Auroville 2046 is a short story that its author and Pressenza make available today in 7 languages (Spanish, Portuguese, French, Catalan, German, Italian, Italian and English). To read and share.
This title would have been much less appropriate two months ago. It would have seemed more distant, a simple exercise in imagination. Today, when millions of people feel that the world we know is disappearing, it takes on a new meaning and confronts us with an inevitable challenge.
Debora Nunes’ story centres on the experimental town of Auroville, which Mirra Alfassa, the “Mother”, founded in India at the end of the 1960s and which today is a reference for many. Reading through parts of her story, Debora builds a fiction in which she projects the fall of the world system and, what is more interesting, its gradual replacement by a new scale of values and a new social organization by the year 2046.
Without going into detail, I can say that the book proposes Auroville as a model, a possible way of living, of responding to what is to come. Obviously – as happens with everything – the proposal can be disputed, but what I think is valuable, what I think is brave and important is the conviction that it is possible to imagine a brighter future and propose to others to build it, “to co-construct a dream” – as Deborah says – to build collectively. It is an option that many of us are committed to.
Everything seems to indicate that this emergence is closer than Deborah anticipated. Before global isolation set in, a wholly violent and unbalanced way of life was in place. Will we continue to accept it as inevitable? Will we continue to accept war and the poverty of millions because they are far away? Will we continue to accept financial speculation until it affects our savings? Will we continue to accept that others suffer needs because they aren’t the same needs as ours? I’m not asking myself about what the lords of power will do, but about what we will do with this personal and collective opportunity.
I think this short book is a warning, a wake-up call, a sign. It is an invitation to reflect, to take charge and to act to change the course of things while we still have some time, although not that much. It is an invitation to listen sincerely, to recognize that none of us has the formula, and that we need to build it with others, to co-construct.
The book is a draft, a possibility, a starting point for discussion, exchange, the search for alternatives, the practice of new personal and collective behaviours, an invitation to make a truly human world a reality. Why not join forces in that direction? Why not?
We should accept the invitation and start the game.
Kathy Swart (USA)
“The world is facing unprecedented crises of governance, poverty, and climate change. Every day we hear reports of pandemics, refugees with nowhere to go, global warming causing extinctions and wildlife destruction, and increasing hunger. Life as it is does not appear feasible. What is to be done? Some turn to politics, only to find that they have little or no voice in elections and their governments unwilling to take the steps needed to ensure the peace and healthy planet we all desire. Others take action. Few in the United States know that the solutions to our crises have existed in a community in India for decades. The extraordinary vision and achievements of Auroville can serve as a guide for those of us wishing to save our planet and our species before it is too late–before Kali strikes. Indra by Débora Nunes is an exquisite tale based in reality today as well as a projected future. It is a lyrical call for wisdom and an illumination of the path we can take as a global community to not only survive, but surmount, the coming challenges.”
Marcus Bussey (Australia)
«I was honoured when Débora Nunes asked if she could include my poem Kali Sutra in her book ‘Auroville, 2046’. Like many spiritual pilgrims I had visited Auroville and really soaked up its spiritual and cultural depth. Then I read Débora’s visionary text and its temporal fluidity, and message of hope had touched my heart. This is an important text. I recommend it to all! ».
Natalia Atfeh (Syria)
“The time of crisis is so hard and the cities are witnesses of amount of dramatic cases. Having the spirit and imagination to describe world suffering trough the story of Indra, Debora marks a success. In fact, Debora have a long experience in humanity arts. I knew her from the beginning of professional start, when she entered in the master classroom for the first time. It was in Paris, University of Paris XII, 1994. I directly noticed the shining of her big ideas about a better world! Our ways crossed for many years and even now, with the physical separation, Debora continues to advance bravely in what she believes!.”
Siddartha (India)
“This an amazingly hopeful story…of both collapse and renewal. It is clear that we are heading for collapse, Apart from the unexpected Corona virus, which has today locked down our world with fear, there are serious projections of how climate change can destroy us and so much of what we cherish on the planet. In this somewhat depressing scenario we need messages of hope. And Auroville 2046 is one such welcome message. It is all the more welcome because it underlines that all our struggles to create alternatives will not be in vain, but will be carried forward in Auroville 2046. Indra, a citizen of the world, shows that another world is truly imaginable… and possible.”
Taisa Mattos (UK)
“In this transition moment when the world seems to be upside down, what reality do we want to co-create?
In this simple book, which addresses so many relevant issues, perhaps not yet glimpsed by most of us, Débora Nunes invites us to a deep reflection on our journey as humanity. A look into a future that at first seems frightening, the role of Ecovillages as living laboratories of learning and co-creation of new ways of living, the engagement for social transformation, the ‘Buen Vivir’. The use of innovative social technologies, local food production, participatory governance, ecological restoration, self-knowledge and spirituality… There are so many important topics covered that I wouldn’t dare to list. New community organisations with vibrant local economies, simplicity and abundance, partnership with nature, solidarity and service. Lots of inspiration!
I keep some excerpts that I could not forget:
“It is necessary to include the heart and sharpen empathy and intuition to better see the whole and its interdependence.”
“Life is an experiment for each one to find their mission in themselves.”
Devinder Sharma (India)
Some years back, reading Jared Diamond’s ‘Collapse’ I was left thinking of how throughout human history, flourishing societies and Empires had collapsed leaving behind the tragedies written in archaeological finds. Angkor Wat — the flourishing Hindu civilisation in the 15th century, and prior to it the Indus Valley civilisations at Mohenjo-daro and Harrapa, built around 2500 BCE, too had collapsed. So did numerous ancient societies across the globe. But a question that Jared Diamond had posed still reverberates in my mind – earlier in history, what we witnessed were solitary collapses; what would happen in an era of globalisation when everything is interlinked.
In lot many ways, Debora Nunes tries to provide an answer to that perplexing question. In her own inimitable style, through the story of Indra, she travels through the chaotic world of today, witnessing the apocalypse and then the regeneration. When the world wakes up to a new beginning, Debora finds solace in the words of Mother – her vision for a world which had moved away from competition to cooperation, from the mad race to achieve a higher economic growth to a world where economic well-being becomes the norm. Living in tandem with nature, and where as Mahatma had once said – you have enough for man’s need, and not greed.
The collapse of a globalised world, and the possibility of rebuilding another world – relying more on the awakening of inner being and leading to eternal happiness, is certainly possible. Instead of waiting for an apocalypse to happen, Debora actually leaves us with enough food for thought on how to resurrect the society, how to build a world which believes in working for all, and by all. In short, she provides a pathway to sustainable living, and on how to build a futuristic society where equity, justice and peace are the norms – a society which does not have to wait for a collapse to usher in universal happiness. Therein lies hope.
– Kathy Swart. Academic librarian and professor. Seattle, USA
– Marcus Bussey. Deputy Head, School of Social Sciences. Sunshine Coast, Australia
– Taisa Mattos. Education Coordinator for the Global Ecovillage Network. Findhorh, U.K
– Sidhartha. Journalist, creator of Fireflies Intercultural Centre. Bangalore, India
– Natália Atfeh. University Professor and Urban Planner. Damascus, Syria
– Devinder Sharma. Indian journalist, writer, thinker, and researcher.