Auroville is a city in South India first constructed in the late 1960’s. Based on the commune principles of the hippie era, this city was designed to be an open-minded forward-thinking community. It’s changed throughout the years but that basic foundation has remained the same. Today, Auroville is considered one of the world’s eco-cities.
It would take an entire book to explain what Auroville is all about but ultimately it’s an idealistic place where the residents aim to live above the politics and materialism that pervades most of the world. While it’s not likely a place that I would want to spend my life, it’s inspiring to me as a writer.
For one thing, it shows an alternative way to live in the world. That’s great for creating characters for fiction and is just a generally inspiring thing to see. For another, it’s constantly evolving - a process which is interesting to read about and which can be inspirational for story development.
As with all of the places, people, ideas and saying that are mentioned in this daily Real Words column, Auroville is one of those things that deserves a second glance with an eye towards how it can impact a person’s writing immediately and over time.
Question of the Day: Do you think visiting a place like Auroville would be good for your writing work?
[Tags] writing, auroville, commune, ecocity, india, inspiration [/Tags]
April 27th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
I travel pretty extensively, and I find that it always enriches my writing. I think that experiencing new things, delving into new cultures, and just getting out there and living life helps to broaden my horizons, and thus inspire new ideas.