“A man becomes a man not for the wealth inherited, nor for the station that the societies confer. A man becomes a man when he knowingly walks the line between life and death with the passion that life demands and the dispassion that death deserves’. This was what Sadhguru wrote on the demise of, Anil Madhav Dave, the son of Maa Narmada.
The Late Anil Madhav Dave, environment and river conservationist, former union minister and lastly a politician, for whom his work was always a matter that was beyond the concept of competitive politics. His connect with Narmada was more an emotional one, he believed that a river binds the diversity that we have in our country. In his 60 years of life, the river and environment were the core focus areas for which he completely devoted his life. He used to say “Narmada is not merely a river but a lifeline for the state. It not only serves our needs but also in terms of our civilizational history, the cultural identity of Madhya Pradesh is – Narmada”. In one of his many fine speeches in the Rajya Sabha, he emphasised that “ A river cannot be called a water body, a river is a living entity which engages with you in its own way”. He sought to breathe life in our imagination and vision of the great river. And it is this very thought process of his that reflected in the unparalleled work that he was doing. Narmada had a spiritual impact on his life which ended on its banks two years back.
Anil Madhav Dave was also election strategist par excellence and had immaculate & sharp organisational skills. He was deputed in the Bharatiya Janata Party right before the 2003 assembly elections when there was a huge vacuum in the state and the party was gearing up to fight against the mighty Digvijay Singh and his rule of 10 years in Madhya Pradesh. BJP not only won that election but it also managed to sow the seeds for the next 15 years. Additionally, he was the chief strategist for the assembly elections in 2003, 2008 and 2013 and Lok Sabha elections of 2004,2009 & 2014. After the assembly elections in 2003 he was appointed as one of the advisors to the then Chief Minister, Uma Bharati. He was also the founder of Madhya Pradesh Jan Abhiyaan Parishad which worked as a parent organisation to work, interlink and empower the SHGs and NGOs in Madhya Pradesh. In the year 2009, he was elevated to the Rajya Sabha. He led multiple important parliamentary committees like the Select Committees on Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill 2013 & Real Estate (Regulation& Development) Bill 2013.
With his rare passion to serve Narmada, he started a campaign which later turned into an organisation called “Narmada Samagra”, a non-profit organisation which solely works on the conservation and revival of the Narmada river. Ever since then “Narmada Samagra” has been organising The International River Festival which is a gathering of river & environment conservationists and leaders who discuss & deliberate on issues related to river and its conservation. Even today when the world is facing unprecedented challenges due to the CoVid19 outbreak, Narmada Samagra and its volunteers have been providing help in the form of rations, essentials and medicines to tribal population through “ River Ambulance” in various parts of the state. This in itself it is a testimony to the fact that Anil Madhav Dave was not just an activist or a politician but an institution in himself, whose rich legacy in the service of Narmada was just not restricted to river conservation but was also focussed on environment protection and other socio-cultural aspects associated with it.
He was a man whose life was a manifestation of simplicity and selfless service to others. Even after he died his love and service for the environment was very much visible in his will, in which he said: “ Build no memorial in my name, if anyone wants to do something in my memory, plant trees and maintain them.” In 2016, his appointment as Union Minister in the Modi Cabinet came as a surprise to many for a simple reason that not many believed that he fit the bill of a politician, but who would have thought that his experience in the field of environment would one day be the biggest reason for him to lead the country’s environment and climate change agenda.
As the concerned minister, he was very vocal of the strong leadership of Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. During the negotiation process of the Paris Climate Agreement, he publicly said “ India, particularly under the leadership of PM Modi, won’t make any decisions under pressure” and finally on October 2016, India became one of the early ratifiers of the accord which positioned the country as one of the most responsible and serious global player’s on climate change and environmental issues. Many opposition leaders would also not shy away from praising him for the way he led various negotiations during his stint as the environment minister of India.
On 18th May, it was the second death anniversary of this great son of “Maa Narmada” who lived only for the selfless service to this Holy lifeline of Madhya Pradesh. His life and legacy will be an experience for the people to know what it takes to worship and offer services to a river. Mahatma Gandhi once said “ God is omnipresent, even a pebble in the Narmada can represent Him and serve as an object of worship”. Every drop of Narmada will make you feel the presence of God. And as Anil Madhav Dave you used to say about Maa Narmada:
“ If you feel it, you can talk to it and when you will talk to it, you will come to know her love for you”.
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