Green peace

A mechanical engineer by profession Kulkarni moved from the city in 1993,to Kudawale,a village in the Konkan to work towards eco awareness. “Talking was not sufficient so my wife and I thought that all of it should be brought into practice. I worked for some years in Tata Motors and then in Vivekananda Kendra in the city for almost 9 years before moving,and since then writing on,and studying,the environment has been my mission and profession. We have a mud house there,no home appliances,no vehicles,not even the cooking gas. We are lucky enough to reside near a devrai,using the disintegrated wood since cutting it is wrong. Besides the radio a few bulbs is all that we have that consumes energy,” adds Kulkarni who has also conducted a number of camps all over the state as well as in Gujarat and Goa to create awareness about the situation.

Having authored 13 books including Nisargayan,Ahead to Nature,Green Messages and so on,he also publishes a monthly,Gatiman Sanstulan from the city,which is the only reason as to why he comes to city for five days. “Extravagant consumption is the root cause and reducing it is the remedy. Many times people give various excuses to evade the option while a few do change. I know a family who would eat ice cream every alternate day but they relinquished it after they found out that it is one of the highest energy consuming products. All it takes to change is the conviction and for me this transformation although gradual has been the easiest and the most satisfying thing,” he says.

Kulkarni however hasn’t initiated or is a part of any organisation as he says,“The NGO culture is increasingly becoming a business and with a lot of constrains to express and reach out. Yet I also feel there are various perspectives to arrive at the issue of environment,the one I have adopted is a mere facet and many eminent people like Medha Patkar are working with a different approach. The massive squalor,Pune is witnessing is unbearable. Adapting a minimalistic approach might be difficult living in a city but there are hundreds of things that can be controlled. The dissemination of thought and action towards stepping down on consumption is all it takes.”