Even as we approach Mahatma Gandhi’s 146th Birth Anniversary, there are many aspects of Bapu’s life that many of us don’t even know about.
There are arguably more facets to the life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi than anyone else, which attribute to another lesser known name-Bahuroopee Gandhi (‘bahu’ means many, while ‘roop’ means form), which is also the subject of a book by Anu Bandopadhyaya. But one facet of Gandhi’s life that stands out, given that it wasn’t near relevant to what it is now, was his concern towards environment. A key to this facet lies in Gandhi’s own saying, that ‘earth provides enough for every man’s needs, but not for any man’s greed’.
image:arvinddevalia
Gandhi’s approach towards environment, during the tumultuous times of India’s pre-independence history in the twentieth century was to conserve resources. He would use minimum amount of water to wash his clothes, while taking a bath and in the lavatory as well. Technology evolved in the twentieth century like never before. But even then, Gandhi tried to remain as close to nature as possible. A visit to Bapu Kuti (Gandhi’s hut) in Sevagram, Wardha will make you realize how Gandhi stayed connected to the world, hardly wasting a single ounce of grain, water or anything else.
mkgandhi.org, a website run by the leading Gandhian institutions around India features a comprehensive summary of Gandhi’s views and approach towards the environment, written by Shreekrishna Jha. You can have a look at this article through the following link to know more about Gandhi’s environmental side.
