The founder president Shakti Punj Foundation Prabha Kiran, a significant and multifaceted personality engaged in social development, ecological security and women empowerment, in an exclusive interview with Brighter Kashmir talked in detail on different issues. She said the natural disasters are fallout of human-nature conflict and Indians are better at conservation because of their spiritual bent of mind.
Excerpts of the interview

BK: Please share your spiritual and developmental journey with our readers?

PK: From my childhood, I have been involved in spiritualism. My family had the priesthood of Badrinath Temple in Uttarakhand. Academically, I am MA, B.Ed and had a short stint in journalism. I got involved in social work and women issues. I was a member of Social Welfare Board and Chair of United Human Rights Foundation. In both these capacities, I had to deal with various women’s issues – family problems, discrimination, domestic violence, dowry harassment etc. Luckily, we got substantial support from the govt agencies and other philanthropic organisations.
In Shakti Kunj Foundation, which I am currently heading, we are focussing on water conservation through a spiritual route. As you know, water is critical to life. President Draupadi Murmu, in her speeches, is emphasising on water scarcity and the depletion of water resource across the world. NASA from United States also has found that water can be charged with human touch and spiritual communication. So we are using water as a holy commodity which can be used for addressing several problems of human beings.


BK: Do you have a team to defend human rights and talk about water conservation?

PK: Yes, I have a team of professionals, volunteers and activists. I have also contacts across the country. We have a following of two lakh people. Shakti Punj Foundation has contacts in many states who bring the problems of people to us. Through our channels, we address them.


BK: How do you raise spirituality in relation to water when people are caught in their daily struggles for livelihoods?

PK: We face this challenge in many places. But we focus on psychological emancipation of the people, work on their mental upliftment, educate them on self-reliance by using local and natural resources. We provide them training on enhancing their outputs. Since Shakti Punj is run largely by women, the women folks in rural areas relate to us, open up with their personal, family and social issues. With the support of skilled and experienced staff, we try to address their problems.

BK:This approach is understandable. But how do you infuse spirituality into your activities?

PK:India is a deeply spiritual country. Hinduism is more a spiritual belief than religion. I am not sure about other religions, but in Hinduism, the believers are all nature worshipers. They treat all natural energies and elements as part of divinity. So, water, air, Sun, earth are forms of Gods and Goddesses. When we present water as divine energy that sustains our lives, people are more careful about using and preserving water, unlike Westerners who take a utilitarian view of natural resources, they misuse and neglect them after their immediate purpose is served. This is not good for conservation of natural resources. Indians are better at conservation because of their spiritual bent of mind.

BK: Do you take spiritual route in all your development works? For instance, when you talk of gender equality, religious harmony, infrastructure development etc., how do you bring in spirituality?

PK: The existence of human beings, for that matter, any living or inanimate creature, is determined by a divine purpose. We explain to people how divinity works for everybody. Spirituality is a way of living which promotes peace, harmony not only among people, but with nature as well. Because the world has broken that communication with the nature and has gone against the natural laws and processes, we experience the unusual climate change and its impact on human lives. The global warming, earthquakes, floods, famines are the consequences of a conflict between human beings and nature. Over exploitation of natural resources without allowing for replenishment causes havoc. So, the disasters that we experience are man-made not natural. In Shakti Punj Foundation, we carry this knowledge and message to the people and urge them to use this learning in their daily lives.

BK: There is lot of talk about sustainability, climate change negotiations are taking place at global level. India is deeply involved in all these. Do you think your work contributes to that process and if so, in what scale?

PK: I do not know about the scale of impact of our work at global level. This is for the government to engage in international negotiations. We are not a part of it. But we believe in individual responsibility and community consciousness. That is what we are doing. If each person or community throughout the world is conscious of intelligent use of natural resources, then much of the problems of climate change can be tackled. I am happy to share that Indian way of life, at least in the rural areas, is an alignment with sustainability. Our effort is to reinforce their faith and practices. In some cases, we have to deal with superstitions and ignorance. We have succeeded in changing their mindset as people are receptive to an empathetic approach and workable ideas.
Our focus on water backed with spiritual tradition and faith, will make a dent in livelihoods generation and sustainable development. The consciousness of water will spread to other resources.