One of the aspects of coming to India that initially most excited me was that of nature.
A quick Google search of “India” following my acceptance to the fellowship revealed a land where tigers and elephants alike roam free; my imagination immediately ran wild. And while perhaps my imagined notions of India’s natural landscape expressed my more ignorant (or tamasic for all you yogis out there) side, the theme of nature has been a fascinating one — and seems fitting to explore as I write from the Govardhan Ecovillage in Vada.
We began our journey in Delhi, a city whose air is so polluted that my iPhone’s weather app reported “Smoke” as the forecast for our short stay there. The pollution was ever present, with garbage in the streets and a certain heaviness to every inhale. While I still found beauty in the exotic (to me) surroundings, this was not quite the introduction to India’s nature that I initially imagined.
As we moved on to Rishikesh and Haridwar, nature took on a new significance; we stayed on the banks of the Ganges river — the most sacred river in India. People of the Hindu faith dip in the river to purify themselves, pray to the river, and seem to show the river the utmost respect in every way possible. Yet still, on more than one occasion, I saw plastic bags and water bottles floating down the river. And still, in the surrounding towns, garbage-filled pools of water lined the streets. The Ganges itself was nonetheless absolutely stunning, but I was shocked to see that the respect for the river didn’t directly correspond to a powerful effort to keep it clean.
In Mumbai, the “Smoke” forecast that my phone once warned me of was downgraded to “Haze”. Pollution was yet again an ever-present factor, but glorious, tree-lined avenues lay around every corner, at least somewhat balancing out the city grime.
But now, we find ourselves at the Govardhan Ecovillage — a place where nature, and its conservation, are a priority. In a word, the Ecovillage is pristine. Every tree is perfectly pruned, every flower triumphantly bloomed; here, humans and nature are harmoniously attuned. And here, my vision of India’s natural beauty shines through in every way possible. The Ecovillage sustainability efforts are simultaneously groundbreaking and completely common sense.
They show what is possible when we give nature the respect it deserves and consequently reap the benefits from doing so. I can’t wait to see what they do in the future and hope they can one day spread their vision for a sustainable India throughout the entire country.
– Franklin Maloney
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