{"id":712,"date":"2020-10-08T15:19:00","date_gmt":"2020-10-08T10:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vserver3.auroville.com\/?p=712"},"modified":"2021-03-19T11:47:36","modified_gmt":"2021-03-19T07:17:36","slug":"work-in-auroville-abha-from-shradhanjali","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adventure.auroville.com\/index.php\/2020\/10\/08\/work-in-auroville-abha-from-shradhanjali\/","title":{"rendered":"Preserving the Beauty of Auroville’s Flowers: Abha from Shradhanjali"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Shradhanjali is one of the older business units of Auroville, started in 1980. Making use of the beauty of nature, their creations are decorated with carefully pressed flowers. Abha, who has been running Shradhanjali since the very beginning, was happy to share more with us about this special unit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inspired by the Beauty of Nature<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Shradhanjali cannot be separated from Abha, who came to Auroville as a young girl and met The Mother in Pondicherry: \u201cWhen I was 13 years old I met the Mother, I was very young but it had a huge impact on me. This meeting stuck with me after. When I entered college in Delhi studying psychology I read a lot. There were three books which had an impact; \u2018Prayers and Meditations\u2019 from the Mother, \u2018Savitri\u2019 of Sri Aurobindo and \u2018The Adventure of Consciousness\u2019 by Satprem. These books guided me to Auroville.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The time that she arrived was a tough one \u2013 it was when Auroville and the Sri Aurobindo Society in Pondicherry were in conflict over how Auroville should be managed. \u201cI arrived in Auroville in 1978. It was during the crisis with the Sri Aurobindo Society. I was only 19 years old at that point. We were all living in Aspiration and most of the meetings were happening in Aspiration Kitchen. I was often very hungry because we had close to nothing. So there was an urgent need of generating income of some sort, to be self-sustainable and independent. In the first two years after my arrival I actually milked cows in La Ferme Cheese, which was pure joy as I was coming from college where I had been studying all day. So after that I had this idea, which I shared with a friend of mine, to manufacture something beautiful. I had learned in the mountains how to press flowers; all my books were filled with them. We wanted to do something with our hands, we wanted to generate income, and we wanted to work with the beauty of nature \u2013 so Shradhanjali was started.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even today, that is Abha\u2019s main inspiration: \u201cThe quote of the Mother \u2018Life must blossom like a flower offering itself to the Divine\u2019 really sums it up. Nature just gives. Look at all the beauty around us, the flowers, the trees, the wildlife. We as humans are so ungrateful and greedy, and still nature continues to give. This is of such importance at this very moment in history, connected to preserving what we have and not taking things for granted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Team of Shradanjali with Abha (with short hair) in the center.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Rooted in Auroville<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Abha\u2019s view on running Shradhanjali is still very much rooted in Mother\u2019s original vision. \u201cI actually don\u2019t consider it as running a business \u2013 it is my Sadhana. I am creating beauty. I look after the remarkable women I work with. I have a responsibility and I consciously run an ethical business. I believe that an honest relationship with our clients as well as our suppliers is needed. I do not cut corners! There are no compromises when it comes to quality and the people I work with. And I do not see this Unit as something that belongs to me, it belongs as much to my neighbour as it does to me. When I started Shradhanjali everything was very collective. I never had this sense of \u2018mine\u2019 and I am very grateful for that \u2013 it gives me a sense of freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0Auroville\u2019s changes over the years have not affected this initial spirit \u2013 although, Abha admits, she is less interested now to engage with the daily turmoil of Auroville. \u201cI see Auroville as an amazing possibility \u2013 a possibility of a real fraternity. We are so very lucky to live here. At this very point, we are somehow very stuck in the habit of pointing fingers at each other. It is time to refocus on ourselves, to go internal. The inner growth that we are here for is the most important. We came for this dream \u2013 we have to find it again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n