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Introduction
I am an atheist, but unknowingly the Bhagavad Gita has been my quiet guide—not in ritual or belief, but as a philosophy of action. Here is my journey.
The Ridge
It all started with coordinating NGO forum, aiming to get Delhi Ridge notified as reserve forest. Report prepared, awareness campaigns organized, constant pressure was consistently put on the authorities and the green judge notified it. A forest settlement officer proclaimed encroachments and reclaimed land was greened by CRPF jawans, students, and local communities. It was a movement, and it was successful because the NGOs advocating it, judiciary intersecting it, media amplifying it and officials acting as a bridge were all ethical without any one quoting the scriptures. It was a living example of karma yoga: action offered to a cause greater than oneself.
Monkeys
My work with monkeys came from the same space. I learnt my mothering from monkeys. Rhesus macaques care for orphans taught me more about compassion and emotional intelligence than any institution ever had.
During my work on monkey-related issues, I came face-to-face with the consequences of misguided policies and thoughtless actions that had transformed a cultural and ecological relationship into a conflict.
Monkeys, once revered as manifestations of Hanuman and regarded as demi-gods, were now being branded as pests. Challenging reckless methods—such as indiscriminate trapping, using langurs on leashes to scare them away, and lumping monkeys (who are wild animals) with stray dogs was not easy. But, like Arjun on battlefield , i could not walk away, I became an acadmecian activist.
In one instance, I even caught a monkey trapper hired by the MCD, using a cruel hand-snare trap and disguised as a woman to deceive monkeys.
Garbage
The same ethical resolve guided my work in waste management. Early on, we were mocked for promoting decentralized, community-based garbage solutions. People expected us to clean their streets without lifting a finger themselves. The government insisted on centralized systems, ignoring evidence that neighborhood-led initiatives could lead to zero-waste models.
But the Gita had already taught me to stay focused on the process, not the outcome. Gradually, change happened. Officials visited our work areas to learn , one- incharge of waste management in MCD wanted our team to manage waste in his locality. Victory, when it came, once again wasn’t personal. It was simply truth proving itself over time.
Animal Experimentation
Opposing animal experimentation has been one of the most challenging paths in my journey—one that tested not only my resolve but also my understanding of the eternal nature of the soul.
I worked tirelessly to promote in vitro methods—alternatives to cruel in vivo tests on animals. Meaningless experiments passed off as science.
Institutions ignored us, ethics committees stayed silent. And yet, I persisted. Not for applause, but because the Gita had taught me: true action is done without selfish desire, grounded in compassion and clarity.
Hospital waste
The mismanagement of hospital waste was not just an administrative lapse—but a profound violation of dharma, a failure to protect life and dignity. A chance visit to a hospital waste depot revealed a shocking reality: used syringes, gloves, catheters, and IV tubes—contaminated biomedical waste—were being casually segregated to be repacked and reintroduced into the medical supply chain.
The sight was chilling. Piles of infectious waste lay in the open, handled without protective gear, sorted by untrained workers under the control of a ruthless and invisible network. What should have been treated as hazardous was being treated as profit. It was a black market that thrived on silence, complicity, and the absence of regulatory will.
This was not just a public health hazard—it was a battlefield of ethics. The Bhagavad Gita became my guide in navigating this ground. We faced denial, resistance, even threats—but we did not abandon action.
Plastics
Confronting the menace of plastic pollution has not just been an environmental campaign—it has been a deeply spiritual journey. The resistance from industries, the apathy of the public, and the lack of political will were not merely obstacles to policy reform; they became the very terrain on which a deeper inner battle was fought. In many ways, this path mirrors the timeless teachings of the Bhagavad Gita.
Raising awareness, exposing dangers of plastics, and advocating alternatives has been non-violent resistance.
The last words
The Gita is not a book of passivity. It is a book of action—anchored in awareness, performed in balance. It taught me that sustainability is not just about environment; it is about ethics, consciousness, and humility and service to life—human and non-human—is spiritual work. In each struggle, I found my Kurukshetra. In each action, I tried to walk the path of karma yoga.