The book under review studies the works of two contemporary social–religious leaders who have used their concept of dharma for the economic and development needs of rural villages in parts of north India. They are Dr Anil Joshi in Uttarakhand and Baba Seechewal in Punjab. Based exclusively on these two examples, the book claims to present a holistic model transcending the dichotomies of nature versus culture and science versus religion. A very ambitious project indeed, that too in a hundred pages or so. The result is that this slim volume looks more like a propaganda exercise than a serious academic work. The title itself is misleading.

This book begins with an interesting foreword by Purushottama Billimoria. He enquires, is the war between science and religion a Western invention? He seems to believe in a conspiracy theory. He suspects that some rationalists deliberately drive a wedge between science and religion. He argues that India has always espoused a healthy and happy syncretism between the temporal and the spiritual. I wish this were true! He meanders through numerous names and finally ends debunking Meera Nanda's argument on the emerging ‘state–temple–corporate complex’ of the Hindu right. Armed with this conceptual background, the author propounds his ideas on dharma and science. His dharma is different from religion. It encompasses religion, ethics, virtue, nature, cosmic laws and so forth. Similarly, he explains the Sanskrit word Vijnana in terms of the ancient texts, and its true manifestation he finds in the social-welfare works of Dr Joshi and Baba Seechewal. Not only the spiritual babas, the author claims, but also even the Indian scientists have become more spiritual, thanks to quantum physics. He does not seem to make any distinction between science and technology. Are they two sides of the same coin? There is virtually no discussion of science; science ends with quantum physics, and the book is all about technology, more appropriately ‘appropriate technology’. He quotes Dr Joshi: ‘Thousands of years of natural and cultural resources should be maintained using traditional technologies otherwise we will end up destroying them … Balanced and multilateral thinking is required for sustainability’ (p. 9). It is no doubt a very valid point. The problem comes when he argues that the remedy lies in dharma, ‘which provides the rules to discipline the society such as by instilling the fear of God’ (p. 9). Thus science, religion, tradition and fear are all mashed and meshed together and this recipe is supposed to be the remedy for all our ills.

Next two chapters provide the ethnography and importance of HESCO (the Himalayan Environmental Studies and Conservation Organisation). Dr Anil Joshi founded it in 1979 to transform rural society based on the foundations of dharmic principles and scientific technologies. The most significant effort was the installation of numerous watermills (gharats) to provide electricity for households in hill country where the government supply did not reach. Water harvesting, traditional agriculture, self-employment for women, a farmer's bank and so on were some other areas of HESCO's activity. The author moves on to provide details of such activities based on the personal interviews he must have conducted with great effort and zeal. Some of these are really significant from an ethnographic point of view. HESCO itself is an NGO (non-governmental organisation) and works with a dozen other NGOs active in the Kumaon and Garhwal regions. As the government departments are often inefficient, they prefer to give grants in the form of projects to these NGOs and thus some development work is done. It is a win–win situation for both. The Department of Science and Technology of the government of India was relatively generous with such grants. Numerous success stories of self-help and community service are recounted here and sometimes, as if suddenly awakened from a slumber, the author links it to the dharmic and karmic philosophies of his protagonist, Dr Joshi. There is an interesting reference (p. 56) to four Cs; Chinta (planning and policy), Chintan (discussion with the society), Chaitanya (self-consciousness) and Chita (pyre). Dr Joshi's philosophy is simple – to rise above selfishness – but very difficult to practise. He would like all local resources to be harnessed instead of the big dams. Small power plants, rainwater harvesting and gharats are definitely more sustainable, no doubt. He has chosen the middle path combining the Gandhian philosophy of self-reliance with modern technologies. A great scientist like Meghnad Saha may not have agreed with him but Saha's revered teacher Acharya P.C. Ray would have.

There is a short chapter on Baba Seechewal, who enthused people to clean the Kali Bein river in the Doaba region. In the book he does not get the same attention as Dr Joshi, but his work is no less important and probably more dharmic. Similar work was done in late 1960s by Sri Sri Thakur of Deoghar on the Dhodba rivulet. Recently Sadguru Jaggi Vasudev has made similar initiatives. The government of India is currently spending millions on cleaning the Ganges. It is true in a deeply religious country like India that the dharmagurus can make a difference. The book ends with a call to engage with tradition and the non-Western psyche in more constructive ways. Our obsession with gross domestic product (GDP) will not solve India's problems. It needs to be replaced by the method of gross environmental product (GEP). Green economics have been in the air for quite some time, but the burgeoning population upsets all calculations, which this book conveniently ignores. Flogging the colonial or the Western horse is not enough.