Anupam Mishra

Ek Phirangi Raja

In this essay, Romesh Bedi recounts the true story of Frederick E Wilson, a British army officer, who deserted the army after the Sepoy Mutiny of 1957, escaped to the Himalayas, and settled in Harsil, a remote village in Uttarakhand on the banks of the Bhagirathi.

Wilson makes a flourishing business from the export of skins, fur, musk from the region, and rips the local deodar forest, to cash in the growing demand for wooden sleepers during the expansion of the Indian railways by the British, which were sent down to the plains through the rivers. Wilson soon acquires a lease from the Raja of Tehri-Garhwal, for his timber business and keeps the Raja happy by giving him a share of the profits, and even begins to mint his own local currency, because of which locals start calling him Raja.

Neel Ka Dhabba recounts how Gandhiji washed away the stain of cruel oppression of Champaran's Indigo farmers forcibly made to grow Indigo by processors-traders, using caution, non-violence, courage and humility. The essay is narrated by Gandhiji himself.

In Sansthayen Narayan Parayan Bane, Acharya Vinoba takes a critical look at the work of voluntary development organisations, and details what and how their goals, functioning and funds management should be.

In Rajasthan Ki Rajat Boondein, Shri Anupam Mishra documents the myriad, well-organised ways in which the people of western Rajasthan have harvested and managed water over centuries, through work of the utmost dedication, painstaking detail and community-led action. These systems have survived the test of time, and are present in most villages and towns of the desert state even today.

This path-breaking work in the harsh water-scarce conditions of the desert, was completely managed by the local communities, and serves as a guide to the rest of us, in organising to face and tackle the water crisis, that we face across the world today.

Shri Anupam Mishra has worked in the field of environment and water conservation for many decades, and is currently with the Gandhi Peace Foundation New Delhi. His books on the work of people/society organising themselves, to harvest and manage water - Aaj Bhi Khare Hain Talaab and Rajasthan Ki Rajat Boondein, are considered landmark works in the field, and continue to inspire several individuals even today, to take up work on setting up and reviving such time-tested water harvesting systems.