On April 24, the celebrated physicist and environmentalist, Vandana Shiva, visited Loreto College, Kolkata to deliver a lecture on “Earth Democracy and the Rights of Nature”. The event was organised by the Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC) of Loreto College under the aegis of the Loreto LEADS (Loreto Empowerment and Development Series for Students) initiative, which aims to encourage students to engage meaningfully with the world around them and promote transformative action.
Shiva began her lecture with the timely reminder that true democracy lies not merely in electoral representation, but in the practice of freedom. She drew on the philosophical principle of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the world is one family) to challenge systems that define individuals as consumers, and to reinstate the primary identity of human beings as citizens of the Earth. This concept of membership in the “Earth family” serves as an important corrective to the Western paradigm of humans as the master of nature. Shiva also noted how the idea of the “Earth family” is not limited to Indian tradition, but can be observed in indigenous cultures all over the world that have historically lived in symbiotic harmony with nature.
The devastating effects of the Green Revolution
Shiva delivering her lecture
Shiva proceeded to introduce the audience to certain foundational environmental lessons that can be derived from the study of quantum physics. One such lesson is the understanding that there is nothing fixed or inert, and that everything — including the Earth and its living members — has evolving potential. Moreover, as all things are pluralistic and interconnected, the unfolding of this potential need not be limited to a linear trajectory. Shiva urged the students in the audience to identify and pursue their passions in order to facilitate the untrammelled development of their inherent potential. She also underscored the necessity of learning from the Earth and its communities in the quest to live a meaningful life.
Referring to her research on the Green Revolution in the 1980s, Shiva argued that the introduction of fossil chemicals into Indian agriculture had drastically degraded the quality of soil and water, condemning the country’s rich biodiversity to near extinction. She pointed out that 50 per cent of greenhouse gases and 75 per cent of chronic diseases could be attributed to industrial agriculture, which had redefined and dismissed traditional, sustainable farming practices as ‘primitive’. Shiva used the term ‘anti-food’ to describe such chemically farmed food that is grown without care for the Earth and that imparts sickness instead of health. Another devastating consequence of the Green Revolution, according to Shiva, was the transformation of the seed into non-renewable intellectual property under corporate ownership.
A future rooted in cooperation, symbiosis and sustainability
Shiva with Sr. Nirmala and faculty members of Loreto College
Shiva concluded her lecture by positing the “biodiversity of the mind” as an essential ideological counter-discourse to the “monoculture of the mind” driving the industrial agriculture of the Western world. Noting that the health of the individual and the health of the planet are not mutually exclusive, she highlighted the role that seeds can play in regenerating the Earth and germinating new possibilities for future generations. She spoke of the work done by her non-governmental organisation, Navdanya, to promote the movement for food sovereignty through the creation of community seed banks for the conservation and breeding of resilient and nutrient-dense native seeds. She also exhorted students to volunteer in programmes dedicated to the care of the planet and the holistic well-being of local communities and ecological systems. Observing that the times we live in are simultaneously ‘disastrous’ and ‘emergent’, she affirmed that the seeds of collaboration sowed by younger generations could help shape a better future for all — one rooted in cooperation, symbiosis and sustainability.
In the vibrant interactive session that followed, Shiva addressed a range of questions pertaining to biodiversity depletion, the negation of natural technologies, skewed definitions of development, the rise of fake food, and the challenges of the organic food movement. The breadth of her expertise and environmental activism left a deep impact on the attending students.
Harshita Sharma, a final-year undergraduate student of the department of psychology, remarked that Shiva’s words reminded her of Chief Seattle’s wisdom and stirred a deep connection to nature and humanity: “Her impassioned delivery evoked a sense of reverence for our planet and highlighted the importance of safeguarding it for the well-being of all its inhabitants. In particular, her discussion on quantum entanglement and non-determinism served as a poignant metaphor for the interconnectedness of all life forms and ecosystems.”
