Sustainability: the Gandhian outlook

          Prof. Subodh Shankar*

For past couple of years we have been watching with great curiosity and concern the dramatic climatic changes taking place on our blue planet. We have started feeling the ill effects of the climatic changes in the form of katrinas, heat strokes in Europe and melting glaciers of southeast Alaska. 

Such is the gravity of this subject that 2007 Noble Peace Prize has been awarded to  Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) –which  is a scientific body tasked to evaluate the risk of climate change caused by human activity. The panel was established in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

At the Noble banquette held on 10 December 2007, Mr. Berge RagnarFurre, the Deputy Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee    said “This award being given to the IPCC, we believe goes fundamentally beyond a concern for the impacts of climate change on peace. We honour the earth; for bringing forth flowers and food – and trees ... The Norwegian Nobel Committee is committed to the protection of the earth. This commitment is our vision – deeply felt and connected to human rights and peace".

During this Banquette at Oslo, the Chairman of IPCC, Mr. R. K. Pachauri expressed his gratitude by saying “Honouring the IPCC through the grant of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 in essence can be seen as a clarion call for the protection of the earth as it faces the widespread impacts of climate change. Neglect in protecting our heritage of natural resources could prove extremely harmful for the human race and for all species that share common space on planet earth. Indeed, there are many lessons in human history which provide adequate warning about the chaos and destruction that could take place if we remain guilty of myopic indifference to the progressive erosion and decline of nature's resources”.

A man of words and action, who always believed in leading by example, Gandhi was not just a great political and spiritual leader, he was also a thinker and one of the first who thought on the lines of sustainable development. His teachings of simple living and high thinking and considerable portions of his writings reveal his thought process in the direction of sustainable development.
“God forbid that India should ever take to industrialism after the manner of the West. The economic imperialism of a single tiny island kingdom is today keeping the world in chains. If an entire nation of 300 million took to similar economic exploitation, it would strip the world bare like a locusts.”
Excerpts like the above are vividly illustrated in Gandhi’s writings highlighting his thoughts on development, politics and governance. A practitioner of non-violence and truth, Gandhi lived modestly in a self-sufficient residential community, wore traditional Indian dress, woven with yarn he had spun on a charkha. He ate simple vegetarian food, and undertook long fasts as means of both self-purification and social protest.
More than a century ago in 1909, Gandhi had already envisioned the insatiable and unending pursuit of material pleasure and prosperity in the Western society as a threat to the Planet and its resources. In his writings compiled in the “Hind Swaraj”, Gandhi not only warned the western society of the ill-effects their lifestyle may bring, but also appealed to his countrymen not be trapped by the thought of material gains.
The real importance of Gandhi as an environmentalist lies not just in his vision and his understanding of the man-nature relationship, but in the fact that he patterned his personal life on these ideals and set a (then) living example for others to follow. Throughout his life, he continued to give demonstrations on health, hygiene and sanitation.
Not many political leaders of his stature in the world have ever devoted so much of their time and energy for a better, cleaner environment with such sincerity and dedication. It is about time we see (and demand) such great leadership today lest it may be too late tomorrow.

 

MAHATMA Gandhi was environment-friendly in an age when the world was gearing up for the most intense exploitation of resources known to history. Underlying Gandhi's humanism was the idea that man's nature and his relation with the external environment represent an organic whole and cannot be compartmentalized. Gandhi advocated a lifestyle that strikes at the very root of consumerism and his experiments to streamline his ideas in practice is best exemplified in the ashrams he set up.

Needless to emphasize, world over there is great concern about present environmental and ecological issues. This problem has not arisen in a day or two. It is indeed the resultant of non compliance to our age old value system relating to environment and ecology. Our Vedic literature deals with subject wholesomely. But we wish to first of all create a problem and then search for solutions. Even during present times people like Mahatma Gandhi have given us certain suggestions which if followed meticulously may still reverse the process of global warming. In the words of Mahatma Gandhi:

“If we do not follow an austere path, there would follow an ecological backlash which may engulf the human race, with nowhere else to go. Therefore, the delicate and holistic balance that exists in Nature has to be respected and maintained.  There is a tremendous connectivity and interdependence among various components, like natural living and non-living resources, with considerable social, economic, historical, cultural, philosophical, ethical and moral dimensions. The enemy of our environment is within each one of us because we want more and more at the expense of nature and consume more than our share of materials. Furthermore, ecological security is equally, if not more, important than economic security. Today the human race is at the cross roads: The present eco-degradation and pollution are the result of greed of the rich, need of the poor to eke out an existence, and careless application of technology.”

Mahatma concludes by saying “The earth provides enough for everyman’s needs but not for every man’s greed.”

Lauri Baker: a true follower of Gandhian philosophy

After he came to India Baker had a chance encounter with Mahatma Gandhi which was to have a lasting impact on his ideology and also his work and building philosophy. After India gained her independence and Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated, Baker lived in Kerala with Doctor P.J. Chandy, from whom he received great encouragement and whose sister he would later wed in 1948 .medical training was put to use aiding the afflicted in the village while Laurie continued his architectural work and research accommodating the medical needs of the community through his constructions of various hospitals and clinics. It is here that Baker would acquire and hone those skills from the local building community which had so fascinated him during his missionary work. In 1966, Baker moved south and worked with the tribals of Peerumed, Kerala, and in 1970 moved to Thiruvananthapuram

Baker sought to enrich the culture in which he participated by promoting simplicity and home-grown quality in his buildings. Seeing so many people living in poverty in the region and throughout India served also to amplify his emphasis on cost-conscious construction, one that encouraged local participation in development and craftsmanship - an ideal that the Mahatma expressed as the only means to revitalize and liberate an impoverished India. This drive for simplicity also stemmed from his Quaker faith, one that saw indulging in a deceitful facade as a way to fool the 'Creator' as quite pointless. Instead, Baker sought to provide the 'right' space for his clients and to avoid anything pretentious.

Baker was admittedly a Gandhian in ideas and yet like Gandhi he is understood more
superficially and because of his eminence, would be followed more in form than in real
spirit and content of ideas.

Dayalbagh (Agra) - a town based on Gandhian ideology

On the outskirts of the historic city of Agra, the campus is situated in garden settings, away from the din and noise of the city. Nestled between lush green fields, it provides an excellent ambience and academic setting that is in harmony with nature.

The Colony of Dayalbagh, which translates as "Garden of the Merciful," was founded on the Basant Day in 1915 by Huzur Sahabji Maharaj, the fifth Revered Leader of Radhasoami Faith by planting a (shahtootkapoadha) mulberry tree, as an Ashram or the spiritual home of the followers of the Faith. The headquarters of Radhasoami Satsang Sabha are located here.

The colony is laid out in an open garden setting. The land where the colony was established once consisted of sand dunes. For more than 60 years residents of the colony - men and women, young and old - have worked with quiet dedication in a vast programme for reclamation of land launched in 1943 by Huzur Mehtaji Maharaj, the sixth Revered Leader of the Faith. The result is a lush green 1,200-acre (4.9 km²) farm where food-grains, oil-seeds, fodder, and vegetables are grown.

Nobody owns any property in Dayalbagh individual y. The land, the houses and institutions all belong to the community as a whole. People also live and work as a community. For example, the residents share various responsibilities like cleaning up the colony and arranging night security. The colony has its own water supply, electricity distribution, and civic services. The colony's dairy provides most of the milk that is needed, and a community kitchen that supplies food free to pilgrims. The residents can also obtain meals from there and free themselves from household chores.

Small-scale industries known as the Model Industries were established in 1916 to provide employment and a source of livelihood to the persons residing in the colony. It has done some pioneering work in the country. The industries have now been decentralized and cottage scale production of goods of daily necessity is taking place in units set up by Satsangis all over the country.

* Former Dean, Faculty of Architecture, Integral University, Lucknow