Simran Sethi is one of my favorite "woman warriors" crusading for the planet. I first noticed her in Vanity Fair magazine, posing on a wind farm in a futuristic vehicle (which I have now identified as the cruiser in Jurassic Park.)
A short bit from her long resume: Simran was the environmental correspondent for NBC News, which included contributions to CNBC, MSNBC, and TODAY, read more here.
Simran was also the anchor and writer of the Sundance Channel’s environmental programming, The Green, which led us to ask her to be our moderator for a panel and a segment called People of Color Don't Care About The Environment, way back in 2008!
Fast forward to today, Simran has recently published her HarperCollins book Bread Wine Chocolate, The Slow Loss of Foods We Love, a "love letter to food." The book is a delicious romp with Simran as she travels the world to follow the paths of our favorite foods from seed to table. Meeting with scientists to farmers, she links the serious decline of diversity in seeds, crops, and our environmental degradation with our passion, pursuit of taste, and communion with our food.
What we love and desire, we save with all our heart.
And now for my drawing of Simran. So, I have this visual thing for botanically-oriented, cornucopia-ish heraldic seals. Those with lush vessels or shields filled with fruit and vegetables, adorned with ribbons, tassels, or animals unfurling on either side always seemed like wombs to me. Symbols of creation and connection.
So here is my heroine, Simran, pictured as an earthy Mama with her womb skirt, a full bowl of the earth's best, and her arms holding precious botanical plants and seeds.
"The world moves on a woman's hips," sung David Byrne of the Talking Heads. It seems the more we listen to our "women warriors" we just might re-birth our earth: clean up our room, save the planet, and save our messy, little selves.
