Sunderlal Bahuguna: from the head to the heart through the hands

"From the head to the heart through the hands," were the words that 88 year-old Sunderlal Bahuguna repeated in a near whisper as he leaned forward in his cane chair on the porch of his Dehradun home to speak with me about his life of service to the forests and hill folk of the Himalayas. One of India’s earliest environmentalists, Bahuguna raised eco-awareness across India and inspired generations of environmental activists with his “head-heart-hands” campaign of the Chipko movement, the tree-hugging protests that started in the 1970s against the felling of trees in Garhwal Himalayan forests. He is also known for his leadership involvement with many other forest livelihood and deforestation-centered causes, most notably the non-violent, Tehri Dam protests.

Attired in his signature white and sporting a twinkle in his spritely eyes, the still spry Bahuguna explained that the essence of the head-heart-hands slogan meant that change must stem from the heart, not just the head, or intellect, and that the heart must translate the message of change into action through the hands. For the movement’s many participants, especially the common tribes people who lived in the affected forests of Uttar Pradesh (and in what is now Uttarakkand), taking action meant literally hugging the trees to protect them from axes. The Hindi meaning of chipko is “to stick, or embrace.”

Bahuguna said that hugging trees and singing folk songs did more to help the Chipko movement than making or listening to long-winded speeches. The old songs poetically expressed nature wisdom of older generations and, when sung in joyful unison by hundreds of people, had the power to transform hearts to the cause. Other people I interviewed in my travels in India also spoke about the connection of folk songs to conservation, so I was interested to hear Bahuguna reiterate this theme. His wife, Vimla, whom he credits as the impetus behind the Chipko movement, was also present during the interview. She had been softly humming as Bahuguna and I spoke, so I asked if she might join him in singing one or two of the old songs for me. She readily agreed, and their aged, yet clear voices sang the words from one such song:

“Trees have milk in their leaves, cool and fresh water in their roots.”

Afterwards I asked Vimla about her involvement in the movement, and she recounted lively stories about the women with whom she kept vigil in the forest at night for weeks and who readily rose to action at the sound of an axe!

Chipko appealed to common people as well as leading government officials such as Indira Gandhi by reminding that forests protect people, too, by providing clean air, water and soil.

“What do the forests bear? Soil, water and pure air,” was another popular chant from Chipko days that Bahuguna recited.

We talked for some time on the victories and also the struggles associated with leading a life of service, and the role models to whom he looks for inspiration: Jesus, Gandhi, Socrates. And we talked about trees being friends.