AUROVILLE TODAY’S New Website
Auroville Today’s launched their new website in honor of their 35th anniversary. In the past months, we have been connecting with the Auroville Today web & editorial teams, getting updates and progress reports. Auroville Today is an Auroville institution, bringing news of Auroville life around the globe. Below we share a letter from the Auroville Today editors about the website. Please visit their website and consider subscribing for access to their latest news
We are also thrilled to share an article from the April issue, available on our website by courtesy of Auroville Today. Click below to read the article on UTSAV, the commercial/residential project, the the lead architect, Mona.
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On the way
This month is the 35th anniversary of Auroville Today’s first issue, which coincided with the passing of the Auroville Foundation Act.
The surface history of Auroville Today is quickly told. It began as a response to a request from the Auroville International centres for regular factual information about Auroville, something that was lacking at that time. Quite soon, however, Auroville Today was being read by more and more Aurovilians, eager to find out what was happening in their own community! Over time, a third readership emerged when we started sending issues to embassies and diplomatic legations of Auroville’s non-Indian residents, as well as important Government of India offices, so they could better understand a place which doesn’t fit into any existing pigeonholes.
Important landmarks along the way included a radical change in format fairly soon after our launch, the decision to print in colour which began with the completion of the Matrimandir in 2008, and the launch of a digital issue a few years back.
And now another major landmark beckons: the launch of our website.
But there is another Auroville Today story which is more to do with process, and that is one in which a few individuals, with no previous training or experience, took up a task without any idea of what it would involve or where it would lead. Along the way, new people bringing new perspectives joined the team, and previously unconsidered possibilities opened up which led to new ways of looking and understanding not only Auroville but also what Auroville Today could be about, which, we discovered, could be something much more than providing a reflecting mirror.
And so we began not only to document events or profile individuals and initiatives, but also to probe beneath the surface, to start asking questions about how we in Auroville are doing things, and why we are here, as well as trying to identify the trends and the deeper currents; and this, in turn, acted as a catalyst, initiating or deepening discussions within the community on important topics. And so Auroville Today became part of the ongoing conversation rather than simply reporting upon it.
Yet something else of what we expressed in that first editorial (how brash we were then!) still holds true. And that is that our prime intention is not to ‘push’ a particular point of view, but to communicate what is happening in Auroville today in all its rich complexity – the individual stories, dreams, initiatives, as well as the culture, economy, environment, architecture etc. of this place, not excluding the numerous warts – as a means of allowing our readers to experience something of this extraordinary, ever unfolding, experiment.
And so our work, both as individuals and as members of the Auroville Today team, is never done. We are always, like Auroville, ‘on the way’.
The Editors
The New Auroville Today Website
Over the past year, a small team – Pranav, Elaine and Aishwarya – has worked tirelessly to create an impressive website for Auroville Today which incorporates the latest technology and design features. Here a team member explains why an Auroville today website is needed, what its most important features are, and how it might develop in the future.
Why does Auroville Today need a website?
In November 2023, Auroville Today commemorates its 35th anniversary.
For the last 35 years, the Auroville Today team has produced a monthly magazine. They comprise over twelve thousand articles and many thousands of images. These materials constitute an historic document of the ‘Foundation years’ and offer an unprecedented view of life in Auroville.
In the last year, a small team has worked to digitise and contemporarise these materials, and through the new Auroville Today website we are happy to now offer these materials worldwide – for free. We hope this web-based offering will reach hundreds of thousands of people – even millions – and share with them the creative spirit that has blossomed in this remarkable place.
And what does Auroville Today have to offer to Auroville itself? It offers a recollection of the past, our shared heritage and our memories. It offers a record of all we have been through – a record of shared passions, hardships and joys, and meaning and purpose, as well as a sense both of the eternal and of the ephemerality of things. And through this it offers a message of hope that the current challenge, like those of the past, is transient and will ultimately yield to what is fundamental and real.
What are the most important features of this website?
The homepage interface of the Auroville Today website has been designed to provide visitors with a well-rounded selection of content. Here, you will discover a blend of recently published articles, as well as those that have gained popularity and are currently trending among our readers.
Within the Auroville Today website, you’ll discover three distinct interfaces, each dedicated to providing a unique perspective on life in Auroville. These interfaces are “Select Features,” “Life in Auroville,” and “Trending Topics”.
“Select Features” offers a selection of articles with an emphasis on in-depth exploration and insight that delve into aspects of life within the Auroville community.
“Life in Auroville” presents a cross-section of articles that provide a view of daily life, traditions, and experiences in Auroville. It’s your gateway to understanding the heart and soul of this unique community.
“Trending Topics” showcases articles currently generating buzz and discussion within the Auroville community and beyond. It serves as a real-time window into the most relevant and engaging topics that are shaping the discourse in Auroville today.
Through the dedicated “In Memoriam” interface, we commemorate the legacies of those who, in their own unique ways, have advanced the ideals, spirit, and vision of Auroville.
The “Auroville Today Archives” interface features an extensive catalogue of articles. It categorises articles by a variety of parameters, including issues, years, themes, keywords, and contributors. This meticulous curation allows readers to explore our extensive archive with ease, delving into specific areas of interest or tracing the evolution of ideas over time.
The archive also offers an advanced search feature, allowing users to comb through millions of words and pinpoint and find specific keywords and phrases. Additionally, these materials are published under a “Creative Commons 4.0 License” – essentially, a permissive and open-access license granting individuals the freedom to utilize these materials as foundations for their publications, research, and more.
How might it develop in the future?
Currently, ten years’ worth of materials is available on the website. Over the coming months, materials going back to 1988 will be gradually published, making them readily available to a global audience, completely free of charge. We will publish newer issues on the website in the future.
Our overarching aim is to enhance the practicality and usefulness of our resources, particularly for students and researchers. To achieve this, our plan is to continuously enrich our corpus, making our articles more accessible and easily discoverable for those seeking knowledge within our expanding collection.
Contemplating the long-term horizon, we see exciting new vistas open up for Auroville Today. For instance, we may envision establishing a mixed-media team capable of producing audio and video content that complements our traditional print publications. These multifaceted approaches are some of the ways in which we can improve our storytelling and expand the frontiers of Auroville Today’s creative vision.
The link for the new website is: https://auroville.today/