Dr. Karan Singh, whose father was the last Maharaja of Kashmir, brought an Earth Day message of renewal in a talk he gave at the Indian Consulate in New York on Thursday, April 27, 1995. Speak ing on "Globalization: Earth's Evolution," Dr. Singh discussed Sri Aurobindo, the poet and national ist political leader whose vision inspired the creation of Auroville. Dr. Singh detailed the current state of the 27-year-old community and examined the evolutionary trend of globalization.
Dr. Singh served as the youngest cabinet minister under Indira Gandhi and later as India's ambassa dor to the United States. He has also taken a number of important appointments for the environmen tal cause, including Project Tiger. For the past four years, he has served as chair of the governing board of Auroville.
To friends of Auroville: 1995 marks 31 years of land purchase for Auroville: the first plot of land on record as having been purchased for Auroville was registered on October 8, 1964.
A recent progress report shows that although substantial progress towards the goal of acquiring the remaining land needed for Auroville was made during the past year, there is still much work to be done. In the city area there are still about 370 acres to be purchased, and several hundred acres more are needed for the consolidation and expansion of the greenbelt.
In order to achieve this, a continuous flow of funds will be needed over the next few years. With the rise in land prices, it is difficult to make a definitive estimate of the total requirement, but it is clear that if we had Rs. 10 - 20 million each year (U.S. $350,000 - $700,000) we could really begin to get the job done. (In 1994 we had Rs. 7.25 million.)
Today the need to complete the purchase of the remaining land for Auroville has never been so urgent.
Momentum toward this has been built up over the last three years, during which more than 200 acres (80 hectares) have been purchased. This momentum needs to be sustained and actually accelerated in order to realize the objective of securing the land for Auroville: the "place on earth" that the Mother dreamed of 40 years ago, in 1954.
We take this opportunity to thank everybody who has helped over the last three years and to ask for the continuing support of all those who can contribute towards this work in the future.
We recall again Her message of May 1970: "The lands for Auroville are to be bought and can be bought. The money is needed. Will you help?"
Peter Clarence-Smith,
for the Auroville Land Fund and Land Service