Chandi Prasad Bhatt (1934– ) is the Gandhian activist best known for the pioneering groundwork which led to the start of Indian environmentalism. In the early 1970s it was he who first urged Himalayan peasants to “hug the trees” as a form of non-violent protest against the logging of age-old forests, resulting in the internationally renowned Chipko Movement. This autobiography shows us a man whose strength, resilience, largeness of heart, and unshakeable belief in social equality encompass a pan-Indian and international message much larger than Chipko: had Mahatma Gandhi been reborn in the Garhwal Himalaya, he could not have taken better shape than Chandi Prasad Bhatt. Born into a poor Brahman family of temple priests, Chandi Prasad began life as a peasant who herded cows, tilled fields, and attended village schools. Though he learned Sanskrit to follow the family profession, he soon switched to becoming a ticketing clerk in a private bus company.