A Hindu Sect Devoted to the Environment

October 7, 2010

Author: Akash Kapur

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/08/world/asia/08iht-letter.html?_r=1&ref=religion_and_belief

About three kilometers from this village, across dirt tracks and open scrubland, there is a settlement of seven mud huts bordered by millet and lentil fields. No electricity or telephone poles run to these huts. There’s not a satellite dish to be seen.

 

In the dry, open land that surrounds the settlement — part of the great Thar Desert that dominates the western part of the state of Rajasthan — black buck deer roam freely, foraging for leaves. They are noticeably bold; they seem unafraid of strangers.