Satish Kumar (born 9 August 1936) is an

Indian British British Indians are citizens of the United Kingdom (UK) whose ancestral roots are from India. This includes people born in the UK who are of Indian origin as well as Indians who have migrated to the UK. Today, Indians comprise about 1.4 mill ...

activist and speaker. He has been a

Jain monk Jain monasticism refers to the order of monks and nuns in the Jain community and can be divided into two major denominations: the ''Digambara'' and the ''Śvētāmbara''. The monastic practices of the two major sects vary greatly, but the maj ...

, nuclear disarmament advocate and pacifist.'' ''Now living in England, Kumar is founder and Director of Programmes of the

Schumacher College Schumacher College is a college near Totnes, Devon, England which offers ecology-centred degree programmes, short courses and horticultural programmes. The College is internationally renowned for its experiential approach to learning, encouragin ...

international center for ecological studies, and is Editor Emeritus of ''

Resurgence & Ecologist ''Resurgence & Ecologist'' is a British bi-monthly magazine covering environmental issues, engaged activism, philosophy, arts and ethical living. In 1973 – and for the next 43 years – the Editor-in-Chief was former Jain monk and author Sati ...

'' magazine. His most notable accomplishment is the completion, together with a companion, E. P. Menon, of a

peace walk A peace walk or peace march, sometimes referred to as a peace pilgrimage, is a form of nonviolent action where a person or group marches a set distance to raise awareness for particular issues important to the walkers. 350 km Long Peace Walk New ...

of over 8,000 miles in June 1962 for two and a half years, from

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the NCT Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati B ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, and

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, the capitals of the world's earliest nuclear-armed countries. He insists that reverence for nature should be at the heart of every political and social debate. Defending criticism that his goals are unrealistic, he has said,

Early life

Kumar was born in Sri Dungargarh,

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern s ...

, India. At the age of 9, he left his family and became a Jain monk. At 18, after reading a book by

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, Anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure ...

, he ran away from the

mendicant A mendicant (from la, mendicans, "begging") is one who practices mendicancy, relying chiefly or exclusively on alms to survive. In principle, mendicant religious orders own little property, either individually or collectively, and in many ins ...

order, to become a student of

Vinoba Bhave Vinayak Narahari, also known as Vinoba Bhave (; 11 September 1895 – 15 November 1982), was an Indian advocate of nonviolence and human rights. Often called ''Acharya'' (Sanskrit teacher), he is best known for the Bhoodan Movement. He is con ...

, an eminent disciple of Gandhi and his

nonviolence Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosoph ...

and

land reform Land reform is a form of agrarian reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution, generally of agricultur ...

ideas."Walking the World for Peace," Context Institute.
Accessed: 15 September 2012.

Peace walk

Inspired by

Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, ar ...

civil disobedience Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders or commands of a government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a stat ...

against the

atomic bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

, in June 1962 Kumar and his friend E. P. Menon decided to dedicate themselves to undertaking a

from India to the four capitals of the nuclear world: Moscow, Paris, London, and Washington D.C. and decided to carry no money on their trip. They called it a 'Pilgrimage for peace' and it took two and a half years.

gave the young men two 'gifts'. One was to be

penniless Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse < ...

wherever they walked. The other was to be vegetarian. They first travelled through Pakistan, where they met great kindness from a country with a huge historic conflict and antipathy towards India. Leaving Pakistan via the

Khyber Pass The Khyber Pass (خیبر درہ) is a mountain pass in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, on the border with the Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan. It connects the town of Landi Kotal to the Valley of Peshawar at Jamrud by traversi ...

, they continued through

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bord ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

, and the

Caucasus Mountains The Caucasus Mountains, : pronounced * hy, Կովկասյան լեռներ, : pronounced * az, Qafqaz dağları, pronounced * rus, Кавка́зские го́ры, Kavkázskiye góry, kɐfˈkasːkʲɪje ˈɡorɨ * tr, Kafkas Dağla ...

. They visited Moscow, Paris, London, and Washington, D.C. Travelling on foot and carrying no money, Kumar and his companion would stay with anyone who offered them food or shelter. Satish Kumar at the Convention on Modern Liberty

Satish Kumar at the Convention on Modern Liberty

While on their way to Moscow they met two women outside a tea factory. After explaining what they were doing one of the women gave them four packets of tea, one to be delivered to each of the leaders of the four nuclear powers and to also deliver a message, "when you think you need to press the button, stop for a minute and have a fresh cup of tea". This further inspired their journey and became in part the reason for it. They eventually delivered 'peace tea' to the leaders of four of the

nuclear powers Eight sovereign states have publicly announced successful detonation of nuclear weapons. Five are considered to be nuclear-weapon states (NWS) under the terms of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). In order of acquisi ...

.BBC World Service radio broadcast, ''

BBC Outlook #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the ...

'', 2015 October 25, 0830-0900 GMT, United Kingdom. The journey is chronicled in Kumar's book, ''No Destination: Autobiography of a Pilgrim''.

Professional career

Editor

Between 1973 and 2016, Kumar was editor of ''

'' (combining the former ''Resurgence'' magazine, which had been described as the artistic and spiritual flagship of the green movement, with ''

The Ecologist ''The Ecologist'' is a British environmental journal, then magazine, that was published from 1970 to 2009. Founded by Edward Goldsmith, it addressed a wide range of environmental subjects and promoted an ecological systems thinking approach th ...

''). He contributed an essay to '' The Society for Curious Thought'' entitled "Focus on Food". He has also been a contributor to the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

's "

Thought for the Day ''Thought for the Day'' is a daily scripted slot on the ''Today'' programme on BBC Radio 4 offering "reflections from a faith perspective on issues and people in the news", broadcast at around 7:45 each Monday to Saturday morning. Nowadays lastin ...

" strand on the ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 ...

'' programme, and also appeared on

Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight recordings (us ...

. Kumar was interviewed by

Richard Dawkins Richard Dawkins (born 26 March 1941) is a British evolutionary biologist and author. He is an emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford and was Professor for Public Understanding of Science in the University of Oxford from 1995 to 2008. An at ...

in his 'Slaves to Superstition' episode of the documentary ''

The Enemies of Reason ''The Enemies of Reason'' is a two-part television documentary, written and presented by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, in which he seeks to expose "those areas of belief that exist without scientific proof, yet manage to hold the n ...

'', investigating the prevalence of unscientific beliefs in modern society. He also made a film, ''Earth Pilgrim'', for BBC2's Natural History Series.

''We Are One''

Kumar was one of the contributors for writing the book, ''We Are One: A Celebration of Tribal Peoples'', released in October 2009. The book explores the culture of peoples around the world, portraying both its diversity and the threats it faces. It contains a collection of statements from tribal people, photographs, and essays from international authors, campaigners, politicians, philosophers, poets, artists, journalists, anthropologists, environmentalists and photojournalists. The royalties from the sale of this book go to the indigenous rights organization,

Survival International Survival International is a human rights organisation formed in 1969, a London based charity that campaigns for the collective rights, rights of indigenous peoples, indigenous and/or tribal peoples and uncontacted peoples. The organisation's ca ...

Family life

Kumar, a recipient of the Jamnalal Bajaj International Award, settled in England in 1973. He lives a simple life in

Hartland, Devon The village of Hartland, whose parish incorporates the hamlet of Stoke to the west and the village of Meddon in the south, is the most north-westerly settlement in the county of Devon, England. Now a large village which acts as a centre for a ...

, with his partner June Mitchell, their son Mukti Kumar Mitchell, and their daughter Maya Kumar Mitchell.

Politics

Prior to the

2015 UK general election The 2015 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 7 May 2015 to elect 650 members to the House of Commons. It was the first and only general election held at the end of a Parliament under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011. Local ...

, he was one of several celebrities who endorsed the parliamentary candidacy of the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundati ...

Caroline Lucas Caroline Patricia Lucas (born 9 December 1960) is a British politician who has twice led the Green Party of England and Wales and has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Brighton Pavilion since the 2010 general election. She was re-electe ...

Books

* ''No Destination: Autobiography of a Pilgrim'' (2014)

004 004, 0O4, O04, OO4 may refer to: * 004, fictional British 00 Agent * 0O4, Corning Municipal Airport (California) * O04, the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation * Abdul Haq Wasiq, Guantanamo detainee 004 * Junkers Jumo 004 turbojet engine * Lauda ...

978 Year 978 ( CMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Battle of Pankaleia: Rebel forces under General Bardas Skleros are defeated ...

Green Books, * ''You Are, Therefore I Am: A Declaration of Dependence'' (2002), Green Books, * ''Images of Earth and Spirit: A Resurgence anthology'' Edited by John Lane and Satish Kumar (2003), Green Books, * ''The Intimate and the Ultimate'' Vinoba Bhave, Edited by Satish Kumar (2004), Green Books, * ''The Buddha and the Terrorist: The Story of Angulimala'' (2006), Algonquin Books, * ''Spiritual Compass: The Three Qualities of Life'' (2008), Green Books/Finch Publishing, * ''Earth Pilgrim'' in conversation with Echann Deravy and Maya Kumar Mitchell (2009), Green Books, * ''Soul, Soil, Society: a New Trinity for our Time'' (2013), Leaping Hare Press, * ''Elegant Simplicity: the Art of Living Well'' (2019), New Society Publishers, * ''Pilgrimage for Peace: the Long Walk from India to Washington'' (2021), Green Books,

References

External links

Biography on the Resurgence website

Satish Kumar's presentation as a part of the Royal Institute of British Architects International Dialogues: Architecture and Climate Change

The E F Schumacher Centenary Lecture
at the Temenos Academy, 13 September 2011. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kumar, Satish 1936 births Living people Indian emigrants to England Indian non-fiction environmental writers Indian Jain monks 20th-century Indian Jains 20th-century Jain monks 20th-century Indian monks British magazine editors Indian magazine editors Indian male writers Nonviolence advocates People from Bikaner district Simple living advocates Jain pacifists British anti–nuclear weapons activists British Jains British pacifists Indian pacifists Indian anti–nuclear weapons activists Indian political writers 20th-century Indian non-fiction writers Anti-consumerists Neo-Luddites Writers from Rajasthan Activists from Rajasthan