 "Preventing
climate change is not just an economic or an environmental issue. It is above all a moral
and ethical issue. When will one tonne of carbon dioxide equal to another tonne
of carbon dioxide? Is one tonne of a greenhouse gas produced by a New Yorker or a Londoner
equal to a tonne of the same gas produced by a peasant in Guatemala, Chad or Bangladesh?The simple moral answer is ‘no’. The first tonne is the result of luxury. The second tonne is the result of basic survival. Both of them go into the atmosphere. One needs to be controlled and the other needs to be supported." Equity Watch, November 15, 2000, a newsletter brought out by CSE at the COP6, Climate Change talks held in the Hague, Netherlands "What we can do when the leaders of poor nations have the minds of beggars. We would like to tell the Indian delegation that not only was the stand-in minister, Suresh Prabhu, lacklusture and predictable, but we really don’t see any reason for him to be here at all.The French president, on the other hand, did a better job of putting commitment and concern on the table on how we can find effective and equitable way of meeting the climate challenge. Reject the note Mr Prabhu or don’t come home." Equity Watch, November 24, 2000, a
newsletter brought out by CSE at the COP6, "When it comes to pollution control, it is only the hammer of the Supreme Court that seems to push government to do anything. Without creating a crisis, first for the auto-industry last year and now for the government, it seems that no action gets taken. Almost , as if the government has abdicated its responsibilities, for pollution control and public health. It is truly a murky story of how politicians and bureaucrats consistently give in to industrial lobbies." Editor’s page, Down To Earth, December 31, 2000 "Our teachers in IIT used to tell us that we were the brightest students in the country and that we were going to solve all of India’s problem. At least some of us used to wonder, what do we know about India’s problems." Interview, First City magazine, August 2, 2001
I have tried to live by Gandhiji’s principles, but these are very tough things to live by. I may have travelled a short distance down the path he paved, but I have a long way to go." Interview, First City magazine, August 2, 2001 "The challenge possibly lies in moving away from the picture of a rural Gandhi and a Gandhi in poverty to conceptualising an urban Gandhi, a Gandhi in wealth. We will have conceptualise not just ‘Gandhian village’ but also ‘Gandhi cities’. A Gandhian in wealth will be a person who knows not just how to deal with diarrhoea but also how to deal with cancer." Paper on Health and Environment, not dated
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"Gandhiji was an ordinary man, but he
exemplified three qualities — anger, perseverance and humility. His anger
did not drive him insane, it was a controlled fury, a persistent anger. It was a creative
anger...he taught us to be determined in the face of toughest challenges. He also made a
point to know the heart of India, which lies in our villages. How many of us do that?
India has no knowledge of Bharat.