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Satish Kumar

Sue Lawley's castaway is campaigner Satish Kumar.

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the peace campaigner Satish Kumar. He has dedicated his life to promoting a peaceful, measured way of living; walking thousands of miles to raise awareness for his cause. Satish was born in Rajasthan, India, in 1936. As a child he decided to follow a spiritual life and, until he was 18, Kumar lived the life of an itinerant Jain monk, travelling from village to village with no more possessions than a begging bowl and a change of clothes.

Then in 1961, news from Britain reached Kumar. The 90-year-old philosopher and peace campaigner Bertrand Russell had been arrested for his anti-nuclear activities and sentenced to a week in prison. Kumar saw it as a call to action - if a 90-year-old man was prepared to go to jail for peace, what could he, a young man in his 20s, contribute to the struggle? Together with his friend Prabhakar Menon, Satish walked to the four nuclear capitals - Moscow, Paris, London and Washington. Their journey began at the grave of Mahatma Gandhi and ended, two and a half years later at the grave of John F Kennedy. For the past 30 years Satish has edited the magazine Resurgence, which promotes an ecological way of living - and he has pioneered the Human Scale Education movement.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Ma Solitude by Georges Moustaki
Book: The Collected Writings by Mahatma Gandhi
Luxury: A spade

Available now

45 minutes

Last on

Fri 3 Jun 2005 09:00
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

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Music Played

  • Joan Baez

    Gracias a la Vida (here's to Life)

    • The Best of Joan C Baez.
    • A & M.

  • Bob Dylan

    Blowin' In The Wind

    • Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits.
    • Columbia.

  • M S Sabbulakshmi

    Pag Ghunghroo

    • Bhajans Mere to Girdha Gopal.
    • CDNF.

  • John Tavener

    Nunc Dimittis

    • The Best of John Taverner.
    • EMI.

  • Ravi Shankar

    Raga Piloo

    Artist: Yehudi Menuhin

    • The Ravi Shankar collection: West Meets East.
    • Angel.

  • John Lennon

    Imagine

    • The Very best of John Lennon / Lennon Legend.
    • Parlophone.

  • Castaway's Favourite

    • Georges Moustaki

      Ma Solitude

      • Master Serie.
      • Polgram.

  • Leonard Cohen

    Suzanne

    • Leonard Cohen's Greatest Hits.
    • Columbia.

  • Book Choice

    • The Collected Writings - Mahatma Gandhi

  • Luxury Choice

    • A spade

Credits

Presenter Sue Lawley
Interviewed Guest Satish Kumar

Broadcasts

  • Sun 29 May 2005 11:15
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
  • Fri 3 Jun 2005 09:00
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

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