Registered with the Registrar of Newspapers for India under R.N.I 53640/91

Vol. XXV No. 21, February 16-29, 2016

Walking to campaign

by Sunaina Mandeen

His name is Pushpanath Krishnamurthy and he walks. Known to friends as Push, the call that urges him on, in all his walks, is ‘Go Push Go’, just like the name of his website www.gopushgo.co.uk. On it he explains in a few simple lines “Who I am”: a passionate campaigner for social justice and the eradication of poverty, he worked nearly all his adult life for Oxfam, helping bring about a positive change in the world. And under “Why I do this”, he says, “As a strong follower of Gandhi’s principles, the decision to walk to demonstrate one’s feelings resonates strongly within me. I walk not only for my own inner peace but more importantly I walk for those who cannot walk. I talk, for those who cannot talk. Ultimately, I stand for those who are powerless.”

Mahatma Gandhi’s famous sentence, “The world has enough for everyone’s need, but not enough for everyone’s greed,” which runs along the bottom of his opening page sums up what Push is doing, making others realise its vali­dity.

Oxford Famine relief, or Oxfam, was set up in Oxford in 1942, in the middle of World War II to lobby with the ­government an ensure the supply of vital relief to civilians in Belgium and Greece. Today, over 70 years later, they work in over 90 countries. It is a global movement of millions of people who share the belief that, in a world rich in resources, poverty isn’t inevitable. Working directly with communities, Ox­fam’s ultimate goal is to enable people to exercise their rights and manage their own lives. To achieve this, they work with communities and try to influence the powerful to ensure that poor people can improve their lives and livelihoods and have a say in decisions that ­affect them. Pushpanath truly believes that this world and all its inhabitants deserve a better life and a brighter future. He no longer works for Oxfam but continues to walk.

Walker‘Push’ in the Nilgiris.

His first walk was at the end of November 2009 from Oxford to Copenhagen, to coincide with the end of the COPl5 ­climate summit there. That was 595km and he was angry then: “I am so angry about the way that the African people, the ­developing countries, who have done so little to cause climate change, are the first to suffer, and lose their homes. But Gandhi said that we should use that anger as energy. This is a personal walk of redemption.” His second walk was 500 km, and this time in India, in Karnataka. It was done to highlight ecological issues, particularly climate justice and biodiversity, with specific empha­sis on small coffee growers, and coincided with the COP17 summit in South ­Africa. Having worked earlier with the coffee growers of this region between 2001 and 2006, he had brought them all together for an agreement on pricing. He had managed to put together 20 million signatures on a petition from 4 million coffee growers and brought together some of the biggest names in the coffee industry for a stabilisation of coffee prices. But when he revisited them in 2011, he found that climate change was wrecking havoc in their lives due to higher wind speeds and increasingly unpredictable rain patterns ruining their crops, and this was the reason he undertook his second walk from Baba Budan Giri in Chikamagalur to Mysore in December 2011. It took him 15 days to complete and he met close to 30,000 people, with many of them joining him on the walk for some distances, a common practice in all his walks. There are also walkers across the globe who walk in their own towns, in their own countries, in solidarity with Pushpanath and his walk, sending him messages of encouragement.

Perhaps it was after this ­journey where as he walked, he collected the stories of farmers, their courage and determination, their innovative ways to cope with the vagaries of nature and a changing climate, that he shifted his attention to the ­promotion of fair trade. He then got involved in setting up a Fair Trade City in India, the first of its kind. “Through this venture we hope to promote sincere ­stories of sustainable growth which in turn favourably affect ­climate,” he said. He believes, “Working with children is the way forward. But preaching to them will only alienate them. Sharing stories, on the other hand, can help them see the consequences of our ­actions. They make their own choices.”

push-walking-picture‘Push’ and fellow-walkers.

Less than a year later, he was off on his third walk, from Garstang, the world’s first Fairtrade Town, to Keswick, both in the UK. On this walk of 141km in August 2012, he was joined by fellow activists to raise awareness for Fairtrade and to celebrate the lives and work of small-scale farmers.

The term “fair trade” was first used by the United Nations soon after World War II to describe a form of equitable trade relationship between developing and developed nations that took into account the comparative disadvantage of the developing nations. Pushpanath told me that for him the first attempt at fair trade was made by Gandhi, for salt and indigo. And therefore the Dandi march is what inspired him to take to walking, to raise awareness of these issues and to bring people together. Fair Trade is “a trading partnership based on dialogue, transparency and respect that seeks greater equity in international trade. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, marginalised producers and workers – especially in the South.” Fair Trade is the alternative mode of trade, which aims to extend sustainable livelihood to less privileged people living in developing and underdeveloped countries.

“Those who practise fair trade comply with the ‘Ten principles of Fair Trade’ while involving in production, trade or any other activities related to income generation. The standards are set to give a fair deal to artisans, farmers and producers who are remaining margi­nalised from the mainstream of domestic as well as international trade. The compliance of the standards leads towards realisation of fair prices for their products in international as well as domestic markets.”

While this movement is gaining ground worldwide, it has yet to pick up in India. And that is precisely what motivated Pushpanath to take up his fourth walk, of 450km from Pondicherry to Ooty. Why from Pondicherry? Because, this is where many interesting initiatives originate! A dynamic young woman (an ex-student of the Ashram school) who runs an apparel enterprise in Pondicherry, being committed to sustainable practices, became Fairtrade certified several years ago. Not satisfied with that, and hearing about the concept of Fairtrade towns – there are only 1900 of these worldwide and none in India or even in Southeast Asia – she decided to launch a movement to make not just Pondicherry a Fairtrade town but to make Puducherry and Auroville India’s and Southeast Asia’s first Twin Fairtrade Towns. This was more than enough to bring Pushpa­nath to Pondicherry, and set off on his walk. Between Pudu­cherry and Auroville, there are already 8 Fairtrade organi­sations and it is fertile ground to make not just businesses but also, commercial establishments, and education institutes become a part of this. And why Ooty? Because in Kotagiri near Ooty is where another ex-­student of the Ashram school has his organisation working in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve with indigenous communities with eco-development initiatives. They have a new ‘slow food’ restaurant, a recent ­concept as opposed to fast food, and using locally grown organic produce, called The Place to Bee (it is housed in India’s only bee museum) and this is where Pushpanath’s walk ended. This walk coincided with the COP21 in Paris in ­December 2015.

Along the way, he wants to work towards bridging the ­urban-rural divide, bringing the stories and the plight of the farmers and growers to the ­students and people in the towns and cities, and in turn taking back stories of encouragement and hope to the ­farmers and growers, that they are not alone.

Pushpanath, now 64 years old, was planning on doing this walk alone, but the day before he set off, 28-year-old Pondi­cherry entrepreneur, decided join him. So on November 10th, undeterred by continuous rains, spurred on by well over a hundred people from Pondi­cherry and Auroville, school and college students, journalists who could not get enough of the two walkers, with words of encouragement from the ­Government of Puducherry, represented by two of its Ministers and the local MLA, the French Consul General and most importantly, a beautiful poem of encouragement from his wife, Pushpanath and his young companion of the road, and about twenty escorts who cheerily walked with them to Auroville, set off on his 450km walk.

His backend team consists of a determined young lady who has mapped his course, and who keeps everyone informed of the almost daily changes that happen, either due to weather, or the availability of the host for the night, or Pushpanath himself who decides to swerve from the course or walk extra miles to go and meet some students at a college nearby.

Pushpanath carries no money, just his backpack, and his trusted pair of shoes. He relies on the hospitality and the warm hearts of people. And these he finds almost everywhere. From the policeman who walks a few kilometres with him and offers him a cup of tea, to the farmer who invites him to his home to share a meal and a story or two, to villagers, local business people, industrialists, to people his growing group of friends unearth from their contact lists who open their doors wide for him and end up getting inspired in return.

“While walking, I narrate positive stories, stories of hope. I try to visit as many people as possible; everybody is a potential ally,” says Pushpanath. And this is what makes him an ‘everyday hero’, who does what his heart inspires him to do, as he quietly walks along, bringing people together, and inspiring them in return. (Courtesy: Sri Aurobindo’s Action)

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