to wonder what number is conceivable, and came to 1,000. It became simple: we need to raise $1,000 a 1,000 times! Then it followed that if we could find a large enough group of people who would take on the challenge we would succeed. I looked at Auroville and the worldwide Auroville community and figured that as a family, a group of people with a heart connection, we have 5,000 people. From this point the task looks manageable. It is not so much about large sums of money, but more about getting people to join in.

Q. And how far have you gotten with this?

A. Pretty far actually, because I realized that it is not about money, but about time. I figured that if everyone manages to commit one day a month for six months then we are well on the way.

Q. One day? What will people do with their time?

A. Anything, talk to people, make things to sell, write letters, encourage other people to join in, make a show and entertain people, or simply give a day's wage, once a month for six months. When it is presented like this it suddenly becomes manageable. It is simply the question "Can you give two hours a week to the Land Fund to help raise the money we need to realize Mother's dream?" Who can say no to this?

Q. Are people joining in?

A. Yes, and it seems to be gathering momentum. We have just had an art exhibition called Creations for Land. It began with the idea of one artist, she spoke to a few friends, and then by the time the show was over 30 artists had contributed, and we had raised over a $2,000. Two shares gone, 998 to go.

Q. You mean to say that is the only money you have raised?

A. No, no. In fact, in the first two months of this year $40,000 came in from other efforts of the Land Fund team and we have pledges for over $50,000. So in actual fact we are one
tenth of the way to the target. This idea is complementary with the ongoing efforts of the Land Fund team who have been hard at it for years, raising awareness and building up support. In Auroville itself, we now have over 250 Aurovilians giving a regular monthly contribution to the Land Fund. That in itself generates a share of $1000 a month. All we need to do is widen the support base.

Q. So, we should all go out and find a rich friend to help the cause?

A. Not necessarily! This is more about everyone joining in, joining in on an equal basis. This concept means that we all give according to our means. If your wage is $5 or $50 OR $100 a day, we just can give that: one day a month over a period of six months. And then we have all contributed 2% of our annual income. That is the first step. Then if people feel inspired, they can take up the challenge of $1,000, either as an individual, or as a group and try to make it happen. Then let's see where we are at in six months. I think we could surprise ourselves.

Q. How does this relate to the wider Auroville picture?

A. Only in the sense that human unity must in some way involve working together for common goals. If we can solve this problem together, we might be able to go on and tackle other more complex issues that at the moment seem intractable. I feel that this process needs to be fun, and enjoyable, and that if we can create this then we will have achieved something. That's why a lot of the events being organized at the moment for the Land Fund in Auroville are not for the explicit aim of raising money; they are more concerned with bringing people together in a nice way, so that they can have fun.

Q. Well I suppose the only thing to do is wish you luck and hope it all goes well.

A. Not exactly, you can join in as well.