Points to Ponder

“The idea of the book on environment came in 1996 as a participant in the National Science Foundation project. People did not know much about environment and the project gave us a right platform to spread awareness. A lot has changed since then but the last decade has seen a tremendous effect on our environment. The book aims to understand the co-relation between the global society and the environment and also emphasis on the role of organisations working in this regard,” says Mehta,who has earlier penned three books on topics ranging from Hindu-Muslim relation to Anthropology. Mehta believes that the Forest Rights Act,2006 was a huge step in protecting the environment and as people get to know their rights better,it will only help to take steps to save our environment. “A lot changed after the Forest Rights Act,2006,an act which gave rights to people living in forests. It was a landmark step and started the process of rehabilitation of native inhabitants of forests. We need to understand the importance of the relation between native inhabitants and forests,” feels Mehta. It was in 1992 that Mehta saw a documentary on AIDS on BBC which laid emphasis on India being less prone to a disease such as AIDS and it prompted her to do a research in the Indian context. “In 1992,I saw a documentary on BBC which laid emphasis on the fact that India is less prone to diseases such as AIDS due to social factors. More than a decade later,we have the highest cases of HIV affected people. There is an urgent need for rehabilitation of HIV affected persons and to spread awareness and one of main aims to write the second book was that,” Mehta gets back to work.