Cauvery Calling : Mysuru Maharaja flags off rally from Mysuru Palace; Mandya welcomes Cauvery Calling
6 September 2019, Mysuru: Maharaja of Mysuru HRH Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamarja Wodeyar flagged of a motorcycle rally led by Sadhguru, Founder, Isha Foundation, from the Jaya Vijaya Gate (North Gate) of the Mysuru Palace early this morning. Last evening, Sadhguru announced the flag off and invited Mysureans to ride with him. More than 300 riders answered Sadhguru’s call on Friday morning as the rally roared off to a boisterous start going past the Gun House on to Ramaswamy Circle and entering Ashoka Road before ending at Dodda Gadiyara.
Sadhguru also visited Chamundi Hill before the flag off and included a conversation with India cricketer Veda Krishnamurthy, in his morning schedule before gearing up for the rally and the onward journey to Mandya. The rally reached Mandya in the afternoon where Sadhguru addressed a public event at Ambedkar Bhavana.
The Maharaja of Mysuru along with guests Shri. Made Gowda, freedom fighter and former Lok Sabha MP; Smt. Sumalatha Ambarish, sitting Lok Sabha MP from Mandya; Shri. Rockline Venkatesh, actor, producer and distributor; South Indian actor and model Haripriya; Deputy Commissioner Shri. M.V. Venkatesh as well as Dr. M. A. Shankar, retired Director of Research and Head of Dry Land Farming, GKVK, Bengaluru, participated in the event.
Sadhguru prefaced his talk with an invocation. “Cauvery is one of Karnataka’s treasures, but today she is in distress,” said Sadhguru. “Rivers, lakes, ponds, wells are not sources of water. We have only one source of water, the monsoon rain. The only way to hold down this water is with trees. We’ve removed 87% of trees in the last few decades. This is killing the soil. Nation is nothing but the soil we have. The body is also nothing but soil. We have killed this living soil in two generations though our ancestors tilled the same land for 12,000 years and managed to keep the soil alive. Agroforestry will not only revive the soil but bring insurance to the famer on his own farmland. Farmers will not need to run to banks for money in times of need. The trees themselves will act as banks.”
The Maharaja of Mysuru took the stage to a warm reception from the audience and spoke of how Mother Cauvery had nurtured all the dynasties of the erstwhile Mysore kingdom. He promised complete support to Cauvery Calling on behalf of the Mysuru Palace.
Smt. Sumalatha Ambarish called upon the people of Mandya to accord full support to Cauvery Calling. She said the movement promotes farmer wellbeing and unless we join hands to ensure the wellbeing of our “annadatas”, we will have neither food nor water in the future.
Nonagenarian freedom fighter Shri. Made Gowda reminisced about the days when all of people’s needs were met by Nature including treatment for illnesses. He wished the initiative success and assured support for the movement.
Shri. M.V. Venkatesh said that rapid urbanization and increase in population has severely depleted groundwater levels, so planting trees in the river basin is of vital importance to ensure rivers flow all year round. He said that the state forest department will distribute saplings to farmers and provide consultative advice for three years to promote agroforestry.
Rockline Venkatesh said though all of us had heard Cauvery calling all these years, none of us knew what to do about it till Sadhguru came forward with this initiative. He said we should all come together to strengthen Sadhguru’s hands to ensure that the next generation at least has water to drink.
Actor Haripriya said that though there have been several similar campaigns in the past, none reached this scale or magnitude. She said that most of the famous Kannada poets wrote mainly about Nature indicating the reverence with which we held the natural elements, in the past. She pledged to contribute saplings for every film she makes in the future.
The rally will move to Shivanasamudra tomorrow from where it will proceed to Bengaluru on 8 September.
Cauvery Calling is a first of its kind campaign, setting the standard for how India’s rivers – the country’s lifelines – can be revitalized. It will initiate the revitalization of the Cauvery river by supporting farmers to plant 242 crore trees in the river basin. This will increase water retention in the basin, while improving the income of farmers by 3-8 times in 5-7 years and transforming the lives of 84 million people. Visit: CauveryCalling.org or call 80009 80009. #CauveryCalling.
