FROM BALUCHISTAN TO AUROVILLE
BY ANITA
From Baluchistan to Auroville – by Anita.pdf
Socrates has a saying that he expressed during his trial: “An unexamined life is not worth living.”
This conscious approach to living has always part of my life, along with the quest for fusion – connecting the past and present, and the traditional with the future. This sense of respectfully linking and purposefully evolving is at the heart of my attraction for Auroville and for India.
I was born and raised in Zahedan in Baluchistan, an ancient civilization that is today part of Iran. There, I became acquainted with various forms of Indian culture since Baluchi food, classical and traditional music and instruments, dance, and clothing, all shared amazing similarities and commonalities with those of India. The Baluchi language, which is a fusion of Urdu, Hindi, and Baluchi, was also part of these harmonies. In my birthplace, there was also a Sikh community who, coinciding with the Parsi migration to India, had come from India and Pakistan to Zahedan and formed their own community. They even have a Gurudwara (temple) in Zahedan.
In terms of fusion, I did my studies in ancient archeology, and modern communications. My professional work from 2012 encompassed research and writing on political, economic, and cultural anthropology, along with women’s studies.
I also worked in financial markets as an analyst and trader but studied the historical perspective of money with my research on financial anthropology: how the energy of money flowed through transactions in the past, how it transformed with the emergence of paper currency, and what path it will take in the future’s digital world. I have always sought to understand and join opposites in an inclusive way.
Once, one of my friends brought up the name “Auroville.” As a seeker, my mind has always been full of questions and inquiries that have drawn me into the depths of subjects. So I began researching Auroville, and what set me in motion was the idea of a city without religion and gender. For a woman from Iran who had been in an unfair struggle with these classifications for years, a struggle that resulted in nothing but isolating Iranian people and separating humans from one another, for me, nothing was and is more valuable than living beyond these classifications.
Where I grew up and the events in my life there constantly raised this question: why was nothing under my control, and why did circumstances lead me down a path where “personal desires and achievements” didn’t matter so much? It was as if everything was controlled by an invisible thread. As I was a doer, accepting this truth was very difficult but in 2020, round the age of thirty, along with awareness and maturity, I decided to end this struggle and practice acceptance.
Practice acceptance not as an actor, but as someone who, with a simple sentence, a smile, a silence, or even the opening and closing of a door … is in a spiritual attitude. I felt this was not only a spiritual act but also as a healing act – refraining from repeating the mistakes of my ancestors, and also continuing the unfinished responsibilities they had left behind. I accepted that weightier responsibilities had been placed upon my shoulders and from then on, my life became divided into « before and after 2020 ».
I abandoned all activities that were merely part of a mechanical routine material life based in the present – those that would just deposit a number into my account at the month’s end. And I had a project – of at once past and present. I started examining roots in an endeavor to find those pieces of Iranian history that have either been erased or lost in the passage of time.
This project was « rooted » in my homeland, Baluchistan – a land where every corner seemed like a lost paradise, inhabited by deeply humble people with a profound culture. Among the melodies of local music and the delicate needlework of women and clothes, every note and thread told a story. I saw traces of the history that had intersected with the modern dominance of foreign forces in a land where the first point in the East witnesses the sun rise, Saravan.
My goal was clear: to begin from Baluchistan and reach Kurdistan, where culture, rituals, women, dance, and music completed the puzzle of Baluchistan’s narrative, This project was evolving in me during the pandemic, and I preferred not to involve anyone in my plans. And I decided to return to my old research files that had begun in 2018. I didn’t have the complete puzzle picture, and certainly still don’t, but I knew I needed to find its important pieces. My research uncovered documents – but these documents were more than research for me. It was as if an inner voice told me these images and narratives would one day find a deeper meaning in my life.
The trip lasted one month and I made a documentary of it. From northern Baluchistan to the most peculiar island near Chabahar – the Gulf of Oman; a place where a small island emerges from the sea surface in harmony with the moon’s cycle and then vanishes, as if reminding us that every appearance is followed by a return.
It was March 2021 when I reached the summit of the hill at Dahan-e Gholaman the ancient site which is the birthplace of Prophet Zoroaster-Zoroastrianism and the only discovered city from the Achaemenid era.
This is a city whose blueprint was first meticulously designed before construction; a testament to Iran’s magnificent rule over the eastern regions of that time. This structure was not only Zoroaster’s observatory, but in those days when the concept of time had no physical existence, they understood the changing of seasons and seasonal equinoxes through the sunlight falling on its columns, which followed specific geometric principles. This historic city lies exactly on zero degrees of the prime meridian and, with its hundred hectares of expanse, serves as a grand workshop for scientific-historical research.
On that hilltop, I sat until the sunset, praying with that site. In the silence of that sunset, I whispered to myself: “Help me find a path to transform the programmed mindsets of my people, a journey that begins within myself.” The outcome of this prayer took earthly form a year and a half later, precisely when I stepped foot in India.
As a consequence of this quest, and of what Auroville represents and seeks, in May 2022, I wrote to SAVI asking them to guide me in finding a unit or activity that would align with my background. The process unfolded in an unusual way, until on August 23, 2022 (precisely on my birthday), I received my acceptance letter.
On that day, no one was happier than my father about this news. It was a strange paradox: he was encouraging his only daughter, who was deeply attached to him, to embark on a new adventure and go far away.
Two weeks later, when I decided to begin the Embassy process, it coincided with the beginning of the Iranian Women’s Revolution. The Indian embassy closed for a month, and doubt crept into my heart. Feelings of guilt about potentially leaving my country, my people, and my community began to consume me.
Once again, my parents tried to keep my motivation and enthusiasm alive, especially my father who, with his background in Iranian Parsi heritage and awareness of the Parsi community in India, perhaps understood better than I did that my chapter of life in Iran had come to an end and new horizons were awaiting me.
So on the morning of January 10th, at 7:30, I stepped out of the taxi at Town Hall . I was so confused and disoriented that even now, when I think of that day, my breath still catches for a few moments. Everything had changed; my words, my feelings, my language, myself, and even my point of connection with the world. It was frightening.
At Matrimandir, I would sometimes return to earth, but most of the time, I didn’t know where I was.
I was quite familiar with India because of my upbringing – but Auroville was different. It was in India, yet it seemed not to be on this planet. Gradually, as I came to know my surroundings, I also found myself. Things from my life in Iran began to surface; things that needed attention for healing, and this process continues to this day.
In 2024, at the suggestion of some of my Indian friends who possessed a deep understanding of Iranian culture, art, and language, I began teaching Persian language, literature, and poetry. The puzzle pieces of my life were gradually falling into place, and this experience became another pivotal moment in my story in India.
During one of the Rumi reading sessions, I met a girl from Mumbai who came from a Zoroastrian family. From that day forward, our conversations about Iran, India, the Parsis, and Zoroastrians began and have filled our hours and days. This sharing, exploration and synthesis was the answer to my whispers atop that hill.
Another major turning point in my life in Auroville and India was when I received a scholarship to attend the Shakti Leadership program whose first week took place in Srinagar, Kashmir. This program was led by Nilima Bhatt, who has presented sessions at Auroville’s Unity Pavilion.
It all began in March 2024, in Pondicherry – a day when everything seemed to align, as if guiding me toward a new path – which was when I met Nilima Bhat. She described the Shakti Program, a ten-month journey focused on entrepreneurship, women’s empowerment, and discovering the inner power within us all, Shakti and invited me to join. And the next month I was in Kashmir!
The program unfolded in this dreamlike land where I was immersed in breathtaking nature, meeting new friends, and bonding. The other facilitators were from various part of India: Puna, Gujarat, Kashmir, and Delhi, all deeply committed to this inner journey and outer goals and soon became part of my friendship circle and network.
Srinagar is a city that is often called “Mini Iran.” And it was no coincidence. Everywhere I looked, I could see traces of the Persian language, Iranian culture, and a shared history that was still alive. In every conversation, I felt a profound respect and admiration for Persian culture and language. Even those who did not speak a single sentence in Persian spoke of Persian poetry with glowing eyes and an inexplicable passion.
So, a simple encounter that became a turning point in my life! This journey was more than educational, it became an inner quest to rediscover a part of myself. After the ten months of the program were finished and I « graduated », I met Nilima once again at a Literature festival in Pondicherry. She looked at me deeply and said, « Shakti has worked. It has worked profoundly. »
Among this rich ferment, another activity began which is my involvement at the Unity Pavilion as an events organizer. This rich and dynamic work includes organizing for the « Art for Land » exhibitions and associated activities in support of the Acres for Auroville land campaign.
For an anthropologist, Auroville is like an endless ocean of cultural diversity; an ocean that offers the opportunity to explore, understand, and connect with other nations and cultures. Here, one can reach human commonalities, free from the paper borders and societal structures that have amplified distances and differences in the world today.
This is a place where the boundaries between people not only dissolve but also seek connection and solidarity.
Each day, I learn new lessons about myself and the world around me, through the challenges of life. In this environment, rich with cultural and intellectual diversity, I find myself still seated in a classroom that never ends; a classroom where, from within, parts of my being are gradually illuminated and revealed. These deconstructions not only break down my mental boundaries but also unveil the hidden and unseen layers of my inner self.
Auroville has given me the chance to engage in both trial and error in this environment and, more importantly, in the real world, gaining a deep understanding of how a community is formed and sustained. Here, I have the privilege of connecting with individuals from diverse cultural and social backgrounds and learning about the challenges and opportunities of building a sustainable society.
This experience has shown me that, in order to build a better world, it is necessary to expand our networks of communication, not only within our own geographic boundaries but also on a global scale.
Building networks is one of my greatest aspirations and Auroville has taught me that the creation of a community must be continuously expanded. Now, I feel I can confidently introduce this idea to others, and specifically the international Parsi community for this needed fusion between the past, now and beyond.
Auroville has shown me how a small and vibrant community can gradually evolve into a sustainable city, and I now know that this idea is transferable – to any place where people wish to build connected and sustainable communities.
As members of Auroville, part of our goal is to hopefully show the world that creating a sustainable and united society is possible, and can also become a pathway for Human Unity and transformation.
I am Anita Kamali, thirty-four years old. Two years of my life have been spent as a Newcomer in Auroville, a place that, for me, has not just been a starting point, but an intense period of transformation, discovery, fusion – and enlightenment!
Anita,
Auroville, February 2025
