‘I’ve started walking faster’: Walker-activist Pushpanath Krishnamurthy on creating awareness on climate change

Pushpanath Krishnamurthy, 70, has been walking to create awareness about climate change for years. Now, he is moving faster

Pushpanath Krishnamurthy walks the talk. Literally.

“I’ve done about 33 million steps till now,” he says, settling down for a chat at Chennai’s Jeeva Park. Push — as he is known — began with a walk from Oxford to Copenhagen to raise awareness on climate change in 2009. A lot has changed since then. “For the better, thankfully,” he states.

During his most recent walk, he collected 5,000 cards from students, a response he could not have anticipated in 2009. “There’s a big leap in awareness among younger people who are worried about climate change. I’m not a Gandhian, but I like what Gandhiji says about injustice and action. Speak truth to power,” he says. “That’s what I’ve been doing — collecting stories about the effects of climate change, and sharing them among stakeholders.

During his last walk in the UK, Pushpanath kept singing Bharathiyar’s popular ‘Achamillai Achamillai’ and Kannada poet Kuvempu’s ‘Nada Mundhe’ to keep his spirits high. Despite the language being unfamiliar, the songs connected with many of his co-walkers, mostly from the UK, who also learnt the lyrics and joined in. “A lot of people sang and walked along. In this journey, I have stayed in the house of unemployed youths as well as with a member of the royal family. I’m just a regular guy but the amount of inspiration that people give me is immense. They’ve provided me food and shelter, and most importantly, shared stories of anxiety and hope,” he adds.

Pushpanath works closely with Fairtrade International, a group aimed at promoting the lives of farmers and workers through trade. In Tamil Nadu, he closely collaborates with the Fair Trade Town Movement and Jai Jagat International, which translates to ‘victory to the planet,’ exploring alternative development processes that are pro-people and pro-Nature. Currently, Pushpanath is touring various pockets of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, to have conversations with frontline workers affected by climate change. “The darkest paradox of our time is that people who have contributed least to this problem are suffering the most,” he says. Come September, he will also be involved with the Ahimsa Santhai, organised by the Nonviolent Economy Network to showcase small-scale enterprise models.

After years of campaigning, he is pleased to see the younger generation taking climate change seriously. “From the smallest thing they eat to what they buy, they are starting to show change,” beams Pushpanath, “For instance, they do not want to travel in the car everywhere; they pool resources. They are foraging and use solar and wind power. They buy ethically and source locally. It is happening right here in India, and the most heartening aspect is that these young people are also putting pressure on their parents and leaders.”

One of the reasons that people don’t emphasise with the issue, he feels, is that it isn’t a priority in the everyday scheme of things. “Events are overtaking our lives. The urgency of addressing COVID-19 and conflicts are immense and personal, when compared to global warming. But, it is imperative to keep reminding people about it.”