What Drives Dipti?: A Conversation about Serving Peoples and Planet
dipti talks to us about the circumstances that led to her become a globe-trotting activist, what she hopes to achieve during her time with FLAC, the challenges she anticipates, what allows her to remain hopeful, and how all of these aspects and experiences have come together to inspire her to be of service to peoples and planet.
dipti bhatnagar
dipti, you are originally from Kolkata, India. You worked with the Save the Narmada peoples’ movement; you also worked with indigenous peoples and Latines farmworkers in California; and you now live in Mozambique, where you coordinated Friends of the Earth International’s Climate Justice and Energy Program. Could you tell us about the circumstances or events in your life that led you to tread this globe-trotting path?
Life just happened! It’s been a fascinating journey. I was hugely impacted by the struggle of the people of the Narmada Valley in India against displacement by large dams. I had heard about the Narmada struggle as a youngster, but I was an Indian big city, middle-class girl who didn’t know better than to believe the mainstream narrative about dams bringing development to the country.
Reading Arundhati Roy's The Greater Common Good and hearing her speak at my college in Delhi made me start to reflect on the meaning of “development.” The narrative was that the dam’s construction was for the greater common good—sure, some people would be affected negatively by the project, but it was unfortunately necessary for the so-called greater good. History has shown us time and time again that the people displaced by large-scale dams and other large infrastructure projects are simply cast aside; there is this idea that some peoples’ lives are just disposable. That’s how I became an activist, living with affected communities, making mistakes, learning about justice and environmental issues; it was very much linked to people’s lived experiences.
At some point, my family moved to the United States, the belly of the beast, where I went to university. It was just after 9/11; it was then that I became fully aware of my identity as a young South Asian immigrant woman of colour. It felt like the only thing to do, to get involved in the anti-war, anti-racism, and immigrants’ rights movements. Witnessing the United States’ response to 9/11, the war against Afghanistan, and the even more unjustified invasion of Iraq was a pivotal experience for me. Fighting against the ways that the U.S. empire grabbed power after 2001, and witnessing the impunity with which it has acted since then in order to consolidate its power, has influenced my global understanding deeply.
Many years later, I was back in California and got involved with water justice issues in support of clean drinking water for Latina and Latino farmworkers and access to water for ceremonies for Indigenous Peoples, whose ancestors had been displaced by the Shasta Dam.
The struggle against dams has played an interesting role in my life. While supporting the Narmada struggle in India, I also contributed to the organisation of an anti-dams meeting in Thailand in November 2003. It was there I met this Mozambican guy who was fighting a mega-dam in his country, and who also turned out to be the love of my life. He was twenty-five; I was twenty-three. We are a movement love story. For years, we faced logistical challenges of how to be together, so I decided to once again I pick up my life and move continents to Mozambique. I was already a global person with family all around the world. My mother’s community lost their homeland in 1947, so I understand diaspora and home differently than others. And now it’s been twelve years. I’m a Mozambican citizen; I learnt Portuguese, the national language here. Being a part of the global climate justice movement while living in one of the poorest countries in the world has given me the opportunity to reflect on the last five hundred years of slavery, genocide, and colonialism. I have witnessed communities fighting against dams, coal, and gas projects, which are of course inextricably linked to the Global North’s addiction to fossil fuels and inequality. I’ve seen the conflict and militarization these projects breed, which is what always happens in these circumstances. I’m grateful to support the great work of Justiça Ambiental/Friends of the Earth Mozambique, and the anti-dam struggle in Mozambique is also still ongoing two decades later.
Working with Friends of the Earth International for over a decade has taken me from El Salvador to Uruguay, Brazil to Malaysia, Togo to Russia, Morocco to Poland... I’ve gained a huge appreciation for human beings, because we are the same no matter where we come from; we have the same core. And this links back to the southern African philosophy of Ubuntu: I am because we are. There’s an interconnected humanity that binds us all, and I’m profoundly grateful for the people and the experiences that have contributed to the person that I am today across these different continents, so I constantly ask myself: Who am I and how can I be of service to peoples and planet? That’s my forty-three year old history, which has led me to this point.
How does your work, in the past and present, align with FLAC’s work and what the Co-Laboratory is trying to achieve?
When querida María Alejandra, who I’ve known for a decade, contacted me about FLAC, the GCCWG, the TLWG, etc, my first thought was: What are all these acronyms?! [Laughter] As an aside, we need to foster creative spaces so we can come up with more beautiful names for the beautiful things we do; I’d be happy to participate and get the creative juices flowing [laughter continues]. I have been an activist and an implementer for the last twenty-something years. I’ve been on the frontlines of the struggle; I’ve documented what people are doing; I’ve highlighted these issues in different spaces. The invitation to participate in FLAC came at a point in my life when I was taking a step back to observe the big picture. I’ve been in the weeds for so long; I needed a moment of reflection, which is why I’m on sabbatical this year and my life is going in a new direction.
I’m aware of how important philanthropy is for the kind of change we need to bring about. There are, of course, ways in which philanthropy works that are not desirable, for example, when it’s about holding power over others, when it reflects historical inequalities, when it solely decides who gets funded and who doesn’t; why is most of the money sitting in certain countries? For me, FLAC is about having a bigger conversation about what our collective vision is. What is the kind of world we want to see? How are we going to address inequality and people’s basic needs? With so much wealth in the world, everyone should have their basic needs covered. So how do we get there? Let’s build that vision with people in philanthropy who have resources that need to be channeled to the right places. So, that’s why I’m interested and excited to be part of this process. I want to bring my experiences into this space, but I also want to be transformed myself as I learn more about philanthropy. The learning piece which is part of FLAC’s name is so critical to what we’re trying to achieve. Learning is the most important life skill we can have as we grow older. Having a mind that is always open and ready to accept new information is one way we fight the polarization and the hate politics that are taking over the world. So, I’m quite grateful for this group of people in philanthropy who are opening themselves up to the learning process and recognizing that human experience cannot be measured through a spreadsheet. It’s refreshing to know there are people who want to find new and better ways to support organizations and movements.
You’re relatively new to FLAC and are in the process of learning a lot about how the Co-laboratory works; however, based on what you know so far, is there anything that you have already flagged for yourself as a potential challenge to your participation?
There are aspects of FLAC’s work that I feel very at home with. I have a strong background in terms of environmental and climate issues; it has been my bread and butter for over twenty years, and it’s also what I studied in college: I have a degree in Environmental Sciences and then I got a master’s in Energy and Resources. I also understand politics and feminism really well, and I am grateful for the real-world experiences of working with people on the ground and supporting their struggles. What I don’t have is experience working closely with philanthropy. This will be a new challenge for me.
I think this is a space for us to discuss the injustices and inequalities that philanthropy has helped perpetuate by wielding power over movements and setting their agendas, but I also want to be challenged in some of my assumptions coming from the activist side; I want to change through this process. There are people within philanthropy working hard to change things. I’m looking forward to learning as much as I can as part of this space and sharing what I bring to the table so we can support philanthropy towards better directions.
During the November call, you talked about the urgent need for systemic change and just climate solutions. Could you tell us how you hold on to hope in the face of the enormity and the urgency of the change we need to bring about to avoid global climate catastrophe?
My answer is quite simple. We hope because we must continue living. Everyone has to carry on, and surely we want our existence to be as joyful as possible. The hope is that each of us have the power to construct our lives in a way that feels most joyful to us and is the most just. For example, it’s not only that we want renewable energy; we want an energy system where local peoples have rights over how that energy is used, set up, and operated: Energia para quê e para quem? as we say in Portuguese. Energy for whom and for what? These are the deeper questions about solutions that we need to be asking. We need a fossil fuel phaseout but it has to happen with justice and equity. We need rights for all peoples.
It’s important to keep in mind that we can’t do everything. The philosophy of the Gita tells us we need to do our karma, our action, our duty. But we cannot be attached to the outcome or result, which is not actually in our hands anyway. That’s what gives me peace and grounding: I will do whatever is in my control, but I cannot invest all of myself in results that are out of my control.
We are here on this Earth, at this moment in time, as the polycrisis unfolds around us and things often feel hopeless. One way we can make sense of this is “I will do my part, and I will try to live in a way that brings more people into the struggle and supports them to become more aware of their actions and their consequences and how they interact with the system.” If we put all of our efforts together, it may add up to a better, more just world. However, I cannot confidently say that any of this will lead to a better world. I cannot put my hand on fire that we, human beings, will not wipe ourselves out. Things seem to be headed that way. The polycrisis continues to bring more suffering, more extreme weather events, more inequality, more hate politics, more polarization. But today we need to sow different seeds that we’ll want to reap in the future. Just as Maya Angelou said: “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”
We have to try and model the values and practices we want to see. That’s what matters, not your religion, your national origin, your class, or how much money is in your endowment. What are your values? Solidarity, sufficiency, cooperation, care, love, or something else? The challenges are huge, but we’ve been given the opportunity to build something together—beyond that, we don’t have control, and that’s okay. For me, a successful day is: “Whatever I did today in service to peoples and planet, I did with a sincere heart, a learning heart.” In my early twenties I didn’t understand this. I just thought, “We’re going to change the world!” Now I know we will do our best, and if we are lucky, we will also change ourselves and the people around us in the process!
What do you like to do on your spare time? Do you have non-human companions? What’s your favorite place to visit or hang out at?
There are no non-human companions in my house in terms of pets because we travel so much it wouldn’t be fair to them. We only have plants.
I like to dedicate my spare time to finding joy. The polycrisis is bad enough without always feeling down about it. I love spending time with people. Human connection is so important. My family is spread across at least three continents; I need to find joy in really being present with the people I love wherever I find myself.
In Mozambique I love being in nature, which is still very much a feature of the country. When we go to visit my in-laws, we often see giraffes, zebras, and even elephants as we drive through Maputo National Park. We try to attune ourselves to the whale migration, the tides, where in the horizon the sun sets on the Summer Solstice on 22 December versus the Winter Solstice on 20 June. We find value in showing our respect for the natural cycles of the earth and being place-based despite being global. So, I try to be present, and I try to enjoy things in every place I visit that are only available to me there. I also enjoy talking to myself when I’m out in nature; that connection is critical. We live very close to the fisherfolk village by the Indian Ocean, so I enjoy letting the vastness of the ocean and the universe take me over. I’m falling in love with the universe and all the billions of years of evolutionary process that brought us where we are.
However, I also use my free time to think about the issues we’ve discussed during the interview. I can’t run away from them any more than I can run away from myself, so I don’t try to escape them or distract myself from them. But this is also a way for me to connect with myself and others, and there’s beauty in this way of connecting, of bridging the lightness and the heaviness of life. I am the bridge that connects my work time, which is dedicated to the heaviness of life, and my personal time, which is dedicated to the lightness of life without disrespecting the difficult experiences people go through. Grounding yourself in lightness and beauty while being ever mindful of the heaviness fuels your ability to better serve peoples and planet,