journal d'une transition

1395

from cleaning the Inner Chamber felt that. By now birds have moved out under protest to find undisturbed sleep somewhere else but the tree, unable to escape human insensitivity, receives the shock every night. This unconscious experiment, if continued; will destroy the balanced environmental niche right in the centre of Auroville. Looking at it squarely, the whole thing cannot even be called an ‘experiment’. Every Tom, Dick and Harry can place lights somewhere, switch them on and not care for the consequences. This action has no concept, no options, no choices, and no considerations, and of course the technician is his own judge: it’s just one person doing something totally egoistic with the result that Mother Nature at the Banyan tree suffers heavily every night. This soulless and aggressive ‘experiment’, which says so much about the experimenter and the managers who allow it, is sanctioned and carried out in the name of the Mother because ‘Auroville is for experiments and X (the technician) has to be given his experiment’, I was told by one of the managers appointed by the Auroville Foundation. But this experiment is NOT according to the Mother’s wishes, however much anyone tries to justify it. Mother was so particular about the Banyan tree, the spirit of which was in close connection with Her and came to Her when it was hurt. Once She sent a note to the person in charge, when workers had driven nails into the tree, to get the nails immediately removed. The ring of the day of the inauguration of Auroville is right around the main trunk of the Banyan tree with the Mother’s words on it: ‘AUROVILLE? THE CITY AT THE SERVICE OF TRUTH’ My request to one of the managers to stop this lighting experiment was politely listened to, but of course the lights are still on at night, wasting energy and money since no one is there at Matrimandir after 8pm anyhow to see the show. Now I fear for the Banyan tree; the technician’s action shows the trend: Nature has no priority in the architect’s concept of the Centre of Auroville, which the present management has to follow. Is this the preparation for a heavy pruning of the Banyan tree to shape it to the architect’s view of ‘a one trunk with no aerial roots banyan tree’?

I strongly protest against all this and request the managers to stop the torture!

Walter”

***

Note: Kusum too had left her work of service at Matrimandir. She was very distressed by the entire situation. I could now spend more time tending the temple of Sri Ganesh and its garden, and Kusum wanted and needed me to visit with her more often, as we would not meet at Matrimandir as before. She felt very sorry for both Arjun and me, and dejected at not being able to do anything to correct the course of things in Auroville.

In France, C was waiting for me.