Christmas was celebrated in a grand way at Unity Pavilion. We had paper cutting sessions for children and adults. Some of the guests were so innovative and were cutting very beautiful and intricate designs. By around 5 pm the dancing session started. All guests danced around the tree to some fantastic Swedish numbers. Before that everyone had something to munch on – sandwiches, rice porridge and cookies. Later on the music session started with a core group singing Christmas songs. Guests also joined in to showcase their musical skills. All the guests received a gift as well – a paper basket of nuts, dry fruits and cookies. A really wonderful atmosphere indeed!

The rains are gone for the time being. When they will return we don’t know. However, with just two weeks left for Christmas Unity Pavilion is bustling with activity. There are plenty of things to do. Like every year we have planned a grand celebration on 24 December. We’ll have paper cutting sessions to decorate the tree, songs and dance and some food too. We would love to have Christmas songs from as many countries as possible (live or recorded). Should be very interesting for children (of all ages). Right now we are adding to our collection of decorations.

One interesting programme coming up for the week is “A Glimpse of Myanmar” presentation by Joshua and Stephanie on December 18.  It should be quite informative! And after the presentation we get to learn some Burmese language also. Hope to see all Aurovillians and guests there.

Already this part of the world has received more rains than we can expect for the entire season. And the met department has predicted even more rains for this week as well. Surprisingly all the repeated low pressure formations in the Bay of Bengal are bringing rains to the same area this year, ie Chennai and the adjoining coastal districts, which includes Pondicherry as well. We can only hope the already pathetic conditions prevailing in Chennai do not get any worse.

The selection process for WC and AVC members went very well at Unity Pavilion. Both the participants and the facilitators, which included our own Jaya, shared their satisfaction and appreciation of the way the process was conducted. Here is a link to the photos

https://www.flickr.com/photos/manohar_auroville/albums/72157661378612759

December is always a busy time for Auroville in general and Untiy Pavilion in particular. The still active monsoon cannot dampen the Christmas spirits. We have already started planning for Christmas celebrations and issued a call in the News & Notes for participation from the community. The response is good too.

But before the festive mood sets in there are important business to be completed…. It is selection time for the Working committees. So we are in for some high-energy activity at the Unity hall during 4-6 December. And there are many other events scheduled for this week such as Eco Service meeting, AV consultants meeting on sustainable habitats and community meeting on Entry Service Policy.

Work on Hall of Peace garden also is set to take off this week itself.

Hi,

Another quiet week at the Unity Pavilion. But outside it is rains rains and more rains. There are plenty of things one can do in rains. If you are tied up inside your office with nothing much to do clean up your desk, make your office space beautiful, clear unwanted files from your computer, bring some order into the filing system…the list can go on.

And this could be interesting to anyone who has visited or been associated with the Peace Table for Asia, in the Hall of Peace of Unity Pavilion. Have you ever wondered how a craftsman, a wood worker, like George Nakashima could have come up with such a lofty ideal of World Peace? Of course we read that he believed in giving a second life to trees and all his wood works were a dedication to the Nature, which grows such beautiful and mighty trees. And he felt that ” A symbol is needed—something tangible, like the toe of St. Peter’s statue in the Vatican. This symbol might be the object of a transcontinental or trans-world Peace March. There is little chance that peace can be achieved politically. There is, at best, a balance of terror; a balance of egos; a balance of demands. Enthusiastic contagion would be useful, as peace the world over is uppermost in our consciousness. It must be a joyous peace, not a fear or absence of war. It is a question of surrender. A surrender to the Divine Consciousness to end in a most beautiful aura of love.“ This idea points to some higher level of consciousness, definitely.

But George Nakashima himself had to go through some unpleasant experiences early in his life. He and his family were sent to Japanese Internment Camp for just being Japanese by origin. Mark Tully throws some light on how Mira Nakashima recounts those days.

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34872962

And here is a link to Zackaria Moursi’s Anthology from the Mother in Arabic.
http://www.sriaurobindo-inarabic.com/en-originals/en-Anthology-Mother.pdf

The author writes: Readers who know both English and Arabic will find it more convenient to read the book in the “Two Page View” of their Adobe Acrobat reader. This View enables them to see the English text on one side and its Arabic translation on the opposite.