Juhi you are a champion for environmental causes, where did your awareness for this begin
My awareness began about 7-8 years ago when I first came to be aware of radiation pollution. All these devices, even our phones that we are using are all causing a huge amount of pollution in the air which is radio waves, electromagnetic radiation that is increasing exponentially every day. Later, 3-4 years down the line I became aware of the huge amount of plastic pollution in our world, which is present in every bit of our soil and water. I was speechless and shocked beyond words when I heard about it. Plastics become microplastics and they never go away. Can you imagine the millions of tons of plastic that we are producing every day, it is only going to break up into tiny bits until you can barely see them and that cannot be filtered by anybody? I started to speak about it 4 years ago and I was fortunate or maybe it was about time, that the Government heard all this, the Maharashtra Government banned all disposable plastics about two years ago. Then I said, ‘Now what do we talk about?’ and then it was about planting trees. We did a lot of work for that in our factory and Gurukul and then lent our support to ‘Cauvery Calling’ which was an initiative by Isha Foundation. I feel very proud to say that one has planted about 30-40 trees or at least helped to plant these many. That’s where we are at.
If you had to take one pledge on World Environment Day, what would it be and why?
One pledge I would take is to be more vocal about the environment and hope that my voice is heard and people wake up because we have no time left. Fortunately for us, the lockdown period has become a blessing in disguise; the air in Mumbai has never been so clear, animals are roaming around freely, our rivers have become clean. Nature has shown us the mirror we needed to see. The environment didn’t need us to clean it up, all we needed to do was be quiet and stay home and it cleaned itself up. I’ve been on this planet for quite some time and it has never been as beautiful. It shows us how lovely the environment can be. When we come out of this lockdown we must make a concerted effort. I certainly will, I already do and I will every day take some step or the other to stop spoiling our environment once again or taking it back to where we were before the lockdown.
What’s the most important message that you would like to share on this day?
In the last two and a half months a lot of us have realized that we can do very well with very little then we did otherwise. We’ve done really well without the frills and fancy that we were collecting. Almost everything that we use in our modern life is in some way damaging to the planet. This is a time to reflect on what has happened, look around, see the change in the environment, and weigh every step you take in the future. Please consider being more eco-friendly in every way, look at everything you use and own, know about it. From making simple shifts like using bamboo toothbrushes, switching the containers in my kitchen to steel, glass, ceramic, using organic detergents, I certainly am doing my bit every day, in any way that I can. As Indians, if we look back, our forefathers and our ancestors before them were leading the purest life, the way it should have been. From organic farming to zero-waste lifestyles we can very easily bring a lot of those things back. Don’t do it for any idealistic reason, do it because you love your children and this is not the planet you want to leave behind for them. A polluted, poisoned planet would make them very ill.
The story of an elephant in Kerala dying has broken hearts world over, your thoughts
Yes, it is a very unfortunate incident but I feel there is much more. When we, the so-called educated people, are destroying forests we are indirectly killing animals all the time. It’s almost a crime against the planet. The fact that we are not realising it is a fault with our education. Our modern way of educating children needs to be dumped! Our children, especially in cities, are all getting more and more disconnected from nature. We feel all that we need to learn is to dissect it, use it, abuse it, and not even blink an eyelid because everything is for our convenience and so long as they are met, so be it. Right from the ground up, our education needs to be changed. If we look back in recorded history, for more than 1500 years we were the most prosperous nation on this planet along with China. Now, if you think about it, in 30-40 years we are unable to pass on wealth and prosperity from one generation to the next and there for 1500 years, we were the most prosperous nation. Up until the Europeans and the East India Company took over, our education system was Gurukul where your values and respect for nature was at the center of your education. I feel very seriously that a lot of that needs to come back.
As actors do you feel there is a need to do more as you have a platform to voice your views more than anyone else?
When I became aware of the great damage that I was doing in my everyday life it shocked me beyond words. That’s why I feel so passionately about our education because up until that day I thought I was very educated, well-traveled, famous, well dressed, and beautiful and that day I felt ashamed. Suddenly I realized that I had been living in an illusion, I was so ignorant, so stupid, and so harmful to my very own existence. How could I be so blind, so stupid, so ignorant… and that’s the day I realized it was my education. Something was lacking in my upbringing and the more I became aware, I felt it so strongly. That is what I am working on, we are rebuilding our Gurukul in Porbandar which coincidentally is also the birthplace of Gandhiji. We have a 90-acre campus, an Arya Kanya Gurukul for girls, for the past 80 years, and at this very moment, we are rebuilding it to make it one of the finest institutions for education for the girl child. What worked for me was I am recognized in my country, by my people and I must use this to make them aware of what we are doing. This is possibly why I was made a star and I respect and value that. I feel this is my purpose and I must use it for the environment or for any good cause that I can.