By Divyana Das Renowned author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie said, “Culture does not make people. People make culture.” Intrinsically our genes are rooted in a species that have always been in sync with the environment around us. Our ancestors practiced cultures that believed in harmonious living with everything around us - human, animal or plant. Yet, 21st century phenomenas like urbanization and globalization have led us astray from a lot of these sustainable practices that our ancestors followed.
Sustainability as most of the world knows it, is limited to practices like recycling, reusing, using natural and renewable energy sources (solar, hydro, etc.) among a few other commendable practices. Still, a lot of people fail to follow these practices due to numerous reasons like community restrictions, non-availability of proper facilities, personal restrictions and more. So, we all settle for this as the normal course of life. But, what we don’t realise is that we cannot settle because the world as we know it is still affected by the actions of our forefathers as well as ours.
UNESCO states on its website that “No development can be sustainable without including culture” and they are absolutely right. Our own country has so many examples of practising sustainability within their culture like the Bishnoi community in the Jodhpur region of Rajasthan. These people practice the protection of wildlife as part of their faith. Even the yogic principle of “Aparigraha” followed by ancient Indians, is a philosophy of being non-attached to materialistic possessions and keeping only what is necessary at a certain stage of life. Yet, despite many such examples existing within the same geographic area, India has one of the worst environmental and socio-economic records. It is one of the largest emitters of carbon dioxide after China and the United States. As of 2017, about 6% of deaths in India were caused by unsafe water sources, a number which has since increased. In terms of its economy, India is the world's sixth-largest by nominal GDP and the third-largest by Purchasing Power Parity. Yet, according to the Global Wealth Migration Review report (2019), it was estimated that 48% of India's total wealth was held by high-net-worth individuals. While on the other hand, more than one-third of the total population still continue to live in low-income states.
In order to achieve better results, sustainability must not only be practiced within our cultures but it should be practised as our culture. The Gandhian model of sustainable development perhaps provides a fairly good example of this philosophy. This model of sustainable development highlighted the importance of sustainability in all aspects of our life - even in our social interactions within the community. When you create this ecosystem of understanding between you and your neighbours, you create this culture of receiving and giving that keeps the system alive.
In the Aarey region, where Naata Foundation works with the local residents, we try to create this sustainable ecosystem. Everyone in the community is involved with everyone. The same people of the community help volunteer with us. The alumni from the schools we have adopted in these regions, grow up and come back to help their own schools. Providing vocational education to these people from low-income backgrounds provides them with a chance to become financially independent and have a stable income. Periodic seed-bombing programs help to keep the forest ever-green. These are just a few of the ways in which we have created a small hub where sustainability is a culture. If all of us collectively were to do the same within our own immediate communities, it would surely go a long way in terms of improving the overall conditions of our country and even the world.
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