{"id":1137,"date":"2021-01-27T08:21:25","date_gmt":"2021-01-27T03:51:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vserver3.auroville.com\/?p=1137"},"modified":"2022-05-06T13:14:43","modified_gmt":"2022-05-06T08:44:43","slug":"education-in-auroville-deepti","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adventure.auroville.com\/index.php\/2021\/01\/27\/education-in-auroville-deepti\/","title":{"rendered":"The Depth of Integral Education: Deepti"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Freedom is a given in Auroville, but one of the misinterpretations of freedom in Auroville is that it means that you are allowed to do anything you like. Absolutely not. You must choose to be the best you can possibly be. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Deepti has been in Auroville since the \u201870s and is well-known in the community as one of the core teachers at Last School. She shares with us her story and deep understanding of education in the unique context of Auroville.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An Inevitability\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Deepti\u2019s connection to Sri Aurobindo was established when she was very young. \u201cI had just finished my schooling in a boarding school in North India, and the 1971 war, which gave birth to Bangladesh, was in full swing when I arrived home. My parents were both in the Armed Forces in Calcutta and terribly busy with the military operations. On a table in the house I happened to land across a text by Sri Aurobindo that spoke of Bangladesh (which hadn\u2019t yet come to birth). It was a little booklet published by the Ashram in June 1971. And it was here, for the first time, that I came across a text that spoke to me, that talked about India and Her future in a manner that resonated with me.\u201d The whole family became more and more interested in Sri Aurobindo after their first visit in February 1972.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The strong pull towards Sri Aurobindo\u2019s worldview caused her to visit Pondicherry more than once. \u201cOn my third visit I suddenly asked myself: \u2018Why am I going back home?\u2019 and I ended up staying. It was almost like an inevitability. I had no plans. I just knew that this is where I want to be \u2013 everything else just sort of arranged itself around me.\u00a0Now I am endlessly grateful that I found that meaning and purpose in my life when I was young enough to dedicate my whole life to it. There is no comparable experiment that even begins to measure up to all the conditions that Auroville provides. In Auroville there is to be no exclusivity \u2013 every possible thing can find its home here. It can be argued, on one level, that this is an impossible experiment. We have insuperable difficulties to solve \u2013but it is therefore that it\u2019s real. And it\u2019s fun \u2013 it\u2019s a challenge.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n