03/03/2023
As the name suggests, YouthLink’s objective is to LINK Youth. Obvious? Yes. How can we go about doing that? Not as obvious.
There are many things that Youth can be linked with; be it ideas, companies, units, systems, schools… but the thing that our Community Gatherings hope to connect is Youth with other Youth. In Auroville where “the youth never age”, that means more or less everyone! Does that involve kids that are not considered “youth” yet? Well, we chose to believe so.
We’re trying to create a community where individuals have strong healthy bonds and relationships with one another. A loving community.
A bit about Auroville...
First of all a small disclaimer; ‘Namu’, the author of this article, isn’t the most knowledgeable when it comes to Auroville’s philosophy. He’s read the basic texts from Sri Aurobindo and Mira Alfassa (The Mother) and has grown up in its context.
From his limited understanding, Auroville seems to have one clear objective: to become the city that the world needs; a replicable model with exemplary growth in human consciousness which practices human unity and environmental sustainability.
So what does this have to do with YouthLink and Community Gatherings?
Well, in the opinion of the author, one of the reasons so many efforts towards utopian societies or intentional communities fell short is due to the fact that they focused too much on the organisational aspect: Laws, rules and regulations, guidelines… and didn’t focus enough on the person-to-person level.
So what kind of individuals does an utopian society need?
The author, though he feels that he’s going a bit too deep and a bit too personal in this particular article, argues that there are certain traits that we are hoping for. Traits that we would like to encourage, and foster. Those may be, but are not restricted to:
Kindness
Honesty
Transparency
Earnesty
Humility
Joy
Through our community gatherings, we try to bring people together and create an environment where people can connect with each other in an honest and transparent way, usually through the experience and expression of joy!
What... have we been doing?
In the past year we have held various community events, ranging from Vegan Potlucks all the way to Karaoke nights. The common thread for all of our gatherings was that they all aimed to encourage an honest and earnest expression of the self, and create deep connections with each other that are rooted in kindness and a sharing of experience.
You don’t need laws against murder when no one feels like killing each other! ;)
How can you participate?
Well, there are two main ways. Maybe three?
Firstly, you can participate in our Community Gatherings: find out when the next one is happening, either through Instagram, our website, or News & Notes! Come and share ‘you’ along with many others and celebrate together!
Secondly, you can suggest a collaboration: would you like to have a certain kind of community gathering, which we are not currently offering? Do you have an idea for a game? A movie night? Jamming session? Get in touch with us (youthlink@auroville.org.in) and let’s see what we can cook up together!
Thirdly, well sometimes we need an extra hand here and there to organise our events. Write to us if you have a pair available and we’ll see if we can put it to use :)
Written by Namu