Ajit
It is with deep surrender that we inform the community that our good friend and brother, Aurovilian Ajit Koujalgi, left his body on Sunday 12 October in Apollo Hospital, Chennai, after a two-week struggle with the many ailments and complications caused by an accidental fall from the second floor of his Samasti house in the early morning of 29 September 29. He had just become 66 years old.
The enormous surge of concern, care, love and prayers, and also financial support, from friends, colleagues, associates and workers that during this sudden ordeal went out to him and his wife, co-architect Ratna, testifies to the profound respect that this quiet, conscientiously working man evoked in them, and the deep impact he and his work made on people and, yes, on towns.
Hailing from Karnataka, Ajit graduated from the School of Planning and Architecture in 1970 and was already here in Auroville in the mid-seventies, working on various architectural and town planning projects with Roger Anger. From 1978 to 1986 he studied and worked in Germany and travelled in Europe to see historic cities. During this time he became aware of heritage preservation and its relevance to India. In 1987 he returned to Auroville where he worked as architect, became involved with environmental issues (ECR) and with the Pondicherry Chapter of INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage) to do the listing of heritage buildings and other heritage preservation activities.
From 1998 onward the INTACH work became almost a full-time occupation - besides doing architectural practice together with Ratna, tackling quite daring, high quality restorations. Their first restoration job, during 1998-2000, was the 250-year-old French-style building to become the 'Hotel de l’Orient’ in Pondy. It got the UNESCO Asia Pacific Heritage Award as an 'Outstanding Project'. In 2002, the Vysial Street restoration carried out under the Pondicherry Asia Urbs Project received UNESCO’s Asia Pacific Award of Merit for Culture Heritage Conservation of that year. These are only two of such prestigious projects in Pondicherry and Tranquebar. More recently Ajit saved and restored the Indian Coffee House in Pondy’s Nehru Street.
All these will stand the times. We salute a highly capable Aurovilian who, unobtrusively, did great things… Jay MA~
Ajit’s body was taken to the temporary Farewell House at Auroshilpam for friends to pay him a last visit. The cremation took place at Adventure's mandappan in the late afternoon of Tuesday, 14 October, that saw family and many friends participating in a beautiful, quiet farewell moment, with candles and flowers, some chanting and singing, - a fine dignity and love in the air.
Our deepest love and strength go out to Ratna, and pray the community may hold her.
OM~
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