I have been an admirer of environmentalist Chandi Prasad Bhatt forever, since the time I read about him first.
So whenever we are in Uttrakhand, we make a point to visit Gopeshwar to meet him.
Last August, we were in Uttarakhand for our holiday, and we took time to go around the region to check on massive construction taking place as part of the all-weather Chardham road and Badrinath corridor including the railway line from Rishikesh to Rudraprayag.
To understand the consequences of the rapid development in the young Himalayas and its impact on the region we met Bhatt ji at his home in Gopeshwar.
His analysis was eye-opening ( I have written about it in my earlier blog post on chipko's 50 Years)
To my luck last weekend he was in Bombay for a talk, so I jumped at the opportunity to meet him at his disciple's place near my house.
Apart from the heartfelt meeting and getting to know more on-ground issues in the upper Himalayas I also got to eat pahadi food, bliss is all I can say.
Bhatt sahab for me is what an ideal Indian should be, fighting for his principles without being bombast and bringing his point forth with the basis of first-hand research.
Probably, the only person who has walked the entire Alaknanda Valley on foot and hence he can talk about the environmental aspects of the Himalayas with so much ease and confidence without using random jargon to distract.
The topic of discussion ranged from water issues to programs conducted by him on replantation drives and how things have changed in 50 years of the Chipko movement.
After the meeting, I kept wondering as a society we have become so selfish that nothing matters to us beyond our own needs.
Being an Indian and born in India, knowingly or unknowingly we all have over the years learned the essence of being Gandhian but unfortunately, we have kept ourselves away from the selflessness of Gandhian philosophy.
At the core of the philosophy is the well-being of everyone, the discourse which is about the Nation, and the people first before our own needs.
If you want to know more about his principles and commitment towards the environment, do read his books. His new book "GudGudi" is available on Amazon.
Also, there is a lovely book by the Late Anupam Mishra ji who was a phenomenal guy and a Gandhian, do read his book "Chipko" on the understanding of our fragile Himalayas
Hope together we make efforts to understand our nature rather than just patronising it for our benefit.
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