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In the desert, she found herself Vandana Shukla talks to Robyn Davidson award-winning Australian writer
Why did you undertake such a strenuous journey in the desert? The reasons are always multiple, indescribable and unconventional. I wasn’t interested in structures, never wanted a family and children. I wanted to know the world and travel allows one to deconstruct the world around. I had received a scholarship to study music, but I wanted to know the world. I was forging a new individual with bits and pieces. Why did you choose camels? Camel ride was a pragmatic alternative since I did not have much money. I bought four camels and set off for the west coast with my dog. I covered 1,700 miles in nine months and learnt incredible lessons about survival. The quiet of the desert allows re-wiring of our brains. It’s also about coming to terms with failure. Australian camels came from northwest India to build the new Australia — its bridges, track, roads, etc. Did you plan a book about this journey? I did not intend to write a book. I didn’t know if anyone would be interested in my personal experience, but, as it turned out, it became mythical. I feel writing about your experiences for public consumption is like throwing the bone before a dog. I needed $2,000 for equipment so I wrote to National Geographic and they asked me to produce an article after my journey. Photographer Rick Smolan came to document three parts of my journey. It felt like an intrusion. I was trying to get away from the world. Rick objectified me. I tried to distance myself from it. But now I find those pictures beautiful. How did the resounding ‘aloneness’ of the desert landscape affect you? Landscape becomes a home. Many of us experience it in our urban life, the real solitude. Being constantly vulnerable, being a part of the urban chaotic landscape. In nine months, your brain consciousness changes. Truth is frightening and it expands into something larger. There is no existential homesickness. Losing the self in the desert was incredible. Did being a woman make it any different? I didn’t think of it. No one is afraid of a woman travelling alone. Strangers would take me in. As a woman, you have access to both worlds. Was it hard reliving the experience for writing the book? The National Geographic article was published in 1978 and attracted so much interest that I was asked to write a book. But I wasn’t aware how de-cultured I had become. I was stripped of the urban construct when I returned. Writing the book in London, I felt how mad the world is. There was nostalgia for the betrayal of the person I had discovered in the desert. Were you looking for a similar experience with the nomads in India? I travelled through a year’s migratory cycle with the Rabaris whose grazing lands and trading and pilgrimage routes are being destroyed by new political boundaries. Sleeping among 5,000 sheep and surviving on goat milk and chapatis wasn’t easy. I was undone by their sheer suffering. It was not about a white woman being judgmental and racial, I was angry with my species — the humans. The longer I stayed, the angrier I got with the inequities of caste and parasite-infested water they consume. Through exhaustion, malnutrition and disease I gained an understanding and the trust of a fiercely courageous people. Did any good come out of this experience? A nomadic life offers valuable lessons. Cosmologies encode irreplaceable knowledge of the natural world, and nomadic cultures emphasise tolerance, adaptability and human interconnectedness, which gets lost in the accumulative culture of fixed addresses. What unsettles you? Conformity. People conform so easily, instead of imagining their life and shaping the way they would like to live. Young women should find a way to defend themselves from the power and pressures of cultural forces, especially consumerism. Why do some travellers like going back to the wilderness again and again? Because our responses begin to take that quality in wilderness — of the unstructured. The inner begins to reflect the outer.
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“I am a simple farmer from Chikmagalur. I couldn’t have done this without the support of the Wildlife Conservation Society and the expertise of other people who made this forest what it is today,” he says. Girish was exposed to wildlife in his childhood. He lived 12 km from the Bhadra reserve. “I come from a family of animal lovers. My mother would tend to injured animals and release them back in the wild, while my grandfather would rescue snakes. I found my calling pretty early in life,” he says. His first visit to the forest was in 1962 during a school camp and there was no looking back. His meeting with tiger expert Dr K Ullas Karanth was the turning point. “Our plan to save the reserve took shape in 1987-91,” he says. There were 16 villages inside the reserve and anti-forest activities like mining, deforestation and poaching were common. In 1978, Dr Karanth conducted a survey and submitted it to the government, following which a proposal was designed in 1992. “We monitored wildlife and lifestyle of villages. There were two aspects to the resettlement plan — land acquisition and rehabilitation. I interacted with villagers and in 2002, 13 villages were shifted,” Girish says. Despite having won several awards after the success of the project, he continues to monitor the rehabilitated families. He also served as the honorary wildlife warden of the Bhadra sanctuary. “The best moment of my life was when anti-forest activities stopped in the reserve. The animal count has improved. Bhadra rehabilitation was probably the best phase of my career. Every morning, I wake up to the mountains. It gives me peace,” he says. Girish had to face many challenges. He recalls one of the lowest points of his struggle. “Large-scale bamboo extraction was taking place in Bhadra. I worked very hard to save them. But in 2004, when the shoots were in full bloom, a big fire was allegedly started by some thugs in connivance with the forest department. It broke my heart. After a year, fresh shoots appeared. That is the magic of nature,” he says. “We should be sincere and focused, besides being vigilant and sensible. A lot of youngsters have formed WildCat-C to deal with forest issues. I get a sense of fulfilment when I see them in action. I will have to pass on the baton at some stage. When we started, we were just a couple of friends, and now, we are a movement,” he says.
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spontaneous acts, sudden dance moves and abrupt bursting into laughter bring to life the atmosphere in the backyard of the small school. A group of around 20 children with special intellectual ability are in a playful mood under the shining sun, beating drums and singing songs. These children owe these precious moments to Shobha Nehru, a eunuch and a local social activist, who provided them with the spacious building. Over the last two years, the school has become a second home to these children and Shobha a mother figure. SAKAR was set up by the Hisar Welfare Society for Mentally Handicapped Children in 1993 on the initiative of Kantamani Gupta, a college professor, who felt the need for such a school for her 10-year-old daughter. Support group
She approached some local people to come forward to establish a school for special children. A group of around 18 people, including lawyers, doctors, businessmen and social activists, formed the society, headed by Babu Shukhdev Agrawal, an advocate.
The school operates without any financial aid from the government. The society members pool in their funds and collect donations from volunteers. The school charges a fee of Rs 100 from parents and has waived fee for those who are unable to pay. Initially, the school operated from a temple, but had to be shifted as the temple authorities needed the area for religious activities. Rishi Saini, a society member, says: “After setting up the school, we approached the then Bhajan Lal government in the mid-90s. We also met the local MLA Savitri Jindal in 2005 regarding some land. But the district administration failed to provide any place for the school, though it did set up a similar school which is being run by the District Red Cross Society. We did not want to close down our school as around 20 children were regularly attending it.” Shobha says she had built a school for the poor. “The society asked me if it could use the building to run a school for special children and I welcomed the initiative. I feel proud to see the happy faces of these children. Their laughter reverberates in the school. They just need love and care,” she says. Learning is fun
Head-teacher Deepika says: “We have four teachers and a helper for the children. We teach them to speak in a cohesive manner, greet people and memorise their addresses and names, and also those of their parents and town, etc. They are taught mind games as per their abilities. They enjoy singing, beating drums and dancing. These activities help in improving their mental abilities and social awareness.” Shilky is the oldest pupil in the school while Mayank and Vansh are the youngest at eight years. Krishna Devi, a teacher associated with the school for over a decade, says: “They are like my children. They make an effort to learn new things. They listen to the instructions of the elders and their parents, which is a big change for them.” Abhiskek Agrawal, a lawyer and member of the society, says the society disburses the salaries of the staff from donations. “We have no large expenses and have sufficient donors to bear these expenses,” he says. Shobha, a three-time councillor, is a philanthropist and has been working for disadvantaged sections of society like the girl-child and special children. She has built three schools through donations. Primary schools being run by her at Nehru Nagar and Bhagat Singh Nagar have around 600 students. Kultar Singh Malik, father of Keshav Malik, the first special child to win the Bhim Award for sports, feels the government needs to come up with a special education policy for these children. “It’s a welcome step on behalf of the government to include them under its sports policy. But infrastructure and facilities need to be developed to impart special training to these children. There is a shortage of trained staff in the state. About 3 per cent of the total children’s population belongs to this section. It is important to create facilities for supporting such children and their parents,” he adds.
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Narendra
Modi, bjp Prime Ministerial candidate P Chidambaram, union finance minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, deputy cm punjab Barack Obama, us president Danny Denzongpa, actor
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It has been too much of Act, Act, Act. It is time for action. More than doles, we need delivery. Good governance is more than doles. It includes development and delivery. 
It is a fair criticism that we have not communicated our achievements to the people. Given the nature and the personality of our leaders at the top, they have been very media shy.
I think Partap Singh Bajwa should sit on a hunger strike for at least 15 days instead of making it rotational. This will also help him lose weight in the process.
I smoked pot as a kid and I view it as a vice, not very different from the cigarettes that I smoked as a young person, up through a big chunk of my adult life. I don’t think it is more dangerous than alcohol.
I wake up at 4 am and head for the jungle. I have disconnected my genset as it was too noisy. When there is electricity, I switch off lights and light up candles or a fire. I am a recluse.