1394 / 1424
1394
purpose and he thought that the new dispensation would be bound to leave the
Nursery be, at least for some time – during which things might possibly change for
the better; he had also become very weary of conflict of any sort and any nature
and distrusted any group formation, whatever its purpose.
As for Walter, he wanted to remain as a token of resistance: this was not an easy
proposition and it meant much isolation. Later on, he and M.B decided, when it was
found that the German company which had supplied the waterproofing membrane
for the sphere, had made a mistake in its selection of one basic component and was
willing to cover the costs of redoing the entire membrane, that they would remain
to take care of that unexpected work till it was completed, which could mean over
two years. The new management was only relieved that it did not have to shoulder
that responsibility.
But in the aftermath of our ousting, Walter was there like a vigilante and he, who
knew very well how much care we had given to the Banyan tree and all we had
hoped to be able to bring into matter with the gardens and the study of their
completion by Paolo, with whom Walter had worked closely for 3 years – he was
very worried for the fate of the Banyan tree.
Along with Paolo, in our orientation and approach to the environment of the
Matrimandir, we had studied some options for a graceful, subdued lighting,
strategically and unobtrusively placed along pathways and just a little above
ground, so as to distribute enough light for people to move easily but to leave the
night undisturbed.
Now that everyone had a “free hand”, reverse and opposite experiments were
afoot; when in December of that year powerful floodlights were installed under the
Banyan tree illuminating the Petals and the flashing golden sphere, Walter began to
stage a one-man protest! Where we had all felt that the mystery and the sense of
inviolate individual discovery, ever renewed, of the Matrimandir and its
surroundings was a necessary and essential part of the experience of its Power and
Grace, the attitude of this group was to make of it a vigorous, overwhelming
statement of strength and glory, by night or by day.
Walter posted and circulated an open letter about it:
*Torturing the Banyan tree: a so called experiment. Open letter by Walter,
18-12-2003:
“Since more than a week now a soulless and spiritless, insensitive and useless
‘experiment’ is being done at night with the Banyan tree at Matrimandir by a
technician. Mother Nature is tortured and raped by two halogen flood lights of 500
watts each, which blast their cold, glaring light from ground level up on to the
magnificent structure of the tree between 6pm and 10 pm.
The Banyan tree is a sensitive micro environment providing the life space and
shelter for numerous animals like squirrels, the hundreds of fire flies often dancing
through the dark foliage at this time of the year, the beautiful small owls with their
lovely round faces and wide eyes who glide through the night without the slightest
sound but also noisily giggle at times, and many others, and all of them live there
in a natural harmony.
When these strong flood lights were switched on the first night, the whole tree was
in an uproar at 9pm, because the animals were deprived of their sleep and the tree
itself stood in shock. The Aurovilians and people from the Ashram who came down