Baker's contribution to Architecture

1. Introduction:

Laurie Baker Uvaca

I learn my architecture by watching what ordinary people do; in any case it is always the cheapest and simplest because ordinary people do it. They don't even employ builders, the families do it themselves. The job works, you can see it in the old buildings—the way wood lattice work with a lot of little holes filters the light and glare. I'm absolutely certain that concrete frames filled with glass panels is not the answer.

 

My clients have always been Indian. I've not even had the foreign-returned to deal with, since I work primarily with the poor and I've always wanted to give people what they want and what they need which obviously is all Indian. My feeling as an architect is that you're not after all trying to put up a monument which will be remembered as a 'Laurie Baker Building' but Mohan Singh's house where he can live happily with his family.

Gautam Bhatiya:

Laurie Baker has worked in India for over forty years now. He is one of the very few architects who has had the opportunity and the stamina to work on such a remarkably varied spectrum of projects ranging from fishermen's villages to institutional complexes and from low-cost mud¬housing schemes to low-cost cathedrals. In Trivandrum alone he has built over a thousand houses. Besides this, his work includes forty churches, numerous schools, institutions and hospitals.

It is not only the number of buildings that Laurie Baker has designed and the range of architectural commissions he has executed that sets him apart from other architects. What makes his work even more remarkable is the way in which he draws creative sustenance from the environment in which he works absorbing vernacular patterns of construction and individual styles of living to such a degree that he is able to give his clients the comfort and ease of homes and institutions that are firmly rooted in the soil upon which they stand. All this is done keeping in mind the special needs of those who will inhabit or use these places.

In the designing of these varied projects, Laurie Baker takes half-forgotten vernacular patterns of design and construction from the rural setting to dislocated urban residents whose building choices are often limited to the unsuitable structural concepts discarded in the West. In every building that Baker designs, he asserts the appropriateness of traditional constructions to local conditions, adapting existing locally-available materials and traditional methods to contemporary urban structures.

 

A recognition of Baker's contribution to architecture has a singular timeliness today. It has come at a time when a questing conscience has provoked—to look inwards, to solutions of its own making. In these circumstances, Baker in India remains a lone protagonist, experimenting singly and quietly in a distant corner of the country and providing information on the causes and results of his numerous architectural interventions.

In both, his work and writings, Baker emphatically rejects the 'inter-national style' that lingers so perniciously in India. The French architect, Le Corbuiser, who designed Chandigarh, spawned a host of acolytes seeking a universally applicable architectural technology. The result of this is seen in the post-fifties buildings of almost every city in India. Baker has never accepted the idea that the multiplicity of human needs and aspirations can be fulfilled by a standard set of design options and materials. He believes that individual needs stem from India's diverse environment, the varying cultural patterns and lifestyles; and he feels that these needs must be met through an architecture which is responsive, uses local materials and expresses itself in many different forms.

In Baker's scheme of things, architecture cannot be transplanted without doing violence to those very needs which it is attempting to meet. When, for example, the introverted patterns of desert architecture are transferred to the fertile landscapes of the Kerala coast, it dislocates traditional patterns of living. Parallels to this may be seen in any mass-housing scheme, when all-too-often, inhabitants are compelled to camp uncomfortably within unsuitable contours and divisions of space.

However, Baker is no conservative. He is at pains to emphasize the fact that living architecture thrives on appropriate assimilation and adaptation. Indeed, its vitality frequently stems from its ability to change and to meet the changing needs and perceptions of its inhabitants. Architecture, like any craft, is an organic, evolving form and traditional patterns are not the rigidly- structured creations of individuals but the collective experience of many generations. Baker's architecture draws inspiration from the work of successive generations of builders, from the imprint of the environment and those who have lived in it. In his the imprint of the environment and those who have lived in it. In his case it happens to be his adopted home state of Kerala in south India.

The building techniques Baker has evolved to suit specific problems of his poorer clients in Kerala is not a formula applicable to all similar situations; and yet, from it stems an entire ideology of architectural practice—a pattern that is revolutionary in its simplicity and its contradiction of the accepted norms of architecture in contemporary India. Baker's work is an effective demonstration of his own strength, his own interpretation of tradition, technology and lifestyle.

 

1.   What factors influenced Baker's architecture?

Laurie Baker Uvaca

 Distinctive architectural styles were not designed by some famous ancient architect who decreed that a certain style will be used in Japan and a certain other style will be used in Peru and yet another style in Punjab. The upturned, horned roofs of buildings as found in Kerala, China and Japan are the direct result of the people of those places making use of the most common, plentiful, useful material: bamboo—to house and protect them from natural enemies such as sun, rain, hurricanes and wind. A completely different set of styles has evolved in hot, dry, treeless, desert areas, as in parts of Egypt,

Laurie Baker at Work

Iran and India; in almost every district in the world these natural styles have grown to the patterns that could be seen in the first half of the twentieth century.

Our 'backward' ancestors had learned how to live with and cope with the problems of climate. They had learned that a pitched or a sloping roof lessened the effects of all these hazards. They knew the movements of air currents and placed their wall openings almost at ground level. They knew that hot air rises and allowed it to travel upwards from the low eaves to the openings at the end of the high ridge. They understood and applied principles of insulation; their roofing materials formed hollow cellular protective layers and their storage spaces provided insulation from the midday sun. They had understood that wall surfaces can absorb and retain just as much heat as a roof surface, so they kept these walls as small in area as possible and never left them unprotected. They knew that eye-strain from working out in the sun could be alleviated by rest in an area where glare was eliminated and they used smooth, hard, light-coloured surfaces sparingly and left the natural materials—wood, brick, stone—exposed. Their practical knowledge of the properties of these differing building materials was amazing. They knew, for instance, how to design their timber and wood work to avoid warping, twising and cracking.

Gautam Bhatiya:

Laurie Baker's philosophy of architecture is inextricably bound with his experiences of childhood and youth in England, and later, in the Pithoragarh district of Uttar Pradesh in the Himalays where he lived for sixteen years.

 

One of his earliest architecture-related memories is that of being baffled by the differences in the styles of houses at the seaside, where he went on holidays, and that of houses in the mountains, where he lived.

 

2.   Is Laurie Baker the founder of new architecture?

Laurie Baker Uvaca

 

I am these days sometimes quoted as an expert or an authority on 'appropriate' or 'intermediate' technology and although I did not know it at the time, it was my life and experiences at Pithoragarh that taught me 'appropriate and intermediate' technology....

 

To me, this Himalayan domestic architecture was a perfect example of vernacular architecture. Simple, efficient, inexpensive.... As usual this delightful, dignified housing demonstrated hundreds of years of building delightful, dignified housing demonstrated hundred of years of building research on how to cope with local materials, how to

 

cope with local climate hazards and how to accommodate the local social pattern of living. It dealt with incidental difficult problem of how to build on a steeply sloping site, or how to cope with earthquakes and how to avoid landsliding areas and paths. The few examples of attempts to modernize housing merely demonstrated, only too clearly, our modern conceit and showed how very foolish we are when we attempt to ignore or abandon these hundreds of years of'research' in local building materials...

 

Gautam Bhatia:

The direct and honest use of local materials created its own expression of structural necessity, of economic restraint. Confronted with building materials like rock, mud, laterite and cow-dung, Baker's architectural practice in the Himalayas was anything but conventional. His education at the Birmingham School of Architecture and the skills acquired during his professional apprenticeship in England became decidedly insignificant in the austere mountain environment in which he found himself. He realized that the local people knew how to use materials more effectively than he did.

 

It was a very unusual sight to see an English architect, with an urban background, working with and learning from mountain tribesmen and village masons, and using indigenous materials for building. However, it proved to be a richly fruitful alliance. Baker learnt to adapt his skills and training to the needs with which he was now faced. He built schools, hospitals and community buildings, all of which ran on a self-supporting basis.

 

The strength and the organic resilience of

Badker's early architecture was the direct outcome of his own strength and resilience. And, in turn, the years of continuous settlement in a single place gave his designs a quality of rootedness. The lessons he derived from this experience in the Himalayas and the architectural principles he learnt there remained with him even when, years later, he resumed practice in Trivandrum.

The Bakers left Pithorgarh in 1963 and moved to a similar hill area in central Kerala. They settled in a remote village, Vakamon, inhabited by tribal people and Tamil migrants, and continued to work in much the same way as they had in Pithoragarh— building schools and leprosy treatment centres, using their skills and training for the benefit of the local people, and learning local skills as they did so.

 

In Trivandrum, Baker applied all that he had learnt to a wider clientele—building homes for the middle class and institutions for a wide range of organizations. Today, over a thousand families in the Trivandrum district live in Baker's houses; and the evolution of his style can be traced through his work in and around this city.

 

As he worked, Baker began to understand the essential simplicity that is at the base of effective, living architecture. He refined his style, stepping away from unnecessary accoutrements. A chance encounter with Mahatma Gandhi at the beginning of his career seems to have made a great impact of his architecture, as Gandhi's ideologies were to influence him in all his work.

 

Though this is not the single most persuasive influence in Baker's life, in the course of several discourses of the Mahatma, Baker imbibed the meaning of one of his most persistent messages—that change in post-independent India can be brought about

only through education and revival of the

local crafts and cottage industries; that is,

real independence can be only achieved

by self-reliance and by encouraging local

craftsmanship. Unfortunately, much too

often this message has been lost in the

muddy waters of politics and the race to

modernize India. Thus Baker's work is more relevant particularly now than ever before.

 

3.   The Gandhi influence

Laurie Baker Uvaca:

I believe that Gandhiji is the only leader in our country who has talked consistently with common-sense about the building needs of our country. What he said many years ago is even more pertinent now. One of the things he said that impressed me and has influenced my thinking more than anything else was

that the ideal houses in the ideal village will be built of materials which are all found within a five-mile radius of the house.

 

What clearer explanation is there of what appropriate building technology means than this advice by Gandhiji! I confess that as a young architect, born, brought up, educated and qualified in the West, I though at first Gandhiji's ideal was a bit 'far-fetched' and I used to argue to myself that of course he probably did not intend us to take this ideal too literally.

 

But now, in my seventies and with forty years of building behind me, I have come to the conclusion that he was right, literally word for word, and that he did not mean that there could be exceptions. If only I had not been so proud and sure of

my learning and my training as an architect, I could have seen clearly wonderful examples of Gandhiji's wisdom all round me throughout the entire period I lived in the Pithoragarh district.

 

Gautam Bhatia:

His qualities emanate from a deeply-held belief that each piece of work is an offering to God and must, therefore, not only be without flaw, but must not violate God's creation in the making. From this stems a natural inclination to use the materials cautiously, leading to a conservationist approach to design. Baker's deep convictions and the persistent intentions supported this architectural expression.

 

4.   The contextual relevance of Baker's work

Laurie Baker Uvaca:

There is a general belief that India is wealthy, both in simple basic building materials and in potential labour forces. Then there is a firm unyielding belief that all this talk of 'low-cost building' should not be 'for the poor' but for all. Furthermore, although we possess a certain amount of more sophisticated building materials, such supplies are comparatively small and must be used to maximum advantage. For example, we possess steel but the fact remains that many mechanical industries have a stronger claim on its use than the building industry, which can, if it wants, find substitutes and alternatives.

 

Gautam Bhatia:

At the turn of the twentieth century, architects genuinely believed that the modern movement would provide new

techniques and new materials to serve the needs of ordinary people. It seemed as if technology could provide a solution to the persistent problem of housing, and it was believed that high-tech buildings would ultimately improve the standard of living for everybody.

 

However, rapid industrialization only seemed to increase the demand for housing that has now grown to unimaginable proportions. Housing has come to be dominated almost entirely by commercial builders employed by local governments— both of whom look upon a house as a commodity to be produced and sold in large numbers. The once-new technological solutions of the modern movement have fossilized into rigid inflexibility in their hands. The comfort and lifestyle of the individuals for whom the mass-housing schemes are intended are very rarely considered. The result is all-too-visible in cities all over the world. Especially, in Third World countries such as India, as governments struggle to house the ever- increasing numbers of urban dwellers, the inadequacies of the forty-year-old doctrines of modern architecture have been brought more sharply into focus. Moreover, as the gap between available resources and the need for housing has increased, the inflexible sterility of the modern movement has become even more apparent.

 

Mass-housing and emphasis on the improvementoflivingconditionsisallaresult of the new industrial economy. Humanistic considerations are no longer the primary logic for the evaluation of design. This has led to a break from tradition and given us an increasing number of impersonal, anonymous buildings. Unfamiliarity with this new kind of architecture adversely affects the psyche of the people inhabiting it.

 

Laurie Baker Uvaca:

The necessity for speed was one of the big factors that contributes to that break with tradition. It probably took a thousand years for us to find out by trial-and-error how to make a mud wall impervious to rain and wind, another thousand years to learn how to keep termites out of it, and another two or three thousand to learn how to build multi-storeyed mud buildings.

 

Gautam Bhatia:

Though Baker is not a founder, practitioner or product of the modern doctrine in any sense, he was, in own career, demonstrated similar concerns. But, unlike the movement, in his endeavour to improve living conditions architecturally he seeks a purposeful link with tradition.

 

Baker's work can be viewed as part of a much larger worldwide effort to re¬examine architectural values. In the 1960s, the new architect's rejection of establishment values was an admission that the profession was out of touch with the times. Ordinary human needs to which the modern doctrine was as wholeheartedly committed seemed imprisoned in unfamiliar buildings and surroundings. The increasing inability of government agencies to produce adequate housing led architects in several parts of the developing world to examine architectural priorities. The work of John Turner in Latin America and Hassan Fathy's experience in Egypt paralleled the quiet revolution that Laurie Baker was enacting in India.

 

Each one sought the development of a contemporary vernacular—a commonly observed, felt and accepted language of building which would be transformed to suit the new requirements. The prevalence of an overriding craft tradition and the need to evolve buildings out of severe economic constraints shifted the emphasis away from technology towards an earthy humanism. Such a transformation required a sharp comprehension of the dual phenomena of tradition and change; and of the need to re-establish the use of traditional construction without the loss of vitality, the vitality, that accompanies change.

 

5.   Is a Modern Indian Architecture Possible?

Laurie Baker Uvaca:

In most countries of the world architects are being accused of failing to produce a modern form of their own previously- distinctive architectural styles. If one or two typical modern buildings from each country could be transported and put down in isolation in a large flat desert, could any of us, even architects, walk from one building to another and say 'Ah! A modern Fijian masterpiece' and 'Wow! Just look at this one—pure Italian' and further on 'My! This is obviously an Indian effort!' A hundred or so years ago we could probably have been successful with such identifications, but there are very grave doubts whether we can do so now.

 

Does this mean that we have failed in our job?

 

Fifty years ago (in 1940s) we were taught that a building must have an identity. We could certainly tell by looking at a building whether it was domestic or commercial or industrial and so on. It also had its geographical and cultural characteristics. In India there is an incredible wealth of regional architectural styles, and there is not the faintest possibility of confusing one with another. Even where the same materials have been used for building, the climatic, cultural and regional variations are so great that different methods of construction have been used to produce unique individual styles. Further, these distinctive styles apply not only to big and important buildings but also to the smallest domestic structures. Really we can say that the buildings of any small district are a quintessence of that district's culture and skill.

 

But these distinctions cannot be found anymore. What has happened?

 

For one thing—cement. Modern Portland cement came and suddenly our slow, steady, evolutionary building process came to a devastating and tragic halt. Cement and steel were joined in holy matrimony and lo!— their child was this universal anonymous expressionless 'modern architecture' which tells you nothing except that reinforced concrete has been lavishly and brutally used. The saddest thing about it is that reinforced concrete has been lavishly and brutally used. The saddest thing about it is that reinforced concrete is a wonderful material that can do almost everything fantastic and exciting. It can stand, soar, twist, hang, swirl, gyrate, encircle, defy and placate. But we rarely ever let it do any of these exciting things. We merely imitate the building practices of the Dravidians, with their square stone pillars and split stone beams; and when in a very dare-devil mood we cantilever out the beam-ends to an uncomfortable length, we think we are really and truly 'modern'.

 

Of course, we have a third deadly material, glass—with which we fill in all the holes. The result of this modern but static style of architecture, is that everybody's buildings, be they in Bombay, Birmingham, Bologna or Buenos Aires, look the same.

 

Consolingly, 'high technology' has also taught us that there is no need to concern ourselves with the weather or the functions for which the building will be used, or the variations in the cultural patterns of our clients—'high technology' applique- work can cope with all this old-fashioned 'nonsense'.

 

I think the time has come to ask ourselves a lot of questions. Could we have done something different? Should we have done something different? What does 'modern' mean? Can't we be 'modern' with other materials besides reinforced concrete, glass and aluminium trimmings? Can't we go back to the year 1BC (Before Concrete) and carry on with that wonderful history of research and development by applying twentieth keep termites out of it and another two or three thousand to learn how to build multi- storyed mud buildings. But we did do it, and our enemies on the other side of the hill also did it, though in their own way which was different from ours. Now 'developed communications' has taken the 'wonder material' to all the corners of the earth and we have succumbed to it like children falling upon a dish of instant hot cakes. So we all have identical pot-bellies and have forgotten 'mother's cooking'. Fortunately, the rebellion against 'instant mixes' has already begun and there is a yearning for 'fresh-compost-fed-vegetables and whole meal-bread'—so may be there is hope that we too as architects, can as our road signs say, 'Stop! Look! Proceed!'

 

Brick Jalis, Arches - Speciality of L.Baker

century knowledge and know-how while still showing love and respect for all that has gone before us?

 

Perhaps speed has been one of the major contributing factors leading to that catastrophic break with tradition. It probably took a thousand years for us to find out by trial-and-error how to make a mud wall impervious to rain and wind, another thousand years to learn how to

In view of the fact that there are over twenty million families in India without any sort of shelter, that we have to import cement from Korea to make up for the shortfalls, that we are using up a lot of our energy resources at an alarming rate, and that we have bred some of the top brains in the world of science, we should, for instance, in areas where mud has been the traditional staple building material, show how modern we can be with mud! Where burnt brick has been the main building material can't we produce brickswith less energy and use them in a modern way? There are experiments which show that this sort of thing can be done along with the new sender materials to produce buildings that are 'modern', beautiful, characterful and identifiable with a particular region and its people. For example, in the State of Kerala there is high rainfall, strong winds, powerful tropical sun and a lot of humidity. The result of ancient research and development work was a steeply-pitched roof which threw off torrential continuous rains and protected walls and rooms from the glare and heat of the sun. It all made good sense and good architecture. But concrete and glass towers are incredibly expensive because of all the antics required to cope with rain and sun, and they are quite useless without the air-conditioners, fans and louvers of aluminium strips. Can 'modern' architecture only be vertical of wall and flat of roof? Couldn't we throw off rain and protect from sun and show that we are doing it effectively, even by being modern'?

 

Since the beginning of recorded art, India's brains had devised the Jali (trellis, lattice, honey-combed walling, pierced stone and wooden screens and walls) to filter the glare and strong sunlight into cool but breeze-filled rooms. India has used this device more than any other country and it is essentially an Indian device. We can study the many and varied components of Indian architectural design and find out what makes them essentially and intriguingly 'Indian'. Only then can we create an Indian-ness into all our materials and designing. Then our 'modern' 'Indian' architecture will be a continuing, growing, crowing glory to our great heritage.

 

Extacted from the book: Laurie Baker Life, work, writings: By Gautam Bhatiya Viking / Hudco. New Delhi 1991

 

That is why plants are called The Brahma's hair:

15% of the heat in a building can come through the roof. That is why it is important to insulate the roof. In industrialised coun tries roof-top gardens are becoming a norm, Green-roof tops cut down a building's energy conumption. They add to the aesthetic value.

Promoting Pathways To Sustainable Living -3

Man-Making and Planet-Building...

If Swami Vivekananda were to address the Parliament of World's Religions at Chicago in 2024, he would have given yet another dimension to Religion and called upon the religious leaders to unite to rebuild our Planet Earth. He would have added something more to his famous Chicago address... I am proud to belong to a religion which can provide mankind with a blueprint for rebuilding Planet Earth with sustainable possibilities for the future.

In the course of his lectures from Colombo to Almora he would have urged on his countrymen, the preservation of the purity of the Ganges, the sanctity of the Himalayas and the quality of our earth, water and air. He would have drawn endlessly from our grand mythology and enriched and expanded our global awareness. We would then have not slipped so miserably in our ecological responsibilities. We would have shown how a religion can be man-making and planet-building...

True to the demands of time, the Chicago Parliament of World's Religions 1993, in its centenary celebrations addressed itself not only to matters of spirit but also to many down-to-earth problems. The Millennium Institute which was a co-sponsor of the Parliament took up this issue on the second day itself. Though their entire paper "Global 2000 Revisited"-"What shall we do" is worth serious study, for the sake of brevity just a few points are presented here.

1. The spiritual leaders have a vital contribution to make to a country's reflections on sustainable possibilities for the future.

2. There is an urgent need for a more substantiative dialogue between "secular" issue experts and spiritual leaders of all faiths and traditions.

There are many pressing issues that need thoughtful holistic attention integrating both the spiritual and the secular or scientific perspective. When we study the world religions from this angle we find that a holistic approach has not been a significant part of all traditions. The result is, that secular people are convinced that religions have ruined the earth. Attacks on religion by the so-called wise secularists are not infrequent.

In one form or other, virtually every faith tradition is being criticised today for not having a thoughtful, informed, penetrating analysis of the issues facing Earth and Earth's human community in the 21st Century."

The Director of the Millennium Institute Dr. G. Barney raised several questions before the Parliament. The first one of them was directly connected with man, his essential nature and his interrelationships with everything around. To quote: "The task before us is fundamentally spiritual in nature, to discover who we humans are, how we are to relate to each other and to the whole community of life and what we are to do, individually and collectively here on Earth."

We in India are fortunate in having preserved (though not well enough) a tradition that has answers to all these fundamental questions - the Ultimate Truth of our real identity - a philosophy to comprehend this Truth and a way of life to actualize it in day today life, the dharma - or holistic approach to relate ourselves with everything on earth, a mythology revealing the multifarious facets of this dharma in action and the extensive rituals to concretise this philosophy and to reach it out to all and sundry. In the totality of Sanatana Dharma there lies the blueprint for the survival of mankind and preservation of our Planet Earth.

This is truly a great challenge for spiritual leaders and religious people. Hindu Dharma can fortunately provide very many clues which everyone can adopt irrespective of caste, creed, race or any other differences.

Need for a universal Blueprint.

If only we had a Blueprint how to co-ordinate the affairs of the Universe, we could have kept the five elemental forces in a proper form without contaminating and polluting them ........      

          We could have taken care not to disturb the natural rhythms.

          We could have assured that the flora and fauna would not become
          extinct at this fast rate of 100 species a day.

          We could have prevented the formation of holes in the ozone layers 
          due to  the accumulation of CFC in our atmosphere.

          We could have avoided the 'greenhouse effect' and its serious global

          repercussions and ,

          May be, we could have assured mankind of health, happiness and
          harmony through a new World Order and possibly guaranteed its survival
          as well!

Unfortunately, most of the Blueprints which the modern man has managed to put up have pushed the world and with it mankind, nearer to the brink of a global disaster. Somewhere, man, in the course of his progressive evolution, has misplaced it, if not lost it altogether. Suddenly, his progression is proving to be a "retrogression".

Mother Earth - the lessons she imparts

The blueprint just cannot get lost, because Nature never entrusted this to the custody of the foolish man alone. The first clue that a blueprint for survival exists comes from the fact that without taking the aid of the so-called intelligence of man, Mother Earth has preserved life for millions of years. Behind this truth lies the wonderful interdependence this planet has established with the other planets and the elemental forces around her - water, air, space and fire, energy, sun, moon and so on. Together, they have created a near perfect system, referred to by modern man as the Ecosystem, which is the best public service available to man, but of which he is almost totally ignorant. Creating a series of checks, levers and governors, planet Earth and the other elements have together created a climate of great diversity, an atmosphere of carefully chosen contents, geared to provide for the growth and metabolism of all that lives, a soil system with its dynamic equilibrium of moisture, air, minerals, flora and fauna which together maintain simple but nourishing soil fertility; a variety of mechanisms for energy absorption, pollination and fertilization in its magnificent plant kingdom through which it links up man with the five elements around and also provides the wide variety of food, clothing, shelter, medicinal herbs and so on and the most important of all, a perfectly harmless way of decomposing dead matter and keeping the place clean and tidy so that man has a cozy place to live! All this and more have been gifted to man by Nature and her self-renewing Ecosystems.

 

It is this wonderful life - creating - supporting – destroying capacity of  planet Earth that we, the so-called wise and learned men, are tampering with. In our greediness we are consuming more than the 'income' kept at our disposal, which in turn is supplied to the Earth by none other than that giant power station, the SUN. By interfering with the natural fertility of agricultural soil, groundwater resources, biodiversity, and various energy-transforming cycles in Nature, man is heading towards self-annihilation.

Need for a holistic answer

The survival of mankind is no longer a simple issue but is closely interlinked with the survival of the entire planet. But, who can give a holistic answer? Materialistic philosophy can, at best, provide only an economic world-view. Profit-oriented as it is, it will continue to harp on 'taking more out of less', of boosting production, enhancing desires, needs and consumption. It just doesn't know how to go beyond 'well-having' to 'well-being'. 'Survival' is of least importance to those who are habituated to looking at forests for its timber, at rocks for their ores, at landscapes for their real-estate value and of course at men and women as 'resources'.    

Disrespect and total lack of concern have become the hallmark of modern man. This has to be contravened and a new respect towards the entire creation has to be generated in the human mind. Only then will we learn to treat each other and our environment with respect and understanding and in that lies the first seeds ensuring survival of our human race. 

In ancient cultures and value systems, though survival was not a prime value, it certainly became the net result or by-product of man's greater achievements in human life, reflected in his knowledge of the Whole and the adjustments he made to co-exist peacefully with the Whole. One is reminded of Sri Krishna's words in the Bhagavad Gita

"parasparaṁ bhāvayantaḥ śhreyaḥ param avāpsyatha" (BG 3.11)

By cooperation between humans and the celestial gods, great prosperity will reign
for all.

In tune with this, the Indian blueprint insists on a different vision, an attitudinal change and a cultural reorientation. Time has come for the world to study the Indian Blueprint and the valuable information contained in it so as to adjust our lifestyles with global survival in view.

         

The Indian Blueprint is very simple, eloquent and grand in its sweep. It is as ternal as Truth and as nourishing as Life. It starts with man as its centre and endlessly unfolds as the ever-expanding universe, never for once snapping its ties between the individual and the Total. Only such a Blueprint can help the West to shift its attitude from the "well-having" to the "well-being" and help it learn the primary lesson of seeing the Whole in the part and part in the Whole.         

At the very outset it helps man to visualize Life as a Whole, Infinite and Eternal, far superior to the grasping power of human intelligence. Therefore, it holds that humility is the key, not aggressiveness, to unlock the mystery of everlasting life.

It also emphasises that Truth, the fundamental and prime basis of the Universe, the value behind the values is ONE, manifold though its expressions be. Seeing Unity in diversity, therefore, forms yet another clue for understanding Life in its totality.

From these two basic assumptions the blueprint unfolds revealing the grand vision of the universe with all that exists in it as ONE, interconnected and interpenetrated by one Divine Essence.    

The quintessence of the Indian concept regarding the laws of the Universe and the adjustments man must make to accommodate himself within it peacefully and harmoniously is effectively caught in the supremely meaningful opening stanza of Isavasyopanishad.

What does it say? To start with, there is the emphatic declaration that all that exists is pervaded by Divinity or Truth. To realise that Truth, making it a part of our life in knowledge, love and action is the surest way to achieve immortality. This tantamounts to recognising divinity everywhere and to one who has realised it in oneself; it is a question of seeing oneself, projected in the entire Universe! Thus, should man break the barrier of "otherness" which is the cause for spoiling our relationship with the world outside.

When man starts recognising the intrinsic worth of all that exists, naturally he will modulate his behaviour with love and respect towards all. Then would man learn to take from nature only what he needs for his well-being and not to exploit nature for his well-having.

The next step enjoins man  - 'to enjoy with restraint'. Behind the crisis at all levels that we face today is a lack of self-restraint in thought, words, work and enjoyments. To stop overutilisation and exploitation there is no other way than to practise "frugal consumption" and "voluntary simplicity". Global awareness resulting from and based on the above concepts, can undoubtedly reverse the self-annihilating trends that we find widespread today.      

An ultimate warning also is incorporated in the stanza to hold back man from destroying himself, that is 'to refrain from covetousness', unwanted competitions and petty jealousies that mar human relationships. So long as we are not ready to change our lifestyles, so long as we go on pampering ourselves in sensual delights and indulgences, so long as austerity and simplicity do not become part of our lives, we will not succeed in stemming the root of degradation that is threatening the life of this very planet. A reversal of the trend is a must.       

Swami Vivekananda wanted this message of India to reach far and wide before modern civilization irreparably turned this world into a graveyard through its blind passions, ignorance and morbid surrender to mechanical and materialistic culture and forces that are bent upon destroying the human race, nature and possibly the planet earth itself. He clearly foresaw that the only hope for the survival of humanity lies in renewing the macrobiotic vision of the ONE UNDIVIDED TRUTH in which everything in creation remains interconnected, interpenetrated and interdependent. Through his speeches and writings, he has drawn the attention of the entire world to this all-encompassing vision of truth or reality which is the cornerstone of the magnificent Indian spiritual heritage.  

If mankind, not in the far away future destroy, itself, it will not be due to lack of a blueprint, but because man was too egoistic to learn his elementary lessons spelt out in the blueprint. In such an impending global catastrophe the major share of blame would be on us, Indians in whose custody this blueprint had been lying from time immemorial.      

Through the three volumes of Kendra Patrika, Vivekananda Kendra-NARDEP has brought into focus this global problem and has also opened several windows to study it indepth. One comforting factor is the arrival on the scene of a large number of people belonging to all sections of society who are keen to study how to correct the imbalance in nature. It started in last century with several authors studying the book of Nature differently with a new meaning and purpose to help man find the right place in nature's magnificent gallery.  Many a heart has been touched and now they look at life and nature with a new deeper understanding. Examples of such wonderful studies at individual and collective levels including the state level are brought out in this volume. Also included are reviews on some of the publications by great thoughtful men and women who through their writings changed the human approach in remarkable ways.

Let me conclude this foreword with the wonderful blessing uttered by the great Saint Paramacharya of Kanchipuram, who made the world listen to India's message through the unparalleled melodious voice of India,
Smt. M.S. Subbalakshmi in the U.N. during its 50th anniversary, which dealt with Universal Brotherhood and peace as enshrined in the Sanathana Dharma which ends with this last prayer.

 

śreyo bhūyāt sakalajanānām

May all people be happy and prosperous.

 

                                                                                                                                 Dr.M.Lakshmi Kumari

 

Promoting Pathways to Sustainable Living - 2

 

The Secretary-General of the United Nations warns that the earth is in the ICU, and its environment is the culprit.

The problems are:

Depletion and degradation of life-support systems such as water, air, and the earth’s fertility.

Shrinking biodiversity, which provides the basic material for innovative gene combinations.

Man’s waste-making industrial culture, which guzzles up the world’s raw materials.

The present art/science of development as the process of converting nature’s limited gifts into consumables for Man.

An educational system that is a marketing process for industrial products.

A general mindset replacing nature’s spontaneity with manmade structures, wiping out humanity’s Sneha, Prema, Daya, and Bhakti.

The psychological effects of all-round degradation of nature's systems, family, community, health, entertainment, driving humanity towards narcotizing entertainment, drug culture, alcoholism, depression, and warfare, all resulting from the collapse of Man’s psychological support base of family and community, society, and the ecosystem.

As we navigate the complexities of environmental stewardship, the path forward intertwines innovation, education, and societal cohesion in the following areas: 

1. Promoting Circular Economy: Embracing Recycling and Reuse:

Metal, plastic, and wood-made articles, machinery, and consumable hardware can be used, reused, and re-reused. Manufacturers should offer buy-back options when they sell hardware. The materials can be easily reused. Water is said to have fifty uses, each use exploiting only one virtue of the element. With water resources shrinking at an alarming rate, recycling and multiuse technologies must enter the scenario.

2. Innovating Sustainability: Beyond Fossil Fuels:

Merely substituting fossil energy sources with renewable energy sources won’t serve any purpose if man’s mindset in consuming energy at the present rate continues. The pity is man continues to think in the old fashion in a totally new context. Take millets, for example. Each millet has a specific virtue, but the recipes for millet-cooking simply substitute millets for potato, amaranthus, rice, or wheat. Such fine arts and usages are being lost. Such mistakes occur because of man’s long-lasting friendship with Nature and its bounties fading out. Technology is a mindset that neglects fine details and individuality. Creative thinking and innovation processes emerge from closely watching and observing each gift of Nature.

3. Educating for Sustainability:

Dr. Ian Brown conducted a survey of 3000 schools across the world at the request of his mentor Maharshi Mahesh Yogi. Dr. Brown’s survey reveals the fact that the present-day school education cannot teach our children the worthwhile values of (1) Morality and ethics, (2) Appreciating Nature's (asthetic) values, and (3) Compassion. Green education has to include these vital lessons in its curriculum. Education both formal and mass education has to play a major role in environmental safety. The present education, a marketing process, is luring the student into accepting a particular lifestyle as appropriate.

The old system of education based on memory tests and rote is being edged out. Education has to be more entertaining to keep the students from running away from the classes. One Scientist, educator of England has pointed out that the teachers have to use more and more medicines to quieten the children and pin them down to the classroom. The teacher has to be the administrator of knowledge in a more entertaining way so that the child is retained in the classroom. The teacher has to retrain himself to administer education in a more alluring way because he has to compete with more attractive media such as cell phones, telephones, internet TV, etc.,

This makes the teacher’s job unenviable, and the teachers have to act like edutainers to attract students. In India, the attendance in Government school classes is continuously slipping down questioning the very effectiveness of Government schooling systems. The school has become part of the market, and it has to fight for its place in training the human mind. Uncontrolled media, social media, etc., grab the minds of the children. The present post-corona scenario forces teachers to admit they find it very difficult to run the offline classes for cell phone-addicted children.

True education simply does not dish out information but makes the student learn on his own. To wean the learner away from his groove of old consumption patterns, the teacher has to show enormous patience, love, eco-awareness, and communicate his/her wisdom to the student. MA VIDVISHAVAHAI. “Let us love each other” has to be the classroom ethos. The society accustomed to five hundred years of waste-making consumer culture will not yield its dearly held affiliation without a mother-like persuasive appeal by the teacher.

4. The Green Warrior's Path: Yoga, Kriyas, and Sustainable Consumption:

The green warrior embodies a holistic approach to sustainability, advocating for reduced consumption while emphasizing physical and psychological well-being through practices like Yoga and Kriyas. They understand that personal sacrifices yield rewards such as strengthened will, relaxed body, and heightened consciousness, setting a trend for societal change towards mindful living. Asking man to consume less, without offering some physical and psychological compensations, is not going to be easy. Yoga and Kriyas, which strengthen man’s will-power, enable man to do with less and less of the pleasures derived from external objects, will certainly help. A relaxed body consumes less food and absorbs the nutrients from the food in a better manner. This may not mean much to the food economy, but the opinion-makers and society leaders will set the trend for the common people. Ultimately man has to prove for himself that every sacrifice will reward him in the form of strengthened will, relaxed body, better concentration, greater consciousness of the mind, and a greater amount of love. Unless a green warrior accepts this principle, it will be unfair for the world to ask him to forego external sensual treasures.

5. The Purpose of Life:

Nature is continuously losing its orderliness as shown by increasing entropy. Nature consisting of animate objects cannot reassemble itself. It is the duty of living things to devote themselves to nature’s work. Man, being the highest on the ladder of life, has to take maximum responsibility to restore order. It is an unescapable duty of every man. Man does not have to go too far to search for his duty. That part of nature which gets degraded by the man handling of it should call for his first attention. Therefore, man’s duty towards nature, yajna lies in the objects which he handles in his day-to-day life. This is Mahatma Gandhi’s concept of universal thinking and local working.

6. Holistic Science: Integrating Analysis and Synthesis:

Science consists of two processes: analysis and synthesis. Man takes apart the constituents of a sugar candy – carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. But he misses two true points. He does not look up at the sweetness of sugar, which is its essence, and he does not come back to reassemble sugar from the parts. This process of synthesis is mostly neglected in science. Though strictly speaking analysis and synthesis make up science together, historical western science gives more credit to analysis than to synthesis. A green warrior has to correct this imbalance.

7. Cultivating Collective Consciousness: The Role of Social Units:

The individual cultural habits, consumption patterns, and tastes are shaped by his immediate family. A family is controlled by the community, though this control is invisible. The community is protected by the nation, and it helps to retain its cultural values. The nation’s culture justifies the existence of a nation and defines its contribution to the whole world, the whole creation. Its smaller unit is sustained by the larger unit and gets its liveliness from the next lower unit. In this manner, the smaller and bigger units of a nation and its culture are linked by symbiotic relationships. Environmental degradation impacts such relations and social break-up, atomization of the society leads to the breakup of all such entities. Therefore, the green warrior has to care for all such social units. But the individual breaks-up and crumbles to pieces when the family system breaks down. Germany and America are telling examples of such breakdown leading to drugs, personal abuse, alcoholism, and social discord. The inter-cohesion of society is linked to the inner harmony of the individual and vice versa. The role of the family system in providing care and safety for women, elders, and children has been well-studied. Therefore, greater, and greater social consciousness helps not only in saving the individual but also helps in saving the environment in the form of collectives such as grazing land, water bodies, fisheries, and public utilities. The individual, family, community, etc., are stages in the growth of collective consciousness.

8. Every Moment Matters: Cultivating Mindfulness:

It is the nature of many leaders to try to find universal solutions for every problem. They want a formula, a talisman, a sutra for every problem so that it can be universally applied. This act reduces universal problems to a small level, trivializing local problems. What is needed is a small solution that applies to local conditions and local problems. This comes from attentiveness, also called mindfulness. Clubbing a few unrelated problems in man’s overenthusiastic approach leads to neglecting individual problems. A Gobar gas plant suitable for a rocky and dry area in Tamil Nadu will not work in a water-locked area in the Netherlands. A green warrior has to curb his tendency to become the universal problem solver, a messiah. He has to have the humility to solve the problems one at a time, as they come.

9. Beyond Imposed Structures: Rediscovering Nature's Creative Flow:

Nature is very creative. It is very lively. It changes its actions frequently. And this unrehearsed action is called spontaneity. But man in his wisdom wants to impose his mentally made structures on the free-flowing nature. One scientist famously said, “This is the privilege of the Scientists, to find out the law of nature and impose human will on it.” This idea comes from the concept that no knowledge is good if it is natural. Every good thing has to be man-made. This has led man to impose his artificially made will, structure, calculatedness on free-flowing nature. Nature is amorphous. Nature does not confine itself to any formula. In that manner, all man’s understanding of its nature is only approximate and much less than the total truth. It is an approach that takes away from our understanding of nature’s creativity, spontaneity, productivity, and biodiversity. Jagdish Chandra Bose talks about nature’s rejuvenescence, nature’s spontaneity, chance, the very charm of living by presenting a series of surprises and keeps man constantly on his toes. Therefore, this structured approach to knowledge leads man to dullness, ennui, and forces man to seek happiness from elsewhere than from nature. This is the reason for man resorting to drugs, alcoholism, and narcotizing entertainment.

10. Unity in Conservation: Collaborative Environmental Roles:

The art of protecting nature, ecology, and environment has to be according to roles allotted to different segments of the society. The Governments can make only laws. And any law is as good as the lawmakers’ capacity to implement the law. Therefore, the Government has to have faith in the heart of man to save the environment. It can only make laws that emanate from the community and the individuals. The individual is very sensitive about the degradation of nature and is the first to suffer when the environment crumbles. Therefore, he is the starting point of any move to restore nature to its pristine harmony. But the voluntary organizations consisting of sensitive individuals, scholars, opinion-makers have to act as intermediaries between the individual and the Government. They have to control the greedy individual by the common ethical values and alert the Government about the impending damages. Therefore, each segment has its well-defined role in saving the environment.

11. Holistic Health: Embracing Natural Healing Alternatives:

A learned doctor with long-standing experience in the profession has written an article about medicines in this volume. Chemicals as opposed to herbs and nature cures are fighting for man’s attention. The medical corporate sector has such enormous clout that its budget is larger than the combined budgets of many countries. Therefore, medicine manufacturers use all their muscles to inject all kinds of chemicals into the human body. These chemicals prevent man’s natural self-healing energy, and the so-called modern medicine is a great threat to the human bodies all over the world. One science writer has written that if we could close all the hospitals today, we can think about human health fifty years afterward.

12. Water: The Modern Charkha for Green Warriors:

Jayaprakash Narayanji once said that he was searching for the modern equivalent of Gandhiji’s Charkha, the spinning wheel. This systematic tool has to be simple; it has to be relevant to all, and it has to keep man mindfully engaged and it should appeal to everybody’s need. Modern Green warriors have found that tool, for forming a cohesive society in WATER. Collecting, serving, distributing, recycling, and applying the multiple uses of water could be a society-building tool for humanity. It touches the lives of everyone and is already a universal problem touching not only human lives but also the lives of plants and animals.

13. Empowering Leisure: Cultivating Well-Being:

Asked what the greatest danger and problem for humanity in the future could be, double Nobel Laureate John Bardeen said “LEISURE”. All the speeding equipment, vehicles, airplanes, etc., glorify speed and science itself has equated speed with efficiency. Saving time in his workplace and travel, man has been left with much leisure time, not knowing what to do. He allows himself to be lured by drugs, alcohol, and narcotic entertainment. Ms. Magadelene, the ex-U.S. Secretary of State, drew our attention to this danger, wherein we fail to observe the beauties of our paths. The centenarian Paramacharya of Kanchi and Vinoba of the Bhoodan movement have enjoyed walking to the workplace, allowing themselves enough time to interact with people on the way. Modern speed-equipment leaves a great footprint on the traveller’s mind. He is agitated, moving, and restless, even when he has completed his journey. Tagore’s beautiful article “Walking barefoot to the school” should teach us what we miss when we run away or travel by a speeding-up vehicle.

14. Foot-loose Societies:

Schumacher, the energy expert, has bemoaned humanity’s habit of foot-loose traveling in the name of tourism. In Ancient India, everyone has to find happiness in his immediate surroundings, and an occasional traveller has to return to his base as early as possible. Today, smaller houses, crowded cities, the drudgery of work, drive people away from their habitats, causing a great drain on the world’s fuel stock. Man has to control his traveling to irreducible minimum to save fuel and to find happiness within himself and in his immediate surroundings.

Amidst mounting environmental challenges, a resounding call for change reverberates across sectors. The prelude sets the stage for a transformative journey towards sustainability. Embracing circular economy principles, stakeholders advocate for a paradigm shift in material consumption, promoting reuse and recycling. Beyond renewable energy adoption, the narrative urges a deeper cultural rethink of energy consumption. Education emerges as a linchpin, with calls for a holistic approach that instils values of morality, ecological consciousness, and compassion. The path to sustainability intertwines with personal wellness, as yoga and mindfulness empower individuals to consume consciously. Social cohesion and collective action emerge as essential pillars, urging communities to reclaim their roles in environmental stewardship. From local adaptations to global collaborations, the propositions paint a portrait of hope, resilience, and collective determination in the face of environmental crisis.

Vivekananda Kendra, NARDEP has produced a manual Environmental Awareness in day-to-day life. It could be our manual not only for saving the earth but also for saving oneself.

 

N.Krishnamoorti

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Editor Vivekvani                                                                                                & Senior Worker of Vivekananda Kendra