Today in your keynote speech you mentioned the eyesore of fast food outlets on our island. What would you tell the kids that eat and love junk food?

To taste real food, go out into the country; start a garden! And realise that the fresh tomato that you grew with your loving hand is so much better than that rotten ketchup.

 

During your keynote speech you said that at first you didn't want to go to Paris (for COP 21), but now you are going.  What made you change your mind?

What changed my mind is, first, the attacks.  I want to make a trip to Paris.  I want to bring love for the earth, and the wellness of the earth into the discourse.  There is too much talk of war, war, war...hate, hate, hate...kill, kill, kill...and we need to talk about the fact that we need to make peace with the earth.  We have the potential to love each other. And so I will go to plant a garden and take a pledge - with others - that we will take care of this earth.  We will create enough abundance through taking care of the earth, so that we will not need conflict; we don't need to have wars.

 

When did the issues affecting farmers first occur to you?

You know, even when I was young, like you, I was involved in love for the earth.  My father was a forester.  Then I was involved in women as farmers - planting trees.  I didn't see them as farmers.  I saw them as women.  The issue of farmers came to me in 1984, when the farmers had a problem.  But it was defined as a religious problem; exactly like Syria is being defined as a religious issue, or like Nigeria is being defined as a religious issue. And that same year we had a tragedy that a pesticide plant was invading the area. And three thousand people, including children, were affected immediately.  Hundreds and thousands are still suffering and children today are being born suffering. And I started asking why are we using poison in agriculture? That's when I realised that this technology has come from war. I started to work with farmers to work on a nonviolent agriculture. So that's when it started...since 1984.

Today you mentioned the effects of stress on us people.  What advice would you give us children to find a job that would avoid stress?

Each one of you has to find your own way.  In what you love doing.  If I love music I will find a way to create music and play music. Or writing. Or football. Every child should know there is no hierarchy in what we do. It's a horizontal humanity. A farmer.  A Wall Street financier. We are all expert human beings.

The second thing - you don't need to look outside to get a short term job for money. Rather look inside yourself and say this is what I'm good at.  This is what I love doing. And I will bargain and create conditions so that my passion will find a place in society even if it does not exist! That is where seed banks started - they were my passion. There were no organic movements in India when I started. It's not easy. But if you do something that goes against yourself you will suffer anyway. And that is stress...making money for the speculators.

 

If you had the opportunity to say something to all the children of the Commonwealth countries, what would it be?

We are in a common wealth, which means we are in a common family - and not only humanity.  The children who fly - the little birds. The bees and the butterflies. The earthworms.  We need to take care of all species.  Children of human beings need to take care of children of other species. And if we do that we will create a good world.

 

How do you think violence could be decreased?

I think you are violent to something which is separate from yourself, because you define it as dead matter.  It is just a commodity. Just as much as you define an animal as a commodity. And so you put it in a factory, and inject it with antibiotics to maximise its growth; and you forget that it is a sentient being.  Even plants are sentient beings. So the way to decrease violence is to realise that we are all part of the earth family. When protecting each other we protect ourselves. When something is part of you, you don't harm it.  You don't send away, or harm, your finger...because it's part of you. When you know that we are part of one big human family, then you don't create hate, you don't create violence - you create love.

 

What are your biggest challenges?

I think my biggest challenges are the challenges we all face - people who are mad. Mad for violence. Mad for wars. People that think that everything is an enemy -an insect is an enemy - so spray pesticide and exterminate. A plant that comes up is an enemy, so spray it and exterminate. Someone with a different religion is an enemy - finish them off. That is my big challenge - to continue to feel one and to continue to talk about the ability of humans with nature and humans amongst each other. It's becoming an increasing challenge because the media is giving only one message and leaders are standing in a queue as if they were children in a school and you don't know who the headmaster is to tell me

 

Us kids, how can we adapt to the situation of migrants?

First you have to try to understand why these people are leaving their lands in such numbers? Go back to their crisis, the drought, the climate change. Then realise they didn't create it. It was created by global powers that are creating pollution and putting greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. So realise that actually the immigrants face the same problems and are one humanity. The second is work with your endeavours. You have to be the teachers of humanity.  Children fight...you see them fighting in the playground; but then the next day they are friends again.  Because children know how to love. And we, as adults, lose that capacity. So you have to bring your capacity to forgive and capacity to love to us adults.  With that capacity you prevent the panic.  Cause it's panic we're using in the migration crisis. And we need compassionate language, which has three components. We need to protect: people don't ask to become refugees. We need a different development: that's why sustainable development goals. We need to make sure that they are recognised as human beings. And third we have to think of the best way to deal with this migration crisis: the least violent and the best in terms of sharing compassion.

And, with the kind of questions you are asking, if you were to decide what you would do about migration, you would have come up with very nice solutions. So why don't you put up a children's plan? A children's plan for peace? Children are those that see the solution.  You know the story of the Emperor's New Clothes? Everyone believing he is seeing the emperor in clothes - and only a child says the truth?

I have a lot of trust and faith in children.