interact with people, share ideas and take part in activities such as a village cleanup campaign. They also involve children and have a garden at Sadhana Forest planned and planted by them.

Mr Aviram said the project welcomes volunteers of all ages and physical abilities, including families with children. There are about 30 people who plan to work for three years and a floating population of about 120 others who spend two weeks to a month or more.

Project workers lead a disciplined life. They rise early and spend up to four hours a day planting trees, caring for them and working in the project’s vegetable garden. In the process, they learn about plant nursery, contour bunding, organic gardening, building and installing fences, composting and soil management. Then there are domestic chores: cooking, washing dishes, cleaning communal areas and so on.

The diet is vegan. “We don’t consume anything from animals – no milk, no honey, fish and meat, and non-violence is a major part of our project – between ourselves, between the people, towards nature, towards animals,” said Mr Aviram. Producing non-vegan food requires lots of land and is inconsistent with the group’s vision of greening the planet, he said. Consuming drugs and alcohol is also forbidden, even outside the project area.

The volunteers seemed enthusiastic, relishing the sense of being part of a significant mission and the camaraderie of the large and diverse group. The community life is vibrant, with yoga and Tai Chi classes for those interested and Friday night celebrations with music, food and movies at the main hut. Bicycles and mopeds are available for those who want to spend an evening out at Pondicherry, about 10 km away.

Organic farms

Auroville’s farming projects provide an environment-friendly alternative to the approaches of large-scale commercial agriculture as well as village farms. There are 14 such projects covering around 160 hectares of land.

Among those that take in volunteers is the Buddha Garden community farm. Set up by British-born Priya Vincent in 2000, the 5-hectare farm grows vegetables, cashews and fruit and rears chickens for egg production. It includes a Centre for Sustainable Farming, which provides information and research services for local farmers and holds courses for visitors, students and professionals.

Ms Priya, who is in her sixties, says the problem with modern agriculture is that it views the earth as a commodity. “The connection to nature is lost and we move to a mechanical way of farming, using more and more fertilizers and pesticides, which have a negative impact on the environment and lead to the degrading move to a mechanical way of farming, using more and more fertilizers and pesticides, which have a negative impact on the environment and lead to the degrading and loss of soil,” she said. “In some large farms, a computer program tells the farmer what he has to do every day. He loses his link to nature and his ability to work with nature.”

The challenge for sustainable farms is surviving in the market place. “Government subsidies have introduced distortions that make it difficult for the farmer,” she said. “For example, free electricity and free seeds mean villagers can produce vegetables and sell them for below the real cost of production, depressing prices for the farmer. Subsidies for buying cows, for example, have resulted in many villagers buying cows and sending them out to graze. The cows invade farms and eat up the produce. The villager sells its milk at low prices because he does not pay to feed it.”

Auroville farms struggle to make it financially, she said. Many diversify into related activities such as food processing, running restaurants and holding educational programs on farming.

Buddha Garden, for example, holds tours, workshops and other educational programs. “We have a weekly Monday morning course on sustainable agriculture for visitors. Groups will come and ask us for courses. We have schools which bring students on trips to the farm,” said Ms Priya. “We also have university interns who come to do their research at our Centre for Sustainable Farming and we supervise their activities and get some fees in the process.”

Her team consists of three other permanent staff and a few volunteers. One is an intern from Agro ParisTech doing her diploma in Agronomy. She is doing her research at Buddha Garden during her six-month stint and helps out with the farm work as well.

One advantage of volunteering at Buddha Garden is that it provides enough free time for those planning to take part in various courses and events at Auroville. Work begins at 6.15 am and is finished by 10 am, Monday to Friday. Volunteers are served breakfast on those days; cooking facilities are provided for them to make their own meals at other times.