Satish Kumar (born 9 August 1936) is an Indian British 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 ...

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

Schumacher College Schumacher College was based on the Dartington Hall estate near Totnes, Devon, England, and offered ecology-centred degree programmes, short courses and horticultural programmes from 1991 until 2024. It was attended by students from all over t ...

international center for ecological studies, and is Editor Emeritus of '' Resurgence & Ecologist'' magazine. His most notable accomplishment is the completion, together with a companion, E. P. Menon, of a peace walk of over 8,000 miles in June 1962 for two and a half years, from

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, and

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, 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 (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

, 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 (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

, he ran away from the

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

order, to become a student of

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

, 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 (also known as agrarian reform) involves the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership, land use, and land transfers. The reforms may be initiated by governments, by interested groups, or by revolution. Lan ...

ideas.

Peace walk

Inspired by

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

civil disobedience Civil disobedience is the active and professed refusal of a citizenship, citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders, or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be cal ...

against the

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

, in June 1962 Kumar and his friend E. P. Menon decided to dedicate themselves to undertaking a peace walk 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. Bhave gave the young men two 'gifts'. One was to be penniless 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 (Urdu: درۂ خیبر; ) 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 tr ...

, they continued through

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, and the

Caucasus Mountains The Caucasus Mountains * * Azerbaijani: , * * * * * * * * * * * is a mountain range at the intersection of Asia and Europe. Stretching between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, they are surrounded by the Caucasus region ...

, reaching Moscow, then 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.BBC World Service radio broadcast, '' BBC Outlook'', 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 '' Resurgence & Ecologist'' (combining the former ''Resurgence'' magazine, which had been described as the artistic and spiritual flagship of the green movement, with ''

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

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

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's " Thought for the Day" strand on the ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and m ...

'' 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 audio recordin ...

. Kumar was interviewed by

Richard Dawkins Richard Dawkins (born 26 March 1941) is a British evolutionary biology, evolutionary biologist, zoologist, science communicator and author. He is an Oxford fellow, emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford, and was Simonyi Professor for the Publ ...

in his 'Slaves to Superstition' episode of the documentary '' The Enemies of Reason'', 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 to 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 of Indigenous, tribal and uncontacted peoples. The organisation's campaigns generally focus on tribal people ...

Family life

Satish Kumar is the father of two children, a girl and a boy, by his wife in India. Kumar, a recipient of the Jamnalal Bajaj International Award, settled in England in 1973. He lives a

simple life Simple living refers to practices that promote simplicity in one's lifestyle. Common practices of simple living include reducing the number of possessions one owns, depending less on technology and services, and spending less money. In addition t ...

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 and their two children.

Politics

Prior to the 2015 UK general election, 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 environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

Caroline Lucas Caroline Patricia Lucas (born 9 December 1960) is a British politician who was the leader of the Green Party of England and Wales from 2003 to 2006, 2007 to 2012, and 2016 to 2018. She was Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parli ...

Books

* ''No Destination: Autobiography of a Pilgrim'' (2014) 004 978 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 Indian 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 British nonviolence advocates