Friends & strangers speak up for Disha Ravi

BENGALURU: Disha Ravi is a familiar face among Bengaluru’s climate activists involved in lake clean-up drives, tree plantation campaigns and climate talks for the past two years. She did her BBA from Mount Carmel College in 2019 and has been an inspirational figure thanks to her passion and zeal. Her college remembers her as an academically bright student and a regular winner in inter-college competitions that required managerial, leadership and communication skills.


“In school and college, Disha enjoyed doing what most of us do — vibe to the latest

Bollywood

songs, keep up with You-Tubers who talk about skincare and fashion, watch Netflix, cycle and chill with friends or her dog Sammy,” her friends said. “She loves baking and cooking and especially experimenting with vegan recipes. She is determined to make the world’s best hummus.”

Disha lives in a low-lying area in a Bengaluru suburb and her house is flooded every time it rains, her friends said. “She has experienced the impact of the climate crisis first hand,” they added. “Her grandparents were farmers and she has seen them struggle through droughts and floods and battle changes in soil and other problems. She has struggled a lot and, at 22, is the breadwinner of her family.”

Disha’s role model is

Jane Goodall

, the primatologist who spent her life in the jungles of Asia and

Africa

studying chimpanzees for 25 years. They say she dreams of working with turtles and marine life and hopes to pursue a career in ecological conservation and restoration. Her primary interests are in climate finance, water crisis, environmental policy, intersectionality in environment movement and creating a platform for those affected by climate catastrophes.

Many fellow-activists have known her since she was 19, when she began participating in environmental-related activities. They admired her for her zeal to the climate crisis cause. “She is one of the most selfless activists I have interacted with,” said Mukund Gowda, 25, a citizen activist. “She understood nuances of waste segregation, climate change and even issues in the Atlantic Ocean.”

Gowda said Disha shunned the limelight. “She would do most of the groundwork, yet would choose to stand on the sidelines,” he said, adding that her arrest “is unfair and a tactic to induce fear in the minds of youngsters”. Another activist, who did not want to be named, said: “In my last interaction with her, she was looking for an additional job.” He added that she is a vegan and a proponent of animal rights.

Fellow activists, who hoped she would be acquitted soon, said: “Even while others wavered about the movement, she stuck around, giving voice to the voiceless.”