The Sustainable Lifestyle of the Warlis

Adivasis are considered the original inhabitants of India. They were—and often still are—believed to be “primitive tribals” by the “civilised mainstream”, a classification which has rationalised their oppression. However, in spite of the invading “civilisation”, they still live in a manner which has sustained them for millennia. There are several clans of Adivasis in Maharashtra, India. The Warlis, considered the Kings of the Jungle, occupy the region north of Mumbai. The Warlis have survived for millennia in harmony with their environment and without oppressing others. Their culture incorporates the spiritual and the material, the living and the non-living, into one integral whole. They consider themselves a part of living Nature and hence Nature is not exploitable. These holistic concepts may not be verbally expressed as such but are evident from their myths and daily life. The book The Sustainable Lifestyle of the Warlis discusses how the Warlis show no desire to take from their jungles more than they require to satisfy their immediate basic needs. Though references are made mainly to Warlis, their lifestyle applies to other Adivasis as well.