That amazing power of being able to stand with total courage in the face of total power and not be afraid. That is stri shakti.

I have called this phenomenon of stealing common knowledge and indigenous science "biopiracy" and "intellectual piracy." According to patent systems we shouldn't be able to patent what exists as "prior art." But the United States patent system is somewhat perverted. First of all, it does not treat the prior art of other societies as "prior art." Therefore anyone from the United States can travel to another country, find out about the use of a medicinal plant, or find a seed that farmers use, come back here, claim it as an invention or an innovation.

Squeezing the lives of people is now being proposed as the saviour of the planet. Through the green economy an attempt is being made to technologise, financialise, privatise and commodify all of the earth’s resources and living processes.

The Chipko activists have always been close to my parents, since my father was among the few forestry officials who supported them within the bureaucracy. And I was involved with the Chipko movement in my student days.

The idea of engineering is an idea of mastery. And today the role that we are being asked to play is a role based on informed humanity.

The best and most evolved technologies are those that do not destroy the very base on which we live

It is only with local [agriculture] that we can manage the complexity and care that sustainability requires.