Happy Sunday supporters - now from 15 countries from across Australia, Africa, Asia, Europe and North America!
Shout out to those of you from Kenya, Nigeria and Sierra Leone: It is huge for us to be able to reach you from across the Indian ocean. On behalf of all Indians, congratulations on the entry of the African Union to the G20 (now 21)!
It’s been a while since we last shared an update with you - the team had been hard at work putting out the second edition of a document that is central to our work at the Center. Pretty much like how the oven is central to the work of a pizzaiolo?
Now in its second edition, the National Green Tribunal (our green court here in India) on Western Himalayas is a carefully curated compilation of court orders relevant to environmental issues of the western Himalayas over two years (June, 2021 to June, 2023).
Without getting too technical, if the part of the planet highlighted below interests you and you care about mountains - this handbook is for you. Irrespective of where you come from and whether or not you are familiar with India!
What we are most proud of is the almost complete lack of analysis in the handbook. It may seem counterintuitive but we really live in a world brimming with analytical pieces on the state of this planet and then pieces analysing those analytical pieces. It reaches a point where, honestly, the connection between the online and offline world becomes non existent.
But why? Why avoid analysis? Especially when there is so much to be said and reflected upon?
What is these questions were turned on their head. What if not analysing itself was a statement? What if there is a need to do justice to the reality before our eyes without changing it? Lets segue into the theme of the newsletter then shall we?
Check this screenshot out, from the website of Sey Coffee based out of Brooklyn, one of the best coffee roasters out there right now:
How about a similar screenshot, this time from Drop Coffee based out of Stockholm, run by Joanna Alm, who trained the folks at Sey:
Notice how these roasters are foregrounding the people who are actually growing the coffee (instead of focussing on say, the stories of the founders or the historic cobbled streets near their cafes)?
But wait a minute - how does it matter if people from developed nations foreground anything from the developing world?
And even if it does, to what extent? It would really mean something if the people of Kenya for example, themselves were to treat their own agricultural crops with this much care right? (That has been done, by the way - by inspiring women like Vava Angwenyi. Hear Vava tell her story here and here)
Similarly, we thought - wait a minute: Why not combine the best of both worlds - care and attention to detail + justice to origin when thinking about our work ethic and way of looking at the world?
This is what came of it:
This handbook is as carefully drafted as some of those folks in Brooklyn or Stockholm would roast their coffee. However, it has been carefully drafted by people who are based in India, with an office located in the midst of origin, that is the Himalayas!
And it wasn’t simply that we looked up Sey coffee one day and got inspired to do justice to the reality of the Himalayan region.
Over the past few months, and it’s hard to explain but - the people and terrain of Dharamshala (where we’re based) and Himalayas in general had a big role in guiding us towards this “say it like it is” method. It’s true - ordinary people here cherish, respect and adapt to the mountains the best they can and are generally sceptical of big city gimmickery. Does something like this happen where you are based?
This is not to say that analysis isn’t necessary but just that in a world full of analyses and opinion, let’s not lose sight of the primary sources of information, the truth that usually ends up in the footnotes, and the places that suddenly drop off our radars when the tourist season or occasional flooding event ends.
Well, that’s it for this edition - we’re going to leave you with some amazing looking Kenyan coffee cherries:
Regards,
Himalayan Advocacy Center
We’re on LinkedIN, YouTube & Instagram! Hit us up anywhere with your thoughts or simply reply to this email - looking forward to collaborating with you! It would mean the world to us if you’d share this newsletter with people around you - the welcome email is always going to come with some goodies!
Postscript:
As you may know, we are a small non profit in the environment + law space located in the Indian Himalayas. We are completely bootstrapped! This means no foreign funding and no fancy headquarters - just a small community - of which you all are an integral part - in the long run we hope!
What’s more - we, at the Center, are determined to localise efforts for the planet, without compromising on the best that the law has to offer. If you have the means, and want to support a committed local undertaking, please do consider contributing to our corpus. We hope to pleasantly surprise you with detailed information on where you money has been spent!