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Book Review
From the blurb
Facing a World in Crisis — What Life Teaches Us in Challenging Times: J. Krishnamurti; Edited by David Skitt; Krishnamurti Foundation of India, Vasanta Vihar, 124, Greenways Road, Chennai-600028.
Rs. 120.
This is a selection of talks that J. Krishnamurti gave on how to live and respond to troubling and uncertain times. His message of personal responsibility and the importance of connecting with the broader world are presented in a non-sectarian and non-political way. If ever we are to understand ourselves, says Krishnamurti, we must look at the state of the world with all its violence and conflict. To turn away from world events is for him not to be alive to what life has to teach us.
Direct and ultimately life-affirming, this book will resonate with readers today who are looking for a new way to understand and find hope in challenging times. The first part of the book consists of seven talks that he gave in Saanen, Switzerland, in 1972. Part two contains the last four talks and two question-and-answer sessions he held in England in 1985 in an edited and slightly abridged form.
Rich Lands Poor People — Is ‘Sustainable’ Mining Possible?: Centre for Science and Environment, 41, Tughlakabad Institutional Area, New Delhi-110062.
In her foreword to this sixth State of India’s Environment report Sunita Narain states that the old challenges — of poverty and environmental degradation — remain as urgent as ever for new India to resolve. In 2006 media professionals were given a fellowship to investigate mining and its impacts on environment and people.
From across the country they traversed the mining districts to unfold the harsh realities — of mining mafia, pollution, deforestation, and people’s anger. These reports were a revelation of how the fissures were widening between the miners and the inhabitants of these lands.
What queers the picture is a small truth which had remained elusive, ignored or misunderstood over the years — that minerals lie under the same lands which hold most of India’s biologically-diverse forests and water systems. What’s more, the nation’s poorest, most marginalised people inhabit these lands — it’s richest.
The people, a large majority of whom are tribals, have lived in this symbiotic bond for centuries.
All this points to one incontrovertible truth: that mining, essential as it is, is not a simple “dig and sell” proposition for a country like India. Its challenges are immense: protection and preservation of environment and inclusive development of all sections of society.
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