These Personal Journeys Will Inspire You To Rebuild Your Partnership With The Earth

WANDERING EYES
Illustrations by Neethi
Urvashi Bahuguna, author of the critically lauded poetry collection, Terrarium, and No Straight Thing Was Ever Made, provides an exclusive must-read list, bringing together thematically diverse literary works that are awash in visceral descriptions of the natural world.

WALK ON THE WILD SIDE
Text by Shreya Dasgupta. Photographs by Parnil Vishwasrao
The rugged topography of central India’s Chambal valley is expertly navigated by cinematographer Anuj Rakesh Dhawan’s lens in the Hindi movie Sonchiriya. Shreya Dasgupta plays guide as her well-trained eye tracks the sinuous camerawork, zeroing in on the specific terrains, vegetation and wildlife that get screen time.

NATURAL JUSTICE
Text by Anandita Bhalerao. Illustration by Rohan Hande
Most of us are only just waking up to the urgency of climatic action. When the stakes are so high, what can individual action solve? Mridula Mary Paul, an environmental policy expert, is proof of the tenacity needed to effect systemic change. It’s not glamorous, and the rewards are few and far between, but that doesn’t stop her from aiming big.

BREW THE RIGHT THING
Text by Sharanya Deepak
As Indian coffee culture advances and consumers become more discerning, the founder of the Bengaluru-based Black Baza Coffee continues to help the Adivasi community to leverage their innate ties with their habitats and earn a rightful share of the business.

Photograph by: Indrajeet Rajkhowa

THE LIVES AQUATIC
Photographs by Shaunak Modi. Text by Shirin Mehta
Shaunak Modi photographs beautiful corals, zoanthids and sea sponges against Mumbai’s skyline.

Blue Buttons

Also known as Porpita Porpita, these are chondrophores – close relatives of jellyfish – and are seasonal visitors to our city. These free-floating animals live in the open ocean but are brought ashore in Mumbai just before the monsoons by strong landward winds. Interestingly, even though it looks like one animal, it is a colony of many tiny animals that have evolved to live together as one large organism. with different roles assigned to each one in the colony.

THE FOREST FOR THE TREES
Text by Kamakshi Ayyar 
Nirupa Rao’s illustrations are an exploration of wildlife and nature. In addition to appearing on her own books, her detailed works have featured on the covers of a few Amitav Ghosh novels. During an informative chat with her, Kamakshi Ayyar discovers that the botanical artist’s creative technique is a lot more complex than meets the eye.

SARTORIAL ECONOMICS
Text by Akanksha Pandey
Sisters Tashi and Tara Mitra demonstrate how deviating from the mainstream can bend the way we think, live and dress.

Photograph by Varun Narayanan

KEEPING IT LOCAL
Text by Ranjabati Das. Illustrations by Karan Mhatre
Eco-feminist and scholar Dr Vandana Shiva on the importance of green spaces and her favourite spots in the state for when she yearns for solitude.

LIVE AND LET LIVE
Text by Shirin Mehta. Photographs by Sushant Chhabria. Styling by Nitya Arora. Assisted by Shweta Navandar. Hair and Make-Up by Cassandra Kehren at Toabh Creative
Gaytri Bhatia left a corporate job in America to take over Vrindavan Farm on the outskirts of Mumbai, transforming it into a fully-sustainable, organic venture…. See how the former city dweller has adapted her daily routine for this life-changing transition.

Blue shirt, from Crow; lungi, Gaytri's own.

DIRTY WORK
Text by Joanna Lobo. Photographs By Clinton Vaz / vRecycle
He’s been working hard for two decades to instil a sense of civic responsibility in the community, having caught the attention of the local government when he was in his early twenties. We converse with the hands-on eco-warrior, who is changing Goa’s system of waste management.