My Auroville Story & The Mother’s Guiding Hand
by Giri Thirumal
My Auroville Story and The Mother’s Guiding Hand – by Giri Thirumal.pdf
My story starts in 1995. My father Thirumal had been working with Patrick and Heidi in Fertile East as a caretaker since 1986, so I got a big chance to know about Auroville through him. Every week, once or twice, I went to Fertile East to meet Patrick & Heidi.
A young person, I went there to work, watch movies, play in the forest, eat fruit, learn about computers, and explore Auroville with Patrick. I did this every week until the end of my schooling. I am extremely grateful to Patrick and Heidi – my “hero and heroine” – who have helped me in so many ways and in so many circumstances over the years.
I wanted to study Computer Science, but my parents didn’t have enough money for my College fees, so it was Patrick and Heidi who helped me to pay the needed cost. They also bought me a good laptop which helped me so much to finish my studies.
While studying I felt I wanted to work only in Auroville, so during my College semester holidays, I started working as a volunteer with Auroville Consulting, and it was Patrick who helped me find this volunteer job. Then when my college studies were almost finished, I wanted to work in Auroville but my spoken English was not good enough. So I went to “Spoken English” classes with help from Heidi, and learned the basic grammar.
Then I found a job in the Auroville ICICI bank as an IT support person, but I worked there just for 1 month because I didn’t feel the connection with Auroville since while it’s within Auroville, it’s a private unit. So I stopped working there, and in 2016, found a job in the AV Electrical Service as a helper and GIS mapmaker – and there I really felt the Auroville connection! Suddenly I got a job offer at Aurelec, with the help of Heidi, to work as a Web Developer and IT Support Person. This was an upgrade of my life with Auroville, so I joined. Working there was a wonderful experience, and I learned so much. It gave me lots of experience for my job, my speciality, and about my life. Here I am with the Aurelec team:
I found I’m very good at Web Development and IT support, so then I studied a special course for that In Pondy in my evening free-time using my Maintenance. I continued to work at Aurelec for almost 2 years. But then a colleague became injured because of me. I felt very badly for him, so I left and waited some weeks to get another job. During those days I couldn’t be happy – I missed Auroville life so much!
So I prayed to The Mother, and suddenly a miracle happened – I found a job at the Auroville Bamboo Center as an IT Support Person and Web Developer.
This is the IT office at the Bamboo Center:
Then I realized there is a reason behind everything happening to me, and even a guiding hand. I started my work there, and found a really friendly, powerful, positive colleague who taught me more and enhanced my skills. We worked together so much for the development of Auroville. At the same time, my sister Punitha also wanted to work in Auroville. She asked me to find her a job and I found one the next day in my office! She was really happy, and so was I.
After that, I really felt Mother wanted me in Auroville as an Aurovilian, so I asked The Mother to help me. Again a miracle happened – I got a call from my former Aurelec colleague. He asked me to come to his office for a meeting. They asked me to work there again … and promised to help me to become an Aurovilian!
That was when I really felt the bliss and a certainty of The Mother’s invisible but ever-present and living support!
More rewarding experiences came when I moved to NESS School in 2020 to work as an IT Support Person & Web Developer. There, I built a new Computer Lab for students, and created a new website for the school. This step made me a really experienced Computer Engineer. I thanked Mother for giving me another wonderful opportunity!
Here is the NESS computer lab I set up for the students:
As the days passed, I saw that I wanted a real place in Auroville to stay and lay down strong roots, As so many times before, here came my hero and heroine, Patrick and Heidi, who gave their small hut to me to stay in and start my Aurovilian process. I cried so much at that moment and I saw Mother and Sri Aurobindo in the form of Heidi and Patrick. I fell on Mother’s lotus feet and thanked her from the bottom of my heart!
So I started to sleep and stay in the hut surrounded by trees, birds, mongooses, peacocks, snakes, scorpions, monitor lizards, Civet cats, termites, dogs, insects, etc. in the real Greenbelt of Auroville.
I learned to live alone, learned to cook, and I learned about myself. Completely mixed with nature, I became a little hermit. I even made my own primeval-style toilet in the forest with help of my neighbor, and mixed with the other Greenbelters. They accepted my becoming a Greenbelter, loved me and helped me to live happily in the forest.
I did meditation everyday under the tree. All the positive energy filled me. Every morning I had breakfast with Patrick and Heidi, and in the evenings had a long walk with Patrick, collecting garbage while walking.
Also, after breakfast, I had an English class with Heidi everyday with “Words of the Mother” Volumes 1, 2, and 3. In this way, I learned English plus Mother’s teachings at the same time. So it was camaraderie, and learning!
Here we are with Johnny:
Then I became a Newcomer of Auroville. All the people around me helped me with it. One wonderful Aurovilian became my mentor and he shaped me completely. He guided me and taught me all the important things for a happy life and how to serve Auroville in my everyday life. Again after some meetings with the Auroville Entry Service, I became a true Aurovilian, I felt Mother accepted me fully. Wow – what a moment that was to see my name in Auroville News and Notes as a confirmed Aurovilian!
I became a Forest Group member – the existing members accepted me with their full hearts. There are no words to explain that! Without fail I thanked Mother everyday.
In my work at School, I met my future life partner, Monica, such a wonderful woman!! We found in each other the same purpose in Auroville – to serve the Divine Mother.
At that time I realized that since Auroville gave so much to me, I decided I had to give back more to Auroville through my work, sincerity, discipline, sadhana and much more. This led me to take a pause from my full-day job in order to concentrate on my inner progress, and I slowly transformed myself. Working with Surya of the Performance Lab as a volunteer, and along with Mother’s teachings, my mental and vitality improved and I transformed into a new Being.
So next, I decided I was ready to take on more responsibility and work more for the heart of Auroville at Town Hall. I met one of the executives of Bluelight and asked for a job. I felt I would get one because I trusted Mother without any hesitation … and like magic, he said, please come for an office meeting next Wednesday, and I got the job. It was February 2022. So yet again, I felt that Mother was acting on me, and I realized I’m an instrument of Hers.
However, in the beginning, I couldn’t perform well because everything in the office was such a completely new approach. It took me some time to understand. But then I did, and I learned so much from my colleagues. I became a new and better Giri with lots of new skills and expanded work contributions, which all of my colleagues appreciated.
Then out of the blue, I became so sick that I was admitted to PIMS. I asked myself why this was happening. I got no answer, and slowly my hope reduced. But my heart said just pray to Mother. So I prayed to Her: “Please Mother help me to escape from this place.” That’s all – I put my suffering at Mother’s feet, knowing She would help.
Next, like some kind of shooting star, an Aurovillian came there to see me and talked with the doctor, and suddenly the doctor without any question discharged me ! I joyfully came home murmuring “Thank you Mother!” After that, The Mother directed me to a perfect doctor who found my problem and healed me!! My body wanted more rest but my mind said, “Work for Auroville”. With trust in The Mother I re-started my job at Bluelight, and, miraculously all my ailments disappeared.
After some months, my life partner Monica and I wanted to get married. She was studying for her College degree and we both felt it was the right time. She’s from the neighboring village of Kuilapalayam and usually in Tamil culture, love marriages are not encouraged or accepted.
Monica requested me to meet and talk with her Aurovilian uncle about the marriage. He asked me many details, and liked me, and then talked with Monica’s parents. After just a few days, the marriage preparations started and after only some months, in 2023, Monica and I got married!
My sister also got married to an Aurovilian, and started to live in Auroville. And just after some months, my wife and my sister too became Auroville Newcomers. My life became a blooming flower; happiness filled me. It was all really wonderful and fun.
In 2024, I started a volunteer job at Town Hall at Auroville Web Services, taking on new responsibilities to develop Auroville’s website and its Intranet, Auronet – working there in addition to at Bluelight. The executive liked my work and sincerity, and felt I could take care of the office and also the development of the Website and Auronet So in 2024 he decided to transfer all his responsibilities to me and left. I felt ready, and that it was The Mother who had other given me this new opportunity. I took on the job with total interest and love.
The farmwork at Fertile East is also a big part of life. My wife and my father take care of the Fertile East forest with me, and Monica is an excellent farmer:
Here she and Marc are harvesting Cashews; then there’s me, with sweet Nungu Palm:
When Patrick and Heidi had some cycling accidents, it was my turn to take care of them – they who had always been there for all of my needs. They had kept cows for many years, but they had to give the cows away when they couldn’t take care of them anymore. I felt our Fertile East community didn’t have enough energy without cows and their milk and compost, so I brought my cow from the village to give back the full energy to our community. After some months, my cow gave birth to a tiny calf.
Here is my sister Punitha’s adorable baby Ashitha with her good buddy, the baby cow:
With her baby, our cow started giving milk. Monica took on the milking and so much milk was produced because of the fertility of the land grass of Fertile East. We delivered milk everyday to Town Hall, and most of the Town Hall office people drank our delicious cow’s milk each morning with joy!
So with The Mother’s Grace my life is going on very well. At Town Hall, we are updating and instituting so many things on Auronet with plugins and also for the Auroville Website. At Fertile East, in my free time l have learned new things like welding, farming, electrical work, masonry, etc – and milking! My cow made another tiny baby so the Town Hall people are still getting Fertile East cow’s milk!
My life in Auroville has progressed with The Mother’s guiding hand. My Auroville story is one of The Mother’s repeated Grace – step by step – for which I am intensely and always grateful – as I am for the help and support I have received from Heidi and Patrick and the Forest Group community.
For the future, I hope to go on developing my skills, and add another degree in Information Technology to my tool kit. In that way I can continue to support and develop Auroville’s IT infrastructure, praying – and also confident – that The Mother and Her Grace will continue to guide me.
OM Namo Bhagavate!
Giri,
Fertile East Community of Auroville, April 2025
“Our Family”
