Editorial: A new beginning…
‘Bhoomi’ is a space that we need in these times when the human race is faced with a range of social, psychological, economic and other crises with the mindboggling climate change crises leading the way. The power centres of the world do not seem to be able to deal with these crises with conviction and strength.
But all around us, gradually, but surely, we find individuals, groups and NGOs and others working to do their bit about a whole range of problems. We see activists fighting for environmental concerns and people starting vegetable gardens on terraces; we see schools taking their ecology projects seriously and there are huge farmers’ collectives working to bring in millets to deal with climate change. A few corporate professionals are joining in, choosing to travel by train rather than fly or attempting to reduce paper wastage in their offices.
At Bhoomi Network we feel we can be a ‘funnel’, receiving information about all the thought provoking and heartening activities, experiences and reflections of people, and offering it to many others.
Thich Nat Hanh, the Vietnamese Buddhist monk, poet and scholar said, “The flower is made up of non-flower things” – we could as well say that this magazine is made of “non-magazine things”. Behind all the articles in this magazine are people who have brought their commitment and caring to others and to Bhoomi, our planet, in various ways. We are thankful to all of them for having joined in so readily to make this first issue happen, to have helped convert an idea into reality. We are thankful also to all the speakers, the farmers, the NGOs, Schools and others who have joined in at the Bhoomi Network’s “Be the Change” Conference on Food, Health and Climate Change, where the Bhoomi Magazine will be launched, on the 5th December, 2009.
In particular, we are thankful to Shri Satish Kumar, who has been a great inspiration to us and to innumerable people in the world, through his life, his work and his writings. The unique Resurgence Magazine of which he has been the editor and guiding spirit for more than two decades, we have kept in our minds as a kind of “mother magazine” as we worked. We are happy that he will be here with us to receive and release the inaugural issue of Bhoomi.
We, in the Bhoomi team, have loved every bit of working for Bhoomi, the magazine. Hope you enjoy it and share your enjoyment with others you know.
Some of the articles in the issue. (Click on title to view the article)
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