Remembering Gaura Devi

In 1925, Gaura Devi was born in the village of Latha, in the Garwhal region of the Himalayas, in the upper Alakananda Valley. Around that time, the area was covered with pristine forests, dark, deep, thick forests – this was also the source of their traditional agricultural economy. In keeping with tradition, she was married off at the age of 12 to Meherban Singh, in the nearby village of Reni. Singh was a small farmer, with a small piece of land, reared some sheep and traded in wool. They were by no means rich but they certainly had a comfortable life devoid of hardship and penury. The inevitable happened.  Meherban Singh died 10 later, and when her son grew up and had children of his own, they all worked together to keep the family going.  As tension grew between India and China, their trade suffered, but the forests produce kept her family going. She became a grandmother and step into her role of a matriarch. She then went on to become the head of the Mahila Mandal. 

Gaura Devi

A little down the Alakanda Valley, the Chipko movement started taking roots –  Chandi Prasad Bhatt and Govind Singh Rawat started to protest against the felling of the deodar trees in a forest near the village. It was the year  1974, and about 2500 deodars trees were marked for felling.  Gaura Devi joined the protest movement  and actively campaigned for protection of the trees.

Ten years later in an interview Gaura Devi said “Brothers, these forests are like our maternal home (maika). We get herbs, fuel fruits and vegetables from them. Cutting the forests will result in floods." 

And today, in a flood-ravaged Uttarakhand, that has destroyed Kedarnath  and other large parts of the state have been washed away and battered , leaving thousands, possibly missing or dead, thousands homeless,thousands of mules and cattle dead , I remember the wise Gaura Devi and her caution.

The disaster that we see today in Uttarakhand cannot be blamed only on the heavy rains - the devastation that we are seeing today  is largely due to deforestation, illegal construction, reckless damming of rivers and a complete abuse of our rivers and our natural resources.

Gaura Devi  may not have been to school but she had the wisdom of our ancient teachers and rishis . All our Hindu scriptures, from the  Mahabharata to the  Ramayana, the Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Puranas and Smriti contain the earliest messages for preservation of environment and ecological balance.

Gaura Devi knew this then but sadly, those who have been charged with protecting  our people and our forests, still don’t know this. Indeed, they have morphed themselves  from being protectors to predators.

Soil ours, water ours, ours are these forests. Our forefathers raised them, it’s we who must protect them.

 Old Chipko Song

So how did we get here ?

Latest reading: 400.27 ppm.CO2 concentration on May 16, 2013

Concentrations of the greenhouse gas ,carbon dioxide, in the global atmosphere have reached 400 parts per million (ppm) for the first time in human history.  

 But that's not all.

Man made CO2 emissions into the atmosphere will continue to rise and  will push temperatures further up.We have surpassed the safe levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.According to climate science, the safe level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is 350 parts per million.

So how did we get here and can we get out of this hell ?

Before the industrial age CO2 emissions were at  275 ppm - and ever since then they have risen rapidly. So where did this unprecedented rise of CO2 come from  ?

Here is the quick and dirty list.

Burning of fossil fuel,such as oil, coal, and gas . We need all this to power our lives - from driving our cars, to taking that plane, to using our laptops, iPhones, ipads,washing machines, micro waves,air-conditioners and other what nots. Then the endless mass production and transportation of cheap goods in one continent, meant for another continent. Deforestation and changes in land use ! Forests are a precious resource and absorb enormous quantities  of carbon , they are the lungs of the planet and play a crucial role in stabilising climate - cutting them down puts this carbon back into the atmosphere. But we are cutting down our forests faster than they can ever be replaced.The reckless clearing of forest land for  mining and other infrastructure "development" - building of highways,express ways, shops, malls.The industrialization of agriculture , urbanisation and the conversion of fertile land to build industrial parks -  at break neck speeds- are some reasons for rise in CO2 emissions.

A new report from WWF shows that five Asian countries, Cambodia,Laos,Burma,Thailand and Vietnam has lost nearly one-third of their forests in the last 35 years and could be left with 10-20% of their original cover in 15 years.If the current rate of deforestation continues, the world's rain forests will vanish within 100 years- causing unknown effects on global climate.

So we can continue to live business-as-usual ,pumping CO2 into the atmosphere but in doing so we will destroy our planet. And when we destroy the planet, we destroy ourselves.

Revathi Malay

At a time of unprecedented rise in temperatures in most of the districts in Karnataka and warnings of further rise in temperatures, some untimely rain in February, the coffee belt of  Karnataka was blessed with the timely and good arrival of the Revathi malay in the districts of Kodagu, Hasan and  Chikmagalur.

Revathi malay (malay means rain in Kannada) is the blossom shower that arrives every year (in a normal year !) and is rainfall that occurs between March 1st and April 30th.Revathi is the rain that is needed for the coffee bud to flower . The blossoming is key to coffee production . This year Revathi has kept her date and has arrived on time much to the relief of the coffee farmer.
However, what is worrying is the warming from the  Meteorological Department, that there is likely to be an average two degree rise in the mean temperature in most districts. This certainly is bad news not just for coffee but for other crops too.

Our most ubiquitous, humble but delicious bananas are under so much stress.The  banana trees have started to  wither due to the lack of water and excessive heat. Coconuts are dropping early and their size reduced due to excess heat, says   Timmegowda, director, All India Coconut Growers’ Federation.This will only get worse. In the Malnad, the summer temperature range was between 18 degrees and 28 degrees Celsius. Today the lower range starts at 28 degrees says Mohan Kumar, a coffee grower in Sakleshpur.

Which brings me to what I like to
ask "why is the measure of love loss ?"