Sometimes a single person can do what entire ministries in governments across the world fail to achieve: Integrated welfare of all the people and the ecology of an area. Bharat Singh Bisht in his first office Photo: Sathya SaranBharat Singh Bisht in his first office Photo: Sathya SaranSummary of this articleThe authorchecks out The Institute of Himalayan Environmental Research and Education in Uttarakhand, called INHERE for short. INHERE was an umbrella that protected villagers from the harshness of life in the mountains.INHERE is indeed a symbol of how man can do anything if he puts his mind and soul selflessly, to it.In 2022, deep in the heart of Uttarakhand, Bharat Singh Bisht suffered a stroke that rendered him unconscious. His wife, Sonali, was with him. Frantic calls made to the children in Delhi had them set out for Haldwani, even as Bisht was bundled into a car that would speed him towards a hospital. The road from Chinoni in the Almora district, in the heart of Uttarakhand twists and turns its way towards the plains. Sonali Bisht sat by her husband watching the window of hope slip away as the car navigated the hours that it took to reach Haldwani. By the time doctors could examine and offer help, Bharat Bisht had lost most of his mental faculties. There was nothing much to be done. He would have to live with the hope that some medical miracle would ease him out of the yoke of dependence that life had cruelly thrust on him.Six months earlier, the Bisht couple had been light of heart and full of hope. The project that had started as a seed almost 30 years ago was now not just a flowering tree, but had spawned a veritable forest that offered a better means of life to communities in the region and beyond. They had decided to leave city life behind, and spend the rest of their years in the cool, shaded, verdant environs of Chinoni, where he had returned from JNU to give back to the homeland of his ancestors, the learnings he had gained in sustainable living. Related ContentHindus Will Be Answerable for Bharat’s Fate: RSS Chief BhagwatUttarakhand Tops NITI Aayog’s Export Preparedness Index 2024Congress Credits Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra for Shaping 2024 Poll DiscourseClimate Crisis In Himachal, Uttarakhand MountainsRelated ContentHindus Will Be Answerable for Bharat’s Fate: RSS Chief BhagwatUttarakhand Tops NITI Aayog’s Export Preparedness Index 2024Congress Credits Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra for Shaping 2024 Poll DiscourseClimate Crisis In Himachal, Uttarakhand MountainsThe Institute of Himalayan Environmental Research and Education that he set up had grown from a small four room ‘office’ tucked away in the jungle into a thriving centre that helped countless villages improve their agriculture practices, conserve rain water, manage waste, and find myriad means of sustenance and independence from want and poverty.The villagers knew the organisation as INHERE. It was an umbrella that protected them from the harshness of life in the moun Read More