Environment and Ecology in India Socio - Cultural Life / Anoop K. Singh

The present paper explores the environmental dimensions of Indian socio-cultural life. The sustainability of this culture lies in the preservation and protection of the natural resources. The perception of nature as 'sacred' leads to a change in the total outlook of the people. The philosophy of the sacred model is completely opposed to the contemporary consumerism where a person accumulates things beyond his needs, leading to depletion of resources at a very rapid rate. To safeguard against this, it was enjoined that a person should draw from the common pool i.e. nature, only as much as is necessary for his existence, taking the needs of others' into consideration on the one hand, and being considerate of the 'holy' constituents of the nature, on the other. The celebration of festivals, worship of birds and faith in several trees manifest that how indian culture intermingled with ecology.