The Chipko Movement - The Original Treehuggers
Why I like Google Doodles
Even though I don't like many of the things Google does, I cannot deny that I love some of the things they do. One such thing is their attempt to embrace and spread culture, science, and history through Google Doodles.
The Google Doodles teach us many things we didn't know before, they remind us of significant individuals whom we often forget to thank because they are long dead. Google Doodles celebrate occasions, festivals, and sporting events.
In a way, I think Google Doodles are documenting human progress and history through art.
Google Doodles celebrate humanity. I am grateful to Google for this.
Google haters may not like it, but I believe in giving the credit where it is due.
So today is one such day when a Google Doodle is remembering something which is immensely significant to humanity and the planet, yet has been largely forgotten.
Today Google is remembering the Chipko movement, the original tree-huggers.
The History of the Chipko Movement
The Chipko Movement or Chipko Andolan is perhaps one of the first eco-feminist movements in the world. The very original movement goes back to 1730 when 363 people from many villages united against the Maharaja of Jodhpur against the felling of khejri trees in the present-day Indian state of Rajasthan. 363 people laid down their lives in this movement.
The modern movement started in 1973 in the Garhwal Himalayas in erstwhile Uttar Pradesh, present-day Uttarakhand as a protest movement against commercial logging and exploitation of forest lands.
This movement for environmental and livelihood protection came to be known as Chipko which in Hindi means to stick.
The protesters used to hug the trees in a gesture of defiance making the statement that the loggers would have to cut them down before they could cut the trees. These tree-huggers were almost exclusively women led by a lion-hearted lady of the Garhwals, Gaura Devi.
The poet Ghanasyam Raturi said the following lines about the movement.
Embrace the trees and
Save them from being felled;
The property of our hills,
Save them from being looted.
Why is it Important
The Chipko movement became one of the most successful environmental movements which had long-term significance in shaping the environmental and feminist movement worldwide.
A short article is not enough to tell the story of such an impactful movement which shaped environmental movements and the increased the consciousness among the general public about the importance of environmental and livelihood protection for forest communities.
I request my readers to do further reading on this to know more. I have listed my sources below. There is much more literature available on this subject.
Spreading the Word
Even though I started with praising Google, I must end it with something which did not impress me. An event like this should be remembered by the whole world and not only in the country where it happened. Surprisingly, India is the only country where this doodle is visible. This is the main reason why I thought of writing about this.
I hope at least a few more will come to know about the Chipko movement from me. This is also a service, even though a very small one to those brave women, to humanity at large and of course to the planet we call home.
References
- https://www.google.com/doodles/45th-anniversary-of-the-chipko-movement
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chipko_movement
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaura_Devi
Goodies: Benefits for You (Referral Links)
Sell Votes on SmartSteem
Get Followers and Upvotes on SteemFollower
Get Free Crypto Coins
Click on the banners to learn more about each community
You received a 10.0% upvote since you are not yet a member of geopolis and wrote in the category of "ecology".
To read more about us and what we do, click here.
https://steemit.com/geopolis/@geopolis/geopolis-the-community-for-global-sciences-update-4
thank you for voting my post :) I do not yet write regularly on the subjects of science. I plan to do so with more regularity in the future :)
Interesting that it was only in India. I do like the doodles in general but I rarely pay attention to them. You must have a point here though since before you mentioned it I didn't realize this movement existed. Though I have heard of tree huggers in general. Good to know the origin of it.
I find them not only interesting but educational as well. I think using doodles can be a good place to find inspiration going forward for me :)
I'd never even heard of the Chipko movement, that's really neat!
Yes, the very reason why I decided to write about it :)
Hi @svkrule
I am also very fond for google doodles I always check the trends in google about more details regarding it and now about the movement of Chipko Andolan when I was in my teenager age I was very motivated to save the trees as day by day global warning is rising and nakara govt. are not doing any efforts on it
Thanks for sharing it here
@maujmasti
yes, I understand how you feel. I also strongly feel about trees. Everytime they cut down a tree to build a road, my heart cries out
How fascinating! I stopped using Google years ago (because I didn't like the way my search results seemed to be tailored to the things their algorithms thought I liked), but l also loved the Google Doodles. I find it astonishing that this particular Doodle was only available for googlers in India. It's a brilliant story. Thanks for sharing.
yes, I didn't like the fact that they published only in India so I decided to write about it
thanks for visiting :)
how do i get more steem power here? please suggest me
@exrakib I regularly find you spamming my posts. You hardly ever have anything meaningful to say on the content. Either you say BS like you are great and the likes or ask questions irrelevant to the post topic.
This is not the way to succeed here. Put in real effort while you comment (add relevant meaningful content) and have some real content published in your blog. That is the only way to move forward.
I am so so sorry brother , And I will not do this anytime