Bhima Auro

Bhima, that is the name I have gone by all my life. I was born in the Aspiration settlement late in November 1976 from British/Dutch Aurovilian parents.
I am a victim and victor of the Auroville education system..

AV schooling..

I remember brief images and scattered thoughts of my early years as I attended what was then called Centre School. I was among the privileged that were given the opportunity to move to Transition school when it opened. Following several years of dutiful attendance at Transition it was time to move into the ominous world of the adolescent, and time to move school. I moved to Last School.

In 1990, following a three-month trip to Canada, I arrived at Last School. A new world or what? Math was suddenly in French! English was taught by a frustrated man who took out his frustrations on English. Science was a joke, and I discovered that I wanted to learn! In 1992 I approached my father and asked him to send me to boarding school. He agreed to make it possible for me to attend Kodaikanal International School, located in the Western Ghatts, south west of Auroville.

Kodai

In January 1993, at 16, I entered an educational establishment that related to the rest of the world. A mixed reaction, between me, and this supposed saviour of my soul. Kodaikanal International School was, and still is, a mixing pot of many different people from different aspects of the world we live in. Rich and poor, Christian, Muslim, Tibetan Buddhist, Hindu, expatriate children or locals all co-existing within the walls of the school campus. I was in boarding school because I couldn't get a quality education at home, not to partake in the day-to-day dramatics of a world that seemed alien and unimportant to me. I spent three and a half years in KIS, graduating with an IB diploma and an American high school diploma.

U.K.

With my mind hell-bent on getting what I considered a decent education, I applied to Universities throughout the United Kingdom. The UK, only because my first language was English and my father lived in Holland, making tuition under European Union legislation something palatable. I was accepted at Farnborough College of Technology, an associate college of the University of Surrey; where I spent the next four years, working part-time and studying full time towards a B Eng (Hons) Degree in Aerospace Engineering. I was awarded my degree in 2000.

Process of self-evolution

Having completed a long journey, through the darkness of naïveté and in an increasingly complex world of psychological nightmares, I have discovered that the journey has only just begun. Auroville's ideology and deep-rooted connection with the philosophy of Yoga have been fundamental building blocks in the formation of me as a person, providing me with an almost unique view of life the Universe and everything, which has allowed me to explore the world.
Now, at 25 I am contemplating going back to school to study some more, because the desire to learn has not been quenched. Through blind determination and pigheaded stubbornness I have ascended to the summit of my impossible mountain, but there is always more to learn and more to discover. I am increasingly interested in the practice of yoga, and the process of self-evolution to ascend to higher states of consciousness.

The courage..

I work in the computer industry, with varying degrees of expertise in several different fields. With my hopes and dreams set on returning home one day, to help in the construction of the City of Dawn, I tread the path that lies before me. Anything is possible if only the courage can be found to make it possible.

Contact: b.auro@sghms.ac.uk