There and Back Again: the World Travels of a Watson Fellow: Bhoomi Festival and Taj Mahal

October 3, 2013 - Bhoomi Festival

I originally planned to take a bus from Leh to Dehradun, my next stop on this Indian adventure. It’s probably close to a 30 hour bus ride, up and over the Himalayas and totally dependent on the roads being snow-free and passable. Some people develop Acute Mountain Sickness (acclimatization problems) from the ride and it is precarious and dangerous, though I have been told that it is “an experience” (one that I was quite close to having). At the last minute, however, airfare prices went down, so I decided to fly to Delhi and I am now taking a train to Dehradun where I will spend about a week at Navdanya, Dr. Vandana Shiva’s Biodiversity Conservation Farm and Learning Centre. Vandana is normally not in Dehradun but rather in her office in Delhi or traveling on business. When I heard that she was going to be in Delhi on October 1st for a festival/conference, I knew I had to go! So I found myself registering for Bhoomi 2013 “Sacred Himalaya, Abundant Himalaya.” It was a one day event that included three panel sessions on environmental awareness, Himalayan culture/biodiversity, and the sacred feminine. Bhoomi included the presence of “His Holiness” (no, not the Dalai Lama, but close!) and the Director of the Gross National Happiness Center in Bhutan (fortunately, I was able to get his contact information in preparation for my tentative travels there), as well as a short documentary film on the recent devastating floods in Uttarakhand, a cultural programme with Kashmiri musicians, dancers from Arunachal Pradesh, and a fantastic singing Tibetan Buddhist Nun from Nepal named Annie (literally, the voice of an angel). I was unsurprised to see ama-les from the Women’s Alliance of Ladakh, as I had been told they were attending, but I was shocked to see Dr. Deen from LEHO at the event. It may sound silly, but going to Bhoomi to celebrate the culture, biodiversity, and sacredness of the Himalayas and seeing familiar faces from Leh made for a smoother transition to the rest of India.

Some facts I learned from the panel sessions include:

· We should recognize and value the Himalayas because they are the youngest and most sensitive mountain range in the world, in addition to yielding an abundance of natural wealth: water, biodiversity, culture, and spiritual sustenance (many gurus and religious leaders have meditated here for thousands of years)

· Gross National Happiness can be referred to as the “Development of Values” (in contrast to Gross Domestic Product and western-style development and growth) and is a clause in Bhutan’s Constitution. Moreover, in the next five years, Bhutan will be 100% organic (right now, it’s mainly the southern states that are in transition) – the first country in the world to do so.

· There was a lot of discussion of separation and how this mentality is at the root of current environmental disasters and degradation. One person referred to the situation as “ecological apartheid” and how Bhoomi is significant for bringing in a spiritual component, which showcases diversity and interconnectedness of all things (namely humans and nature).

· Someone else referred to global climate change as “climate chaos,” which I found fitting since the element of unpredictability is tremendous.

· There was a lot of emphasis on the negativities of hydropower projects since the dynamite and pressure from the dams often crack mountains and have caused earthquakes and landslides from floods, wiping out villages. One panelist described the big dam projects as a “scramble for power” as people race to control water. Moreover, there is great need for environmental impact assessments. For example, the June 2013 Uttarakhand floods were referred to as “man made” because global warming is likely the root cause (flash floods, cloud bursts, landslides are all linked) and there was no disaster management plan. Similarly, the hydropower industry requires a more credible regulatory body to review, assess, and sanction projects (right now, it is a 10 member committee solely made up of government officials, completely lacking women, and the chairperson is a former coal minister). This raises the importance of environmental governance and asking the questions: who is making the decisions and who is benefitting from the power? There is a need for democracy and sovereignty (e.g. political representation).

· In the first panel, a man named Claude Arpi raised the question of regulating tourism to be more sustainable in the Himalayas. One example is Bhutan’s $200 USD a day tourist tariff, but that may not be successful in most places.

· Another presenter, a University Professor in New Delhi who specializes in tropical biology and conservation, discussed the notion of “hybrid technology” in land-use and agriculture, which resonated strongly with me. He talked about how it is easy to integrate formal and traditional knowledge systems to “sustain nature-culture integrity.” In this way, he is connecting biophysical and socioeconomic-cultural knowledge. To achieve this, however, there is a need for community participation and linking sustainable livelihoods and development with biodiversity conservation and ecosystem management. In this way, his work and research focuses on integrating traditional knowledge with formal science-based knowledge for shifting agriculture (on one extreme) to restoring land degraded by the Green Revolution on the other extreme. I was able to get his contact information and hopefully we can connect over our common research interests.

· The last panel talked about the sacred feminine, which was a little too spiritual and crunchy for me. Although I strongly believe that one can derive spiritual sustenance from nature, I found the panel to be a bit too abstract and faith-based. It talked about sacred species and landscapes, which are not only socially valued but can yield economic benefits as well. I also learned of “sustainability science to dynamically conserve natural cultural landscapes.”

· One of the final speakers was from Navdanya himself and he talked about how the organization was founded in 1987 by Vandana Shiva. They focus on promoting organic farming, preserving traditional knowledge, and mitigating climate change, as well as a strong emphasis on food sovereignty and seed freedom (from GMOs through community seed banks and activism). Naturally, I am so excited to be going! (P.S. life is officially complete – listening to MIA Paper Planes while on my first train ride in India)

Vandana Shiva, the Goddess herself, speaking at Bhoomi

Trying on saris in Delhi :)

Taj Mahal

In addition to attending Bhoomi, I was able to take a day trip to Agra. So now I can at least say I saw Vandana Shiva and the Taj Mahal before leaving India J The express train from Delhi to Agra takes only about two hours, but unfortunately, we missed the train by 8 minutes. I went with the neighbor of my host in Delhi, a 19-year-old boy who wants to study medicine in either the U.S. or Canada. He was wonderful company as his bilingual skills in English and Hindi were indispensible. He also takes amazing photos, which was great for both of us because it was his first time to the Taj as well. After missing the train, we ended up taking a tourist bus, which was a packaged deal including a visit to the Agra Fort and a few nearby holy Hindu sites (e.g. the birthplace of Krishna). The bus, however, took a whopping seven hours each way and although it was AC, the ride was slightly unbearable. I’m going to take two seconds to complain: after leaving at 5:30 AM, we didn’t end up returning to the flat until 4 AM the next morning, with less than two hours allotted to the Taj. Irrespective of the limited time and arduous journey, it was so worth it! I don’t care what people say about it being over priced, overrated, etc., it was incredible. And in order to help preserve the integrity of the structure and the quality of the marble, emissions emitting vehicles are prohibited from coming within a certain distance, so you have to take either an auto rickshaw, horse-drawn carriage, or camel-drawn wagon to the entrance gates. On the way back, we chose the camel and the driver even let me ride it! (for an extra fee of course). I can’t remember if I’ve ridden a camel in the past (perhaps at a local fair at home when I was a kid), but if I did, I certainly don’t remember it being so bumpy! I couldn’t stop laughing as I bounced up and down with each step and the passing Indians thought it equally ridiculous. We also decided to hire a tour guide to explain the history, though he acted more as a personal photographer than anything, which was great for us. And even with his mediocre commentary, there was something so amazing and inexplicable about coming around the corner and seeing it through the archway for the first time. The Taj Mahal is one of those things that you see on post cards, in films and photos, on TV and in National Geographic; something that I never dreamed I would get to see so soon. And let me tell you – it is so much better in real life! Despite the massive throngs of tourists and the fact that it is difficult to walk anywhere without potentially stepping into someone’s photo frame, the ambiance is rather magical. I don’t know if it’s the context of it being the ultimate “labor of love” (as it is a massive mausoleum constructed by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal when she died giving birth to their 14^th child), the glorious marble and intricate mosaic work of precious stones, the shimmering reflective pool, or the fact that it’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but it’s pretty darn cool.