THECHALLENGEXPRESS

December 4, 2014

My first interview will be with a man who had the courage to leave his comfort zone to pursue his own happiness. 

He built up from scratch the life he always dreamt of without accepting any compromise.Now, the destiny brought him to be the paladin of trees through his unique community: "Sadhana Forest", committed to planting trees to regrow the tropical dry evergreen forest outside Auroville(www.sadhanaforest.org)I've been a volunteer in the forest, living by his philosophy and his ideals, and that's why I was sure it worth listening to his story.Have a glimpse into Aviram Rozin's life!Me: Let's start with the basics, tell us a little bit about your background.

Aviram: Ok,my name is Aviram Rozin and I was born in 1965 in a little town close to Tel Aviv. My mother worked as a social worker and my father was a lecturer of social work. After finishing military service I studied psychology at the university and worked in a hospital.

Me: Your studies and your job hint a social involvement, do you feel being the son of two social workers influenced your choices?

Aviram: Well, i think everybody is influenced by whom they were brought up, in my case, my parents were people who loved people, very helpful, concerned by social issues and yes, definitely, these are values I always bring with me.

Me: When did you realize your life didn't fit u?

Aviram: I was 30 when I had the chance to switch my job at a hospital with a role of manager in a medical device company. Due to my new job I had to fly to Thailand for 10 days and that trip changed my life. I was exposed to so many new things that I started to question my life, reading and researching for answers. But this wasn't enough. Me and my wife decided to quit our jobs to travel for one year in Asia. It wasn't a touristic journey, we lived in remote villages among the locals, living simple life with no roads, no electricity, no running water. Our ideal life became clearer and clearer. That's why when we came back to Israel we seeked for a simpler life and moved to the rural Galilee. After 4 years we understood that our place was in India, the charming country we fell in love with during our first visit in Asia.

Me: Wow, it must be hard to make such a radical change in your life at that age, being a family man! Tell me the truth, weren't you scared?

Aviram: A lot of times people act out of fear and do not listen to their true wills. You save for a big pension because you are afraid of the future. The same with insurance, you pay huge sums of money to guarantee security and health to yourself. That's how fear drives our choices. I'm not a man of compromises, I knew the life I wanted and I wouldn't let fear trigger my decision. Honestly, the main concern was my 1 year-old daughter, but me and my wife were confident that it would have worked out.

Me: What happened in India?

Aviram: After a short stay in Rishikesh we opted for Auroville, where after a year we became aurovillians. We explored all the communities in Auroville, searching for the best place for us to settle down but nothing answer our needs.

Me: So, what did you do?

Aviram: Well, I had only 2 choices: leave the place i loved, Auroville,  and seek for the right place for us or build our "right place".After 8 months of meditation and researches, me and my wife took our decision. We didn't move from our comfort in Israel just to compromise again in India, we should have lived exactly the life we want and this is possible only by making your own!

Me: I guess this is how "Sadhana Forest" was born, right?

Aviram: Yes! At that time we were planning a community made by 3-4 families, but life planned something different for me. You know, I see the life like a river. You can resist the flow by trying to swim the other way, but sometimes it's better to follow it and that is what I've been doing since 12 years. That's why nowadays we have around 1000 volunteers every years!

Me: I'm curious to know how was the beginning?

Aviram: It was absolutely pioneering. Think about 70 acres of red soil far from Auroville, everything was wild and rough: no toilets and not enough huts for everyone , but thanks to the locals workers and brave volunteers we managed to build the first 5 structures to start. Now we have 43 structures and luckily enough toilets for everyone! The strength of "Sadhana Forest" were always been people; our volunteers firmly believe in our philosophy and in our ideals. 

Me: how did you decide your mission would be to save the forest?

Aviram: First of all I love trees and second I like doing things other people wouldn't do. Mine is a challenge that will not benefit me directly, I can plant trees now that will grow up in 30 years. I'm not doing it for business, I'm doing it because I firmly believe  each of us can make this world a  better place and this is just my contribution.

Me: So what are the ideals on which you based your community?

Aviram: Non violence: it starts from our thoughts to what we eat. We try to be conscious  of the way we act towards all living creatures, be peacefully in harmony with them. That's the main reason why we chose to be vegan.No business/ gift economy: we don't want to sell anything, we want to share friendly, hoping people embrace our mission supporting us by volunteering or donations. Unschooling: we don't want to dominate our children, impose them what to think and what to study....let them be curious! We believe the best incentive to learn is curiosity. The reason why you are here, sitting in front of me, it's just your will to know more and not for getting a good mark. Here you can be a project director even if you don't have any diploma, your commitment to learn and to do is more important than any other official paper. Sustainable living and biodiversity: Sustainability on a technical level, building from local and natural materials, using solar energy and human powered bicycle. Biodiversity among the species we plant as well as among the volunteers we host.

Me: What are the goals for the future and your expectations?

Aviram: In the last few years we founded  other 2 community: "Sadhana Forest Haiti" and "Sadhana Forest Kenya". We will improve them as much as we can and why not, we will try to open other communities around the world. For the rest I will keep following that flow hoping to continue to share  knowledge and enthusiasm about nature with people.

Me: When I look at you I see like a modern tribal chief who inspires his community with his actions and his courageous choices. Do you think u can inspire people?

Aviram: Someone says it but this is not the aim of my life. I simply live my life with no compromises, not bending corners, not taking shortcuts. I do what I like, I don't  live in a hut because I want people think:

"oh look, he lives such a simple life". I live in a hut because I love doing it and If people find it inspiring, I'm happy.

Me: Ahah ok ok so let's twist the question, who is inspiring for you?

Aviram: (long silence) ....You!

You inspire me! How old are you?

Me: 24

Aviram: You are thinking about things that when I was your age I would have neither imagine. I opened my eyes to different ways of thought in an older age than you and I appreciate this courage. I'm not inspired by famous people with heavy biographies, I'm inspired by people in true search, questioning things, trying to do something remarkable in this world. I'm inspired by every single volunteer who doesn't look for a payed job but comes here to plant trees.

Remember, every person is a teacher, you just need to be attentive to the lesson.

Me: Thank you so much for this pleasant interview Aviram I hope for you and for Sadhana Forest the happiest and most successful "flow" ever!

Aviram: Thank you very much for the interview and I wish you the best for your adventure!