Revisiting the Chipko Andolan in a comic strip, a book, and a documentary

Student-artist Sunandita Mehrotra’s contemporary art project Forest Song narrates the story of one of the leading ladies of the Chipko movement in multimedia — a comic strip, a book and a documentary. Now in her 80s, Sudesha Devi actively participated in the 1973-movement that saw men, women and children hug trees in the forests of Uttarakhand’s Tehri-Garhwal region to prevent them from being axed.

The Forest Song comic documents Mehrotra’s journey to Rampur, Uttarakhand, where Sudesha lives, while the book offers a detailed account of her conversations with the octogenarian, touching upon personal struggles as well as the Chipko movement. The documentary captures the interaction audio-visually.

Mehrotra’s works are being featured in an on-going exhibition ‘Evidence Room: A Retrospective of Negotiating Routes’ in New Delhi.

Her work also shed light on how the role of women in the Chipko movement was also a stepping stone in a fight against patriarchy in the region. “When deforestation began, it was the women who left their homes to protect the trees,” explains the 26-year-old Mehrotra. “Women who hadn’t raised their voice until then were spending entire nights in the forest. The movement was as much about coming out of their homes and demanding their rights, as it was about protecting the forest,” says the Jawaharlal Nehru University’s philosophy student.

Her motive to take people back in time to the movement is based on a key observation: “Women were the first ones to understand the significance of the forest. Not seeing it as a woman’s initiative would be wrong. People miss the role that women played,” she says.

Deforestation for women of Garhwal meant losing firewood, fruits and a grazing place for their animals. These activities were the domain of the women, while men in the region joined the Indian army or ran small shops.

Mehrotra’s works take the viewer through how in the 70s women came together to take on contractors and big businessmen, and later went on to battle socio-economic issues such as alcoholism. This also gave them the confidence to speak up against the violence they faced at home.

The artist also returned impressed with the degree of self reliance of the women she met. Sudesha, despite her age, takes her cattle to graze and maintains the fields without a day’s rest.

“She doesn’t use chemical fertilisers or pesticides. The idea being that plants thrive in an environment that has no chemicals. She practices a mix-cropping system called 12-anaja (12-grain), which enriches the soil, and uses in-field seeds,” Mehrotra shares.

Sudesha, meanwhile, laments the lack of attachment for the villages or the forests among the youth, as most prefer relocating to towns and cities. She blames this largely on modern education, which is drawing people away from indigenous skills and knowledge, says Mehrotra, who spent about a month with Sudesha.

REVISITING THE MOVEMENT

Launched in 1970s, the Chipko Andolan was a non-violent forest conservation movement. It was called ‘Chipko’ (meaning embrace) as the natives of Reni village of Chamoli district, Uttarakhand, hugged trees to protect them from being axed.

March 26, 1974 has special significance when nearly 30 women embraced trees to prevent men from axing them. Despite being threatened and abused, women kept an all-night vigil, guarding their trees until all the men left. Once the news reached neighbouring districts, more people joined the protest, and as a result, the contractors left after a four-day standoff. Following this, the government issued a 15-year ban against felling trees in the Himalayan region.

GO AND SEE

Evidence Room: A Retrospective of Negotiating Routes is on till March 15 at Khoj Studios, Khirkee Extension, New Delhi