Green Is On..!!: INSIDE OUT

So it’s about Sustainable Development they say. It’s about Agenda 21, the Green charter, triple bottom line and innumerable edicts put forth by the Kyoto protocol, they tell us. These seldom effective always rhetorical terms do have an ability to make the policy makers swoon, but for the rest of us they sound more of a covert operation shrouded in layers of political and bureaucratic humdrum. The fact that they fail to appeal to local communities let alone jolt them into action is a reason good enough to critique the existing methods of disseminating ecological savoir-faire, because communities had existed much before governments came into existence.

In the Indian context, we seemed to have been doing the right thing all along until we decided to blindly follow the sound bites given to us by the west. On the count of sheer biological and ethnic diversity, India has been innately blessed with values that curb a relentless onslaught on social resources. These values, be it religious or cultural, foster an environment of bonhomie through environmental conservation. Where gods are a personification of mountains and rivers, where Ayurveda is still a prevalent practice and where pure wilderness still defines a way of life for many, having an utter disregard for nature and its glory is a farfetched proposition. The Demazong and Apatani communities in Sikkim Himalayas and Arunachal Pradesh have long utilized their traditional knowledge in sustainable natural resource management. Villages in Maharashtra have successfully regulated soil erosion due to widespread deforestation. The Yanadi tribe in Andhra Pradesh is known to conserve forest resources for their medicinal value.

All these examples and many more invite some bit of introspection on our part. The seemingly elusive solutions to the conundrum of sustainable development may dawn upon us if we seek answers from within our ethno-cultural and biological diversity. It is time to wear our green jacket ‘inside out’. :)