Among the most disadvantaged communities of India are the forest-dwelling villagers, and yet they are asked to pay the highest price when the state decides to take a stand for the sake of biodiversity and removes resident peoples from protected areas. Displacement should be undertaken only as part o
The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai Viking/Penguin
Kiran Desai's second novel is set in the Darjeeling hills. It opens in Cho Oyu, a beautiful, crumbling house
Temple architecture has.an important place in the history of the subcontinental civilisation, as part of both its religious and aesthetic expressions. Whether Buddhist, Jain or Hindu, the architecture is
There's an acute lack of philosophy in this land.
Basics haunt us, secure us, insecure us, and rule our cramped identities.
Our fears have gotten bigger than us.
Chha Mana Atha Guntha (Six Acres and a Third) by Fakir Mohan Senapati, Penguin Modern Classics 2006
The 19th century Oriya novelist Fakir Mohan Senapati was, at least in his
Emphasis on common elements of everyday life - a piece of cloth, a verse of poetry - allows pastoralists in Gujarat to express a memory and yearning for Sindh.
In the mountain fastness of Nanda Devi, which gave the Chipko movement to Southasia, the local communities are battling the Uttaranchal authorities to retain benefits from tourists when they arrive - 'ecotourism' or not.
