Reflection

Reflection

The Chipko Movement was a pioneering ecofeminist forest-conservation movement started and sustained by women in response to the indiscriminate deforestation of indigenous, religiously significant Indian forests. It drew from the Gandhian philosophy of non-violence and bloodless revolutions where women hugged trees to prevent them from being cut or damaged. In some instances, five or even six women formed "rings of protection" around the trunks of large trees, chanted prayers, and challenged private contractors to take their lives before they take the trees’. Their bravery and self-sacrifice compelled the Indian government to take action and enforce laws that banned the felling of trees in the Himalayan regions for 15 years in 1980 to allow the green cover to be fully restored. This poem is set in March 1974 when the state government and private contractors tricked the men of village Reni by diverting them away to Chamoli under the false promise of compensation. Behind the scenes, truckloads of lumbermen were ordered to fall the trees of Reni. The private contractors assumed that the women would not be able to resist the lumbermen because of their misogynistic prejudices. However, as soon as they arrived in Reni, a young girl informed the women of their arrival, and they were met with mass, non-violent resistance against deforestation. Little is known about the young girl who incited the Chipko Movement, but local stories about her vividly describe her bravery. Through the scattered structure and form of my poem, I have tried to capture her thought process when she must have battled the fears of speaking up in a patriarchal society and would have decided to take a stand. I have used spaces and brackets to emphasize the divide between vulnerable women and money-blinded lumbermen who often drank off their earnings and hit their wives. To connect the poem to its roots in the Himalayan and Uttarakhandi cultures, I have also used local words and iconography to invite the reader to research more about my beautiful state and learn about the immense power of community-led and faith-based environmentalism in the Global South. Researching and writing this poem was a comforting experience for me. Not only because it filled me with hope about the future (which it certainly did!), but because it teleported me back to when I was 11 and was just starting my climate advocacy journey. Back then, there were no local environmental organizations in my city that supported children. But there were stories. Stories that inspired me to act and to share my own experiences. Stories that highlighted the interconnectedness of social inequality and the climate crisis. Stories that have trickled down generations and have inspired countless minds. I am glad that I was able to share this one with you, reader!