INTRODUCTION TO THE TEN POINT GAME
The aim of the ten point game was to invite everyone in Auroville to play a pro active role in improving our collective life. The game was thought up by the Working Committee earlier this year in response to the frustrations of their work, which seemed to consist mainly in solving intractable problems rather than taking positive initiatives. In the light of Sydo’s murder the need for such action was intensified and the ten point game was one of several ideas with this aim in mind.
The Working Committee first played the game amongst themselves to see how it might work. Based on their experience it seemed that such an exercise would enable the community to become conscious of its collective needs. In addition it seemed that the results could provide the basis for the formulation of practical plans of action. Everyone in the community was therefore invited to make a list of ten things that they would like to see changed or improved upon within Auroville.
Forms requesting the participation of Aurovilians were distributed in various places in Auroville and it was also possible to respond electronically through AVNet. A copy of the form is in Appendix 1. In all 82 people responded which represents approximately 6% of the 1371 adults on the Auroville central list. Since no information was obtained about the characteristics of those who responded it is not possible to say how representative respondents are of the population of Auroville as a whole.
There was a very wide variation in the replies; some were very terse consisting of no more than one word for each point while others were more like a mini discourse. Not everyone gave ten points. In all there were 575 points made. A preliminary analysis was carried out by Priya and Jana (a German student) to see how the points might be most usefully categorised. From this exercise it appeared that there were ten categories, most of which were further subdivided into sub categories. Thus the categories derived from the information received rather than the information being put into pre existing categories thought up by the game originators. A list of the categories and subcategories is in Appendix 2.
In going through the responses the interconnectedness of everything in Auroville was very evident in that it was clear that many points could be subsumed under more than one category. At first it was thought that each point could be classed in each of the categories for which it seemed to have relevance, but it soon became clear that to do this would make the final report very unwieldy. Each point was therefore put in what seemed like the most appropriate category, but this is not necessarily definitive as for some points the most appropriate category is open to interpretation. The number of points in each category is listed in Appendix 3. Deciding the category for each point was carried out by Priya.
Wherever possible the actual words of the respondents were used with only minimal editing of grammar to make it easier to read. Thus the full results of the game show, in their own words, the ideas that 82 Aurovilians have for the improvement of Auroville. We hope this inspires you as it inspired us and that the next step of formulating practical proposals can start.
If you have any response please contact anyone on the Working Committee or email wcoffice@auroville.org.in
