Gandhi Jayanti: Was Mahatma Gandhi a green warrior?

Gandhi is often regarded as an early environmentalist, although he did not use terms such as environment and ecology then. During the British period, forest satyagrahas were common. However, there is no evidence to suggest Gandhi was concerned with them in any way. Gandhi never used the term 'development' or 'environment-friendly' in his teaching. And yet, a very low carbon footprint is implied in his vision of life. This becomes clear through the ecologist, Arne Naess, who studied Gandhi before developing his ecological principles.

While nobody refers to Gandhi as an environmentalist, his respect, love and connection with nature is brought alive through many of his views and stands on social issues. One of his most memorable quotes from the Satyagraha movement resonates with his outlook. "What we are doing to the forests of the world is but a reflection of what we are doing to ourselves and to one another."  

Gandhi's concept of Swadeshi also suggests using local resources without being invasive of nature. He condemned modern civilisation, industrialisation and urbanisation, calling for a rural social order based on farming and cottage industries. "My swadeshi chiefly centres around the handspun khaddar and extends to everything that can be and is produced in India." His vision for India had substantial implications for a sustainable way of life rather than being purely concerned with the destruction of nature's beauty, forests, rivers, and so on, as many naturalists do.

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Gandhi's vision and values are meant to be a serious exploration of Hind Swaraj's contemporary meaning and the kind of possibility it suggests for rural India's agricultural practices. Hind Swaraj here refers to the text of Gandhi and India as an independent country as well. Recently, the significance of Hind Swaraj has come to be widely recognised for an understanding of Gandhi's thought. When it comes to understanding rural life and agriculture, Vivek Pinto's book may be one of the first to examine Gandhi's Hind Swaraj movement in rural India for agriculture and life. 

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Gandhi's practice towards a better living

To Gandhi, the practice of farming meant a promise of unlimited reach. The act of breaking and tending the soil brought an ageless quality within it. It meant a mode of work and being that could nurture an ultimate sense of meaning and value while sustaining life. Gandhi strikes a remarkable chord with all those who have cherished the principles of non-injury, cared for the environment, practised vegetarianism, worked energetically to preserve air, soil and water.

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