In the past 597 days of my being with Greenpeace India, the following instances stand out:
1. People hanging a banner from the Essar building- to tell the world how it’s destroying India's precious forests.
2. People persistently shaming a minister to make him realize that he’s plundering India’s natural resources by giving away speedy clearances.
3. People speaking to thousands of strangers a day- to convince them to take action against the threats that our environment faces.
4. People writing to ministers, corporate head honchos and others in power to make them stop destroying our oceans and forests.
5. People getting arrested and beaten up in prison- because they opposed corporates trying to take advantage of tribal people’s resources by forging signatures at a Gram Sabha.
6. People trying to inform people of the alternatives to dirty fuels and increased energy access through clean renewable energy.
7. People trying to attempt a world record for the world’s largest photo-mosaic.
8. People storming social media with messages of solidarity.
9. People writing a blog- just like me right now.
05 December 2014
Volunteers at the People's Climate March Rally in Delhi © Apoorv Tiwary/Greenpeace
What's common in all these instances? Some people. Who are these “People”, you ask my dear, curious reader? Over the past two years, I’ve found that these “People”
belong to a very odd sub-species of modern day homo sapiens- Greenpeacium Volunteeris. They can also be referred through their common name- a Greenpeace volunteer.
05 December 2014
Greenpeace volunteers in Mumbai take part in the global ice ride to save the Arctic © Greenpeace
Ice Ride Mumbai © Greenpeace
A Greenpeace Volunteer is a fairly common species, found in all kinds of habitats. They’re known to have very distinct qualities separating them from your day-to-day humans. Here are some of their characteristics:
1. They are
passionate - for the environment, the Gaia itself and all things green.
2. They are
driven - to peacefully protest against environmental crime and injustice.
3.
Creative - you’d never have seen so many kinds of creative activities that a human could do. Through my observations, I know it is possible to set up a knowledge bank based on the work done by a Greenpeacium Volunteeris.
4.
Hard-working - Specimens have been spotted waking up at 6:00 AM to help out for an event. They have also been spotted working till 3:00 AM to make sure an activity goes right the next day.
5.
Loyal - They’ve been known to stand by Greenpeace India, after the organisation was deemed anti-national through a serendipitous, malicious, out-of-this-world-rubbishius report in the media.
6. I
ntelligent - they’ve been known to question the above mentioned serendipitous, malicious, out-of-this-world-rubbishius report, and its credibility- because, you know, they’re intelligent beings.
7.
Courageous - you will not find these people backing down, when they bear witness to something wrong. They will also make sure they creatively draw attention of the world, to what they can see is wrong.
8. They can be
found in all corners of the world. Their population is flourishing in India, too.
9. Lastly, they’ve been known to carry very contagious viruses called
inspiration and
hope. This is known to spread through tweeting, texting, emailing and other forms of contact you may have with information pertaining to them, including this blog.
05 December 2014
Junglistan volunteers outside the Essar building in Mumbai in January. © Greenpeace
A special case in point would be the widespread epidemic called #IamMahan in the region of interwebs, when
67 specimens of these species got arrested for standing up against forest destruction in January 2014.
Today is International Volunteer Day- a day dedicated to this sub-species. The day is to acknowledge the actions of these specimen. Based on my observations, this is my conclusion- They’re the heart and soul of the work that Greenpeace does.
The larger eco-system of Greenpeace couldn't survive without this sub-species.To sum up my entire study, I’d say, THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING! And
Happy International Volunteer day!
Sanchita Mahajan is one of the Greenpeace staff in maximum contact with Greenpeacium Volunteeris.