Anupam Mishra: the gentle but staunch Gandhian

 

Anupam Mishra, who died in Delhi on December 19 at the age of 68, had been one of the most respected persons in the Hindi media for at least two decades. For several years he had been the editor of Hindi Gandhi Marg, a much-admired  journal with a very committed readership. His own articles in various newspapers were keenly awaited by readers, all the more in recent years as these had been getting less frequent, partly due to his failing health.

However, even while his output in terms of published writing was diminishing, his stature in the Hindi media continued to rise as he was highly regarded by a new generation of upcoming journalists keen to write on environmental issues and social movements. Mishra was always willing to help them with his wide range of contacts and they generally developed a genuine respect for his critical views on the existing development paradigm and priorities.

Mishra gained the basics of his development perspective from Gandhian thinking and thinkers, in the presence of whom much of his life was spent. While he often worked in, or with, Gandhian institutions, he was careful to avoid the increasing drift towards routine and mediocrity in some of them. He remained one of the few leading Gandhian thinkers who was willing to make very specific criticisms of official projects and policies from a Gandhian perspective.

 

 

At a time of increasing inequalities and ecological ruin, large-scale displacement and marginalisation of a very large number of people, many critics and activists fighting these trends at the grassroots have found it very useful to go back to some of Gandhi’s basic precepts because they suggest how such disturbing trends can be avoided.

Mishra’s role was important as he was also willing to travel to several of these areas of resistance – and areas of constructive work by Gandhian activists - and establish long-term relationships that helped him to understand and report the ground reality.

One of his earliest stories, which won widespread acclaim, related to the surrender of dacoits in the Chambal region, an event influenced by leading Gandhian leaders and activists which attracted international attention.

Then, much before bigger Narmada projects like Sardar Sarovar became big news, Mishra provided a glimpse of future problems by his reporting on Tawa dam, one of the first dams to be built on the Narmada river system (the main river and its tributaries).

These two reports were in the form of a series published in the Gandhian journal Sarvodaya Press Service and some Madhya Pradesh newspapers such as Nai Duniya. In the Tawad dam case, his reports, as well as the efforts of Mitti Bachao Andolan, led to some remedial action by the government.

At the same time as covering such issues, Mishra also reported in depth on several natural disasters. His story on cyclone-ravaged Andhra Pradesh in Dinman was very widely read and helped to draw attention to the need for relief and rehabilitation work. Such reports also brought out his very little known skills as a fine photographer.

 

 

The rich grassroots experience which Mishra gained in the course of such reporting, together with his Gandhian perspective, served him well when it came to preparing effective critiques of several distorted policies and projects and equipped him with the expertise to offer alternatives.

His most widely recognized work is on water. He was scathing about controversial and costly projects like the river links scheme and how they were coming up at the expense of small-scale, decentralized schemes based on the traditional wisdom and initiatives of local communities.

His book on water tanks, Ab Bhi Khare Hai Talab, was found most useful by ordinary people and had several reprints. A sequel, Rajasthan Ki Rajat Boondey, was about Rajasthan and, in this, he established how even very low rainfall areas can be successful in meeting their water needs on their own if methods most suitable to local conditions are used.

This kind of research linked up well with his stand that inter-basin transfers such as those envisaged by the gigantic river links scheme are neither necessary nor desirable. In simple, easy, language he offered his analysis, along with alternatives, highlighting commonsense understanding while avoiding too much data.

Then there was his style - gently persuasive with an emphasis on wisdom and the commonsense of people which disarmed many critics. Thus, instead of merely repeating the sayings of Gandhi and citing examples from his life, Mishra was more concerned about linking Gandhi’s precepts to some of the most important struggles and debates of his times.

 

 

While editing Gandhi Marg, he not only took up such issues, but also went back to some of the original Gandhian principles. The selected writings of Gandhi and his colleagues that Mishra used to publish were marked by their relevance for today and by a freshness of approach to issues of eternal importance. This is why Gandhi Marg always attracted readers and why its letters page was always lively.

Another reason was the fine prose of the editor himself, as well as his keen eye for attractive lay-out and presentation. It wasn’t only that Mishra could charm his readers with a prose style that evoked poets. It was that his writing had the ability to disarm powerful opponents without sounding harsh or offensive.

One morning in Uttarakhand when, by sheer chance (those were not the days of mobile phones) both of us reached the same place around the same time to cover the Chipko movement in Henvalghati, I met Mishra. As the more senior and experienced journalist, he was helpful in all respects, offering tips on where I should report the story. Finally, as I faltered on the steep climb to the village where trees had been saved by women, Mishra provided a generous supply of  home-made laddus to keep me going. After this encounter, whenever I got a chance, I would drop into his office to avail myself of his advice and I do not recall a single occasion when he was less than welcoming towards these intrusions.

In fact when my daughter accompanied me once to meet him as she wanted to report on the Himalayan reach of the Ganga, he not only willingly gave her a lot of time but also insisted on giving her a free subscription to Gandhi Marg.

 

Bharat Dogra is a freelance journalist who has been involved with several social movements and issues.