MY STORY,PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL

Sunderlal Bahuguna hugs a tree

Let me tell you where I am coming from.  I grew up in India in the 70s and 80s and our school text books fed us the idea of genetically engineered (GE) crops as the ultimate solution for our poor country’s vast food needs.  Later I went to college in the U.S. and did my studies and research in genetics and ecology.  The plan was to go into a Ph.D. program to become a plant genetics engineer.

However, while in college I got a fellowship to go and work in India on a project with the Chipko – a grassroots movement of rural people, mostly women, working to protect their immediate environment.  Chipko literally means — to hug.  And it was one form of activism.  Women and children would hug the trees, literally using their bodies as shields to protect the trees from being felled.  It’s probably where the term “tree-hugger” comes from.

The founder of the Chipko, Sunerlal Bahuguna, a man of a magnanimous spirit and vision, was very receptive towards me, and gave me many options where I could work on an ongoing project.  I picked a project that I thought would put my background in ecology and genetics to good use.   I was mentored by Dr.Vandana Shiva(who is now (more…)