Read on the Friends of the Earth website here: https://cdn.friendsoftheearth.uk/sites/default/files/downloads/Roots.pdf

The Sprouts of “Roots”

“Roots” is an attempt to recover our connection with the earth. Through recovering the interconnectedness between South Asian identity and ecology we can pay more attention to universal ways of living and thus cultivate a greater and more personal care for our shared surroundings.

The project is encompassed in a multitude of forms. From workshops on poetry and art, to sharing information on ancient Indian beliefs, each component of “Roots” brings to light the importance of ecology in taking a crucial part of our individual personhood. There is a myriad of ways in which South Asian heritage contributes to our treatment of the environment, stemming from ancient Indian philosophies and mythologies of the divine to the more modern treatment of resources in a ‘postcolonial’ world.

The Branches of “Roots”

I started on a wild rampage brainstorming the vast and varied links between South Asian identity and ecology. There was the question of colonial era, where social injustice was tied deeply to the earth as demonstrated by Ghandi in the cotton trade. Myths and beliefs dating back to the time of Gods, in stories such as the Ramayana which tell tales of exiles in forests, probing into the rich connection between women and Mother Earth. Language became a part of it all (although, alas, I have next to no knowledge of the ancient Sanskrit language) looking at the treatment of English terms, what our words are made up from and how they, themselves, reflect an ecosystem, also formed an exciting thread. I jumped around these concepts and more, condensing them into nuggets of information on the blog and “Roots” instagram. All these ideas spread like an overgrown tree into topics of history, religion and myth. So, the “Roots” project engaged in different ideas into more detail over various workshops and talks.

Rewilding in SINK Magazine

The project coincided with the release of SINK magazine’s fourth issue on “Rewilding”. Being a magazine for Northern creatives which I co-edit, it let me to tie up some threads on entering into the roots of “Rewilding,” which can be read in this blog post. The issue looked at bringing external wilderness back into our creative selves. The wild does not have to imply the absence of people, contrary to what one would usually think. Rather, it can encompass a non-divisive embrace of all elements.

For me, this emphasised the role of language in demonstrating borrowing, or recycling in order to create something ostensibly new. Using colours and words which existed in times long before us build upon, and recognising an appreciation of our practices which create from the expanse of material that lie before us. Representing, again, with the prefix ‘re’ what lies within the word “Rewilding” itself. Harvesting a connection, as I aspire to do in my “Roots” project, with what may have previously been forgotten or ignored. A rediscovery of our shared ideals and identities. It is a return to the fertile grounds of the soil. Following stems which lie buried beneath the earth.

The Sacred and Injustice at Manchester Cathedral

In July, I had the pleasure of being the guest speaker at Manchester Cathedral’s ‘Challenging Hate Forum’ with a talk entitled Reimagining the Sacred: Connecting the Roots of Humanity and Ecology. I discussed how a refocusing towards our ecological roots can inspire unity and appreciation of our differences over division and hate.

The sacred can be used to acknowledge the small and local aspects of life as revered, and, when applied, can help us connect more to each other and the natural world as a baseline for recognising what we have in common. It is the little things we do, the small creatures in our ecosystems, which contribute to larger scale events and create bigger impacts- injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere. Thus, this concept of interdependence (stressed heavily in eastern traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism) between the earth and humanity aids how we think about environmental and social justice, which in turn impact the individual on various levels.

The ways in which we treat and look at nature heavily impact how we view one another. With the potential to be both secular and spiritual, an attentiveness to the everyday as something sacred requires a slowing down and resistance to the fast-paced and ‘uprooted’ lifestyle of immediacy which is so ingrained in our culture today. In leaving behind a respect nature, we lose a respect for each other. In creating a division between ourselves and nature, we forge divisions.

A concept from the ancient Hindu scriptures The Vedas states ‘Vasudeva Kutumbakam’ meaning ‘the world is one family’. Through conceptualising the co-existence amongst and between all forms of being, we can rethink the degrees of distinction and hierarchies between creatures and humans, which are the cause of much global and local tension. Appreciating each individual being as sacred also helps us notice our shared relationality. Rootedness in noticing the issues of our local area, but also in how it impacts and is impacted by, the global. We exist in relation to, and through, others. We should seek to understand how one can be impacted by others and our surroundings, and, in turn, impact them. That social injustice is environmental injustice, and each of us has a part to play through our actions and attentiveness.

The session also included nature as a tool for unity, and the role of women within nature, through looking at the example of the ancient Hindu scripture the Ramayana. The tale recounts the return of King Ram and his wife Sita after exile in the forest, as celebrated globally with the festival of light, Diwali. However, in the ancient Epic, upon the return from exile, the public doubt Sita’s chastity. After being trialled several times, Sita is sent back into the forest, and, when asked to return to the kingdom, she refuses. Sita summons the earth to swallow her, and, without another sound, disappears into the ground. This story, which I have vastly simplified, is interesting for so many reasons when examining the role of ecology, gender and identity. Sita chooses to return to Mother Earth, and the forest, over the civilisation of the kingdom. Pattanaik’s recollection of the Ramayana states ‘culture excludes what it does not value, but nature embraces all’. We can apply this to the degrees of separation which are present within modern society, to create a hierarchy favouring those in power. Not accepted by her kingdom, Sita is denied access. Similarly, the structure of our culture is constructed to be inaccessible to people who don’t fit it, or tarnish conventional standards. The natural world, however, ‘embraces all’ and recognises the place we all have to partake within a larger system. A place where we can regard each individual with sacred attentiveness.

Creativity and Interdependence at Green & Away

Just before the August workshop I had planned as part of my project with Friends of the Earth, I was invited to bring “Roots” to Worcester. Green & Away is an eco-campsite which hosted weekly learning sessions for their volunteers and interns. I focused on delivering a more creative workshop of poetry to emphasise both ancient and modern systems of interconnection.

Talking through ancient Indian philosophical thought, mythology and traditions with the environment explored as well as how these can be applied today, when thinking about materials, textiles and environmental injustice in the wake of colonial legacy. I ‘recycled’ this workshop from what I had planned to do in the poetry session at Manchester Museum a few days later…

Recycling at Manchester Museum

The grand finale of the summer project accumulated into a workshop a few days after Green & Away, at Manchester Museum, which itself had a permanent (and popular) South Asian Gallery. Here, the role of recycling within both modern and ancient South Asian culture was explored, from the physical repurposing of textiles to metaphorically recycling language itself.

Attendees were encouraged to rethink and appreciate their relationship to the surrounding environment and community through their own creative practices. Between discussions, it was easy to highlight the way in which words and language rely on their environment and exist in relation to each other in order to exhibit meaning. This is something we physically demonstrated through our production of art. I collaborated with artist, Deshna Shah whose work focuses on personal stories of the South Asian diaspora and Sangha Manchester, who encourage integration of the South Asian diaspora within the city.

There are numerous ways in which art and language reflects the natural world, however, with “Roots” I wanted to particularly stress the concept of recycling and interdependence, given that, like ecosystems, pieces of work are produced through a transformative borrowing. This can be applied on all levels of scale, from the word to the world. For example, the very word ‘recycling’ can be broken down into its constituent parts which contribute to its very meaning (morphology). The prefix ‘re,’ connotes a doing again, or being familiar with the so-called origin or root of the thing. Here, it is ‘cycling,’ entailing how things are produced into and from the same cycle. Thus, like an ecosystem, it functions on a harmony between its parts where no single thing is entirely independent from the other. As a verb, it emphasises the dynamic nature of constant renewal and decay within a process to create. Much like the cycle of birth and death, samsara, in Hindu traditions, and moksha for Buddhists. Even I, right now, am recycling words that have been used before in order to create meaning. We are thus able to re-root ourselves in linguistic recycling as a way of appreciating the natural fluctuations in the world.