Book Review: Ramachandra Guha’s ‘Speaking With Nature’ Helps You Revisit India’s Enduring Environmentalism 

‘Speaking with Nature: The Origins of Indian Environmentalism’ goes beyond the assumption that developing nations are ‘too poor to be green’, and reveals India’s long-standing environmental heritage. 

In his latest book, Ramachandra Guha offers a nuanced exploration of India's environmental consciousness and its evolution.

Source : PTI

Ramachandra Guha is largely known as a respected historian, leading public intellectual, and biographer of Gandhi. However, he is also recognised for his seminal contributions to environmentalism in India. His PhD thesis focused on the Chipko Movement, and he later expanded it into a groundbreaking book, titled ‘The Unquiet Woods’. Apart from this, Guha consistently emphasises the importance of environmental discourse through his articles, public speeches, and books.

In his latest book, Speaking with Nature: The Origins of Indian Environmentalism, Ramachandra Guha offers a nuanced exploration of India’s environmental consciousness and its evolution. Guha’s narrative goes beyond the assumption that developing nations are “too poor to be green”, revealing how, in fact, India has a long-standing environmental heritage. His work argues that India’s environmentalism has not merely mirrored Western ideals but instead developed its own trajectory shaped by sublime ecological, social, and cultural contexts. 

The book highlights 10 influential thinkers — Rabindranath Tagore, Radhakamal Mukerjee, J.C. Kumarappa, Patrick Geddes, Albert and Gabrielle Howard, Mira, Verrier Elwin, K.M. Munshi, and M. Krishnan — who predated global environmental movements and called attention to issues of deforestation, soil erosion, biodiversity loss, and resource depletion. Ramachandra Guha introduces ‘livelihood environmentalism’, a term he uses to differentiate India’s approach from what he calls the “full-stomach environmentalism” often seen in the West. Whereas Western environmentalism has often revolved around lifestyle or recreational interests, livelihood environmentalism is a matter of necessity for millions of Indians who rely on sustainable natural resources for their survival.

Utopian Gandhian Charter Prepared In The Hills

Guha’s detailed examination presents each figure as a pioneer who addressed pressing ecological concerns long before terms like “climate change” and “sustainability” gained popular attention. For example, J.C. Kumarappa, an economist and a Gandhian, advocated for rural economies that were in harmony with nature. Similarly, Mira (Madeleine Slade) embraced simple living and worked to improve rural Himalayan communities, embodying Gandhi’s ideals of ecological harmony. 

He writes, “Meanwhile, in a printed article in Harijan, Mira advocated a radical return to Gandhian principles. She outlined a charter of 18 points to this effect, these including a simplification of the government machinery, a closer association of peasants and workers in the administrative process, a new electoral system emphasising local councils rather than a national Parliament, competed for by non-party candidates, a moratorium on development schemes such as large dams and chemical farming until the benefits and costs were properly assessed, an education system based on Western models but on Gandhi’s template of 'Basic Education’.” 

One of the defining aspects of Mira’s perspective was her profound recognition of the importance of trees and forests in the economic and cultural fabric of rural India. While many economists and agronomists concentrated solely on increasing the productivity and profitability of cultivated fields, Mira grasped the intricate links between agriculture, animal husbandry, and the vitality of forest ecosystems.  

Ramachandra Guha further writes, “Mira wrote of her utopian Gandhian charter that it was ‘merely an outline’. It was drafted in her new ashram in the interior hills, in a remote part of what was once the princely state of Tehri Garhwal. ‘Far away in these vast mountains,’ she wrote, ‘I have no one to consult but the Himalayan forests and Eternal Snows (for fundamentals indeed the best advisers), and naturally the points adumbrated here will undergo additions and embellishments when discussed and worked out in consultation with others…”

The work of the 10 thinkers is contextualised within India’s colonial history, as Guha contends that British rule, with its industrialization and resource exploitation, marked an “ecological watershed” for India. This shift brought new technologies and environmental challenges, compelling Indian intellectuals to think critically about their country’s ecological future.

Ramachandra Guha’s critique of modern environmental policies is both historical and contemporary. He draws comparisons between British-era industrial models and post-Independence development strategies, asserting that post-1947 India adopted an extractive industrial model that neglected its ecological and social realities. The environmental emergency India faces today is multifaceted: air pollution, groundwater depletion, loss of biodiversity, and the degradation of rivers and forests are all symptoms of unsustainable policies. By focusing on these foundational thinkers, Guha encourages readers to recognise that India’s environmental struggles are longstanding and uniquely complex, extending beyond climate change alone.

One of the book’s most poignant arguments is that, even without the global threat of climate change, India would still be at an environmental crossroads. The air pollution crisis in Delhi and the broader north, for instance, is a dire example of the immediate ecological threats facing the country, unrelated to climate change. This crisis, Guha says, also underscores a larger question: if India aspires to be a global leader, why is it unable to address fundamental environmental issues in its own capital?

Guha’s critique extends to government policies, which he describes as largely indifferent to environmental issues despite scientific expertise and an increasingly environmentally aware younger generation. He argues that environmental activism no longer receives the same media attention or government responsiveness in India as it did in the 1980s. However, Guha expresses a cautious optimism about the future, noting that youth awareness about sustainability and the growth of scientific expertise in ecology, hydrology, and urban planning could lead to transformative changes.

Gandhi & Environmentalism

The absence of a dedicated chapter on Mahatma Gandhi is deliberate yet intriguing. Instead, Guha presents Gandhi as a figure whose philosophy implicitly informs Indian environmentalism. Gandhi’s values of satyagraha (nonviolent resistance), simplicity, and sustainable economic models are woven into the book's narratives. Guha argues that while Gandhi was not an environmentalist in the modern sense, his ideas inspired followers like J.C. Kumarappa and Mira, who sought to apply his ideals to environmental challenges.

‘Speaking with Nature’, an exceptional book, arrives at a time when environmentalism faces a lull in India, reflecting what some may perceive as a shift in priorities towards rapid development. Yet, author Ramachandra Guha contends that the development-vs-environment dichotomy is a false one; he argues for a model that accommodates both social justice and ecological stability. His book serves as both a historical document and a call to action, urging India to embrace an environmentally sensitive form of development.

In this well-researched and insightful book, Ramachandra Guha brings new life to the often-overlooked history of environmental ideas in India. With its vivid prose, Speaking with Nature is a compelling reminder of the foundational Indian voices that can inspire today’s sustainability discourse. Guha’s argument — that the roots of Indian environmentalism are intertwined with its social and economic fabric — challenges readers to rethink the trajectory of global environmentalism itself. This book is an essential read for anyone interested in the environmental challenges and solutions unique to India, and offers an alternative perspective on the global environmental movement.

Book: Speaking with Nature: The Origins of Indian Environmentalism by Ramachandra Guha

Price: Rs 799

Publisher: HarperCollins  

The writer is a Bengaluru-based management professional, curator, and literary critic

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