Agrawal ain’t no match for Hazare

This post has been in the making, in my mind, over the past year or so. But, it has gained some strong resonance in recent days, for two distinct reasons, one personal, given first.

It was in June 1976 I came into contact with Prof. G D Agrawal. I had gone to IIT Kanpur for getting admission into the M.Tech program in structural engineering. There were perhaps as many as three hundred aspirants for the screening test (written). That is when this man, wearing spotless white pajama kurta, enters the test hall and says (I am paraphrasing): “Look here all of you, we have four specializations and in each there are no more than 10 seats. You are about 300 competing for these 40 seats.

Now, here comes the twist. Structural engineering has been marked as preference by about 60% of you. It is now up to you to change your preference though the application packet said that your choice then was final. It is your choice now to stick with the original or shift.” Prof. G D Agrawal left the hall with these words, strongly implying that one’s chances of getting into the institution is increased if one shifted out of structural engineering. He said it as a matter of fact.

When we came out of the test, we wondered who this gentleman was. He was not gigantic but carried himself big. I learnt later, when I was a student at IIT Kanpur, that he was a Ph.D from the University of California, Berkeley, and more (there is much hidden in this “more” and if you are curious you could Google him).

I have wondered many times, but never with regret, what if I had shifted my choice. I loved, and still do, structural engineering, and environmental science and engineering was visible only at the horizon then. Over the years, I have grown to have an admiration for the good professor’s work, teaching, research, mentorship, administration. It is about a few years ago and only by chance I learnt what he has become and has been doing.

At least in one aspect, my admiration for him has only increased over the years. Here is a man who has transformed his professional training and activities into social ethics and endeavors. He is fighting for the Ganga, and by extension, for all the rivers across this land, and I mean the world. He has set store by rural development, not, as I understand, in the idyllic sense, but as a means of connecting people with their land in a productive and more meaningful way. I wanted to post my thoughts on him and his activities.

This is the personal aspect.

Swami Gyan Swaroopanand, a k a Prof. G D Agrawal, is on a fast unto death, trying to save humanity from its own foolishness. We have recently had a martyr in the cause of River Ganga and I can only hope it does not claim one more. I would consider it a personal loss. This is the second resonance, mediated through the antics of Hazare (hence impersonal). Recall how Irom Sharmila was, has been and continues to be ignored by the popular media. Her fast flies under the media radar. And, so also Swami Gyan Swaroopanand’s. But Hazare, however low he flies – one day saying he would go with Baba Ramdev only to deny that the next day – the media is there to catch his outfalls, untreated. If you asked why, you may spot things that make you uncomfortable.

What is Swami Gyan Swaroopanand fighting for? The river. How far are we from the river, and I do not mean only the Ganga? Very far, very very far, with so many water treatment plants in between the river and us (how I wish there were at least that many sewage treatment plants between us and the river). If I have to fight for the river, I need a proximate cause. This is lacking and hence my radar aims high. Same goes for Irom’s cause. Why should I be worried about the draconian law, the right bank of which I am traversing, thanks to munificent circumstances?

But, come to Hazare. There, the issues he has raised, albeit shiftingly, sporadically, in an ad hoc manner, hit me in my pockets. I need to support him. Indeed, I am compelled to, in the cause of my group, loaded with disposable income.

Over the past three days, I had gone to Rishikesh and Haridwar. In the interest of full disclosure, I stayed at a 3-star hotel (all that I can afford, my disposable income affords me) on the banks of the river, revetments and all to protect me and the hotel from the ravages of the river. There was also a paved promenade. 

I am not sure how much of my waste got into the river untreated (I am not blaming the hotel; after all, I am not wiling to pay higher charges to clean my waste). But during a few insane moments, I did question myself about my hypocrisy. That is about how close as I got to Swami Gyan Swaroopanand and Prof. G D Agrawal.

When he was Prof. G D Agrawal, I was not aware of Swami Gyan Swaroopanand’s strong religious leanings and even if I had known, I would have been extremely approving. But, now I, while admiring his aims, I am not so sure of the path he has chosen – basing his arguments on the need to protect the river because it is holy. In my humble opinion, he is limiting himself and also not letting the potential effects of his efforts flow naturally.

Well, it is only because I admire him, from far afar, I have taken the liberty to criticize him in details while strongly endorsing the lofty goals he is fighting for. I can only hope that his efforts succeed without his becoming a martyr.

For that to happen, our consuming class has to wake up.

Raghuram Ekambaram