Aura Talks

On today’s episode, the conversation picks up from last week where Dan Be got to chat with Pashi Kapur, a long-time Aurovilian. Building on top of what was already expressed, their conversation continues on to explore the different stages of Auroville’s economic development. Was the introduction of individual Financial Service accounts a wrong turn that led to a deviation from the vision of prosperity as envisioned by the Mother? If you were ever curious about what type of concrete steps could be taken to revive Auroville’s economy, this is the perfect episode for you! Happy Listening~ Ciao for now~!

On today’s episode, Dan Be is joined by Pashi Kapur, a founding member of the Exploring Prosperity Team in Auroville. In this conversation, Pashi shares his honest views on how Auroville has slowly deviated from its original vision during the nearly five decades that he has lived in Auroville. He asserts that reshaping Auroville’s economy should be the utmost priority to realign to the vision of the Mother. A pioneer by nature, Pashi also shares some thoughts on the benefits of decentralising certain processes in Auroville. Have ever wondered how the pioneers lived during the 70’s and 80’s? Have you ever wanted to learn about Auroville’s vision from a person who had personal contact with the founder of the community? If so, this is the perfect episode for you to tune in! Happy Listening~! As we always like to say on Aura Talks, ciao for now!

On today’s episode, the conversation picks up from last week where Dan Be got to chat with B, Vikram and Paulette and hear some of their reflections regarding the inescapable confrontations brought on by the outbreak of COVID-19. Building on top of what was already expressed, their conversation continues on to highlight how crucial it is for community members to revert back to the early days where there was more simplicity and less materialistic desires. Is the outbreak of COVID-19 the big wake-up call that the community needed to raise social consciousness? Is it possible at this stage to recreate the “prosperity basket” scheme that existed during the pioneering days? If you were ever curious about how Auroville’s economy was structured a few decades ago, this is the perfect episode for you! Please tune in to hear some personal thoughts on how much Auroville can grow from addressing the challenges of these unsettling times. Happy Listening~ Ciao for now~!

On today’s episode, Dan Be is joined by three brilliant Aurovilians, B, Vikram and Paulette, the latter of who is currently researching the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on community life. After sharing their personal views on how the outbreak has affected individuals and units alike, the dynamic quattro highlight the silver linings of the global crisis. If you have been wondering whether crisis and disasters have a way of bringing people together and reviving the collective spirit, this is the perfect episode for you to tune in! Happy Listening~! As we always like to say on Aura Talks, ciao for now! Part II of this episode will be released next week!

On today’s episode, the conversation picks up from last week where Dan Be got to chat with Jasmin, Mir and Eden and hear some of their reflections regarding their upbringing in Auroville. Building on top of what was already expressed, their conversation continues on to explore how digitalisation could lead to higher efficiency of workflows in Auroville. The conversation goes on to address whether they believe that digital solutions may lead to alienation and distancing in the physical realm, and what type of awareness is needed to ensure that people still feel connected. If you would like to hear what type of potential young members of the community see in the Aura platform, this is the perfect episode for you! Happy Listening~ Ciao for now~!

On today’s episode, Dan Be is joined by B (our favourite Aura team member) and Julian, an active and integral member of the AVI community. After briefly touching on the role of AVI (Auroville International), Julian and B share their thoughts on the positive impact that alternative currencies can have on strengthening local economies. What barriers does Aura as a virtual and complementary currency have to overcome in order to achieve widespread adoption in the community? Putting currency aside for a moment, have you ever wondered how Auroville as a community can strike the balance between embracing others whilst keeping the collective atmosphere and culture intact? If you have ever found yourself dealing with such a complex question, this is the perfect episode for you! Please tune in today to find out more about the global vision of Aura and how AVI could potentially facilitate the expansion of the Aura network! Happy Listening~! Ciao for now!

On today’s episode, the conversation picks up from last week where the three musketeers, Dan Be, Ayesha and Cecilia, got to reunite and share some of their reflections regarding their childhood in Auroville. Building on top of what was already expressed, their conversation continues on to explore the different ways in which they have changed ever since leaving the community. Do they have more materialistic desires ever since living abroad? Do they believe that it is possible to live a simple and basic life in a society filled with social expectations? Speaking of societal expectations, do community members in Auroville face less pressure to look and present oneself in a certain way? If you would like to know how the Aura platform could help community members live a simple life that is free of mindless desires, this is the episode for you! Happy Listening~ Ciao for now~!

On today’s episode of Aura Talks, Dan Be is joined by her dear childhood friends, Ayesha and Cecilia, who also spent their formative years in the intentional community of Auroville. Together, they candidly share with each other how life outside of Auroville differs to community life and how their relationship to the community has changed over time. If you would like to hear what their personal takes are on the Aura Platform, and what potential they see for the Aura to have a positive impact on the community, this is the perfect episode for you! What is more fruitful than childhood friends walking down memory lane as adults and reflecting together? Happy Listening~! Please stay tuned for Part 2 of the Auroville Kids episode! Ciao for now~!

On today’s episode of Aura Talks, Dan Be and Kshitij are joined by András, a software engineer currently working at Red Karma in the Netherlands. During this session of Aura Talks, the hosts explore the future of digitalisation, and more specifically, the movement away from physical currency (cash) towards digital currency that we are currently seeing as a trend. In addition to discussing some of the benefits of contactless payment systems, Andras identifies some of the reasons for the pushback for digitalisation (of currencies). Together, they also explore how the ideal of Auroville to create “Unity in Diversity” can be manifested in a digital domain through the open sharing of APIs (Application Programming Interface). If you would like to hear from a developer’s perspective how a sharing-based app that encourages mindful co-sharing and co-creating could be created, this is the episode for you! Happy Listening~! See you in the next one! Ciao for now~!

On this week’s episode of Aura Talks, Dan Be is joined by Jonas, a former member of the Science Walden team. Together, they provide some necessary background on the Aura project: how the project began and how it has developed over time. If you would like to understand what the core values of Science Walden Center are and how their work on Feces Standard Money (FSM) relates to the Aura, this is the perfect episode for you! In addition to outlining the subtle differences between FSM and Aura, Jonas and Dan Be break down the components of a “Social Sharing Network” and discuss what determines the successful adoption of a new technological product or service. Happy Listening~!

Dear beloved listeners, after a well-deserved break we are happy to relaunch Aura Talks with a second season that will be filled with even more relevant conversations. Given the restrictions caused by the outbreak of COVID-19, we hope that this content will provide you some company during lonely lockdown hours. This season will be primarily hosted by Dan Be and Kshitij, the project manager and app-developer of the Aura project. In today's episode, the two hosts engage in a conversation with B, an original member of the Aura project, and discuss the relevance of the Aura movement during current times. In a time of unprecedented global economic turmoil, can the Aura Platform show the Auroville community and the rest of the world how we can rearrange our economy and find more conscious and social ways of sharing? Please tune in to find out what the Aura team is currently working on, and how you could be a part of the movement!

In today’s Aura Talks Feature Episode, Jonas and Dan Be engage in a lengthy conversation with Hye Jeong, B and Maël regarding the concept of Feces Standard Money (FSM). This episode explores the diverse interpretations of Feces Standard Money, or more specifically, feces as a symbol for human value. Please tune in to gain a deeper understanding regarding the connection between FSM and Aura, and how these virtual currencies can complement each other.

This week’s feature episode welcomes back DanBe and Jonas, along with the AV Youth Team, to have a stimulating conversation on the topic of Convergence. So what does Convergence mean? Convergence, in simple terms, is the coming together of different ideals, knowledge from different academic fields and schools of thought to create something new that can hopefully cater to many needs. So how does this tie down to Auroville?
What are some of the barriers to convergence? Tune in to an informative discussion about this topic and it’s context to Auroville.
Happy listening!

Welcome back to our sacred 3rd feature episode of Aura talks!
This episode’s topic is a big one…Valuation! Over the past 4 months, we received a lot of feedback about the valuation feature of the Aura web-platform. So we go through the pros and the cons of valuation along with how we can reconsider the factors that lead to us giving something a value. What is it about valuation that seems unappealing to Aurovillians? And why is giving something a numerical value useful? All tied down to the context of Auroville of course.

Happy Listening!

Video of the recording: https://youtu.be/q2PS2GSaMsM

Welcome back to Aura Talks, Episode 8! In this episode, we invited three of our workshop attendees to come and discuss how the experience was for them, to ask for feedback and see what insights they had to offer! Our guests, all from different sectors of Auroville (PTDC, SAVI and The Council) talked about their experiences in Auroville with sharing and how abundant this community really is when it comes to resources. Another interesting topic that came up was "valuation". Since our project requires users to value their offerings using the virtual credit system, we explored how some people have an issue with this and how we can look at this through a different lens (something that we are trying to do through our workshops). A nice easy going conversation with three fellow members of the community, each with their own unique view on how Auroville handles sharing, pros and cons. Join us to get a little look into how they feel post-workshop and how we can move forward with this project. Happy Listening!

Episode 7 is all about the workshops, not unlike Auroville. The all women crew: Sudipta, Lucrezia, Tina, Valentine and Ahilya, are here to spill the beans on what inspired us to use the workshop method to communicate the project to Auroville. We will guide you through our steps, from our first workshop (ever!) in Last School to the most recent one at the African Pavillion and give you an insight on what we expected, what actually ended up happening and what we learned from all of it. Improvise. Adapt. Overcome. Not so much a podcast as just 5 girls chatting about how lovely, inspiring and of course challenging it has all been, and at the same time you get to know our intention behind workshops, its design, what we were trying and sometimes failing to achieve and some (now signature) dashes of humour and laughter to fill up the room. Happy Listening!

On this week’s podcast, the original 5 are back! And we are here to give you what we would like to call ‘The Other Side’. As ominous as that sounds, we will essentially be speaking about our hurdles and the things that didn’t go as planned with the project. So far, our podcasts have painted a very optimistic and rosy picture about all the work that we have been doing, but of course there’s always the challenges and issues that are sometimes hidden on ‘the other side’. Listen to us talking about the step-by-step challenges that we have faced, with sprinkles of humour and laughing, because what better way to tackle them? Hear the insights about what’s been going down with us and Auroville’s response to the project, as well as our personal obstacles that we have faced. It’s lighthearted, fun and hopefully gives you a look into our world. Tune in and you’ll definitely find Malcolm’s hearty laugh to be the cherry of the ‘when things don’t go according to plan’ cake.

Ever heard of the term “cosmo local”? What exactly is a wicked problem? Why is the economy the most resistant to change? Could technology be used as a tool to bring more interaction and care? All these  questions and more will be explored in this week’s podcast! Listen to us share what it's like to live in times of seemingly insurmountable wicked problems while the old systems that brought us to this point persist. We owe it to our guest stars Gijs and Lucrezia for the explosion of ideas and topics. Both, in their own right, dynamic leaders and forces of nature! Gijs is a rockstar who is working on bringing together the different streams of alternative efforts, and Lucrezia is a powerhouse among the youth. Get ready for some honest discussions, personal reflections and (more than) the occasional laugh!

Today on Aura Talks, Dan Be and Jonas co-host a special feature episode regarding the importance of catering to the context. Together, they highlight the need to tweak the fSM philosophy and adapt it to the unique context of Auroville. They stress the importance of acknowledging well-established mechanisms and existing preconceptions of certain (economic) terms in the community. How are experimental communities like Auroville and HongDong village the perfect place to introduce Circular Basic Income and the virtual platform that enables it? Flipping around the coin, what could be some reasons why there has been resistance and reservation in these settings to embrace our spin-off of Universal Basic Income? Tune in to hear some of the perspectives shared by Jonas & Dan Be, the dynamic duo! 

On this week's episode, the magificent B— the poster child Aurovilian, the great living legend— takes us on a fascinating trail. He maps out the path he has taken over the years to create an alternative, prosperous, and caring economy. He shares with us the tales of the first "Prosperity system", Pour Tous, the start of Vérité, and the manifestation of the Aura in 2011... and that’s not even the half of it! If the stories don’t inspire you, his light sense of humour and childlike enthusiasm will definitely keep you entertained. So tune in for this week’s episode that will paint a much clearer picture of how Auroville’s economy has come to be the way it is today. Happy listening!

Episode 3 is on the road, and this week we have some new voices! Eden and Jasmine from Last School join us to talk about themselves, their motivations to help us out on this project and most importantly, how our first workshop went! We conducted our first workshop last week with the students of Last School, aiming to hopefully get some brain gears moving in the right direction as well as explore some attitudes towards offerings and sharing. Come and listen to how the workshop went straight from the two workshop attendees, in addition to some insights they had on why we are doing them in the first place. We will also mention our next steps for the project, in terms of what sector we are aiming for and where our future workshops will be! So join us for some Auroville student perspectives on this project and more. Happy listening!

Welcome back everyone for Episode 2 of Aura Talks! In last week’s episode we laid the foundation for what Universal Basic Income (UBI) is, and in this episode we go on to talk about the differences between the funding system in the traditional mode of UBI and what we are trying to  experiment with here in Auroville. What is the difference between traditional UBI versus "Circular Basic Income"? Again with the fancy terminology, we know, we know, but we can assure you that it’ll all make more sense once you listen to the podcast. We will explore the differences between these two different models, as well as discuss a little bit about why the latter makes so much more sense, especially for context of Auroville. We will also be talking about why the current economic model in the world isn’t what we are aiming for, and highlight on certain issues that Auroville has already like “Groupism”, a certain lack of organisation when it comes to offerings from the community and how exactly we can shift the mindset of community members from the idea that we live in Scarcity as opposed to Abundance. So join us for this conversation on how and what we are trying to tackle here in Auroville, painting a picture on both kinds of UBI and what they entail and of course Malcolm’s signature food for thought. Happy listening!

Welcome to Episode 1! In this podcast series we will be delving into the concepts of Alternative Economy, Universal Basic Income, Auroville’s connection to these two, not to mention a general overview of what it really means to be a resident of this ‘one-of-a-kind’ community. If you’re worried that it’s going to be hard to keep up (or perhaps the material is a little dry)-- we as a team are determined to keep it interesting, relevant and hopefully informative for you. But wait, who are we? Well we are a bunch of Auroville Youth, with different backgrounds with different relationships to this community, working together to hopefully achieve something pretty cool in Auroville. But more on that later.

In this particular Episode, we will introduce ourselves to you, and bring into the spotlight the topic of Universal Basic Income. Big words, and fancy terminology. But what does it mean? To keep it brief, it means every individual within the community receives an unconditional and periodic sum of money to cover their basic needs. And when I say every individual, I mean every individual.

We’ll be discussing this very interesting concept and talk a little bit about its pros, its cons and of course bring it down to the context of Auroville. Is Auroville a good space to try this out? Why is it necessary?

We will dabble into the sustainability of the economy of the world and Auroville, as well as tell you a little bit about why we joined this project. To put it simply the project is a collaboration with Science Walden Institute to experiment with an unconventional spin off of Universal Basic Income in Auroville. Interesting right? How in the world are we going to do this? Well I guess tune in to the series to find out. Catch us every week and spend some time listening to some Auroville Youth, trying to figure it all out, just as much as you are.