The streets of Jayanagar, a residential area in Bengaluru are strewn with spring flowers. Yellow copper pods, lilac crape myrtles, pink-and-white honges and orange gulmohurs blaze overhead and underfoot; vitality and senescence mirroring each other. The normally hard surfaces – kerb, pavement, road and concrete – are softened by fallen petals and the duff of stamens from rain trees. Every[Read More…]
I am witness to the murder of forests. To be silent in the face of this is unconscionable. I am witness to the birth of forests. To be silent in the face of this is unconscionable. I am witness to… nay… I’m beholden to…. nay…. I’m alive and breathing and who I am because of the work of forests. To be silent in the face[Read More…]
To survive the holocaust of planetary proportions that is upon us, one must defend her or get out of the way. I live across a small stream from an ancient rainforest in Wayanad, Kerala. It has a constancy that’s baffling, appearing more or less the same to me, for all the years I’ve been here. The forest sustains. As do[Read More…]
Lit by chlorophyll and the conjurations of trees, there’s a trail through a forest along the Stone River where the light never repeats. Slender and winding, this is a generous trail; always bearing gifts. Some days it offers melodies; other days, stories. Often it offers ideas and memories. It does this, I’ve now come to understand, through streams of sensory ticklings. Paintings:[Read More…]
The world in which each of us lives does not necessarily yield the world in which we all live together. Where does your world end and mine begin? I live in a world grown from tall trees, tiny tender plants and a scintillating diversity of creatures, which is covered in cloud and drenched in rain for a greater part of[Read More…]
It was a bright morning in late October, with a light breeze and no mist. Crinkled woody seeds of todayan, a beautiful tree with upturned leaves, cracked open underfoot as I walked through a rainforest at the Gurukula Botanical Sanctuary in Wayanad district, Kerala, where I live and work. Balsam capsules sprung open on touch. In the course of a few minutes,[Read More…]
Field notes from a botanical sanctuary: changing weather patterns are causing havoc to plants. I love being at home, in Wayanad, when the south-west monsoon arrives. This hilly district of northern Kerala is still full of tall trees and myriad creatures, and drenched in rain for several months in a year. From my window, I see Banasuramala, a beautiful mountain[Read More…]
First published through EarthLines Magazine, Issue 16 I sing to elephants. It’s what I do. I sing because I like to, and because I believe my elephant neighbours are comfortable in my singing presence. I sing all the time, and it’s when I sing that I know more precisely how I feel. My own speech never does justice to my[Read More…]
Let us begin with theettam. Or if you prefer, with Leelamma’s kitchen, where thee (fire) burns. Between the wood-burning stove and the community pit-loo, an ecological picaresque unfolds. Perhaps this is why, in Malayalam, theettam (excretum) and thee’tta (food) are near-homonyms.Newcomers to the language, whose ears (and tongues) cannot distinguish between ‘tt and tt (slight upward flick of[Read More…]
Wright shooting: 3rd day of riot: Curfew: Protesters across U.S. call for justice 
Ramsey Clark: One of the Greatest 
Language and people 
Villagers help leopard clamber out of well 
Ambedkar on Castes In India And Among Muslims 
Crystallisation of Democratic Forces on Every Front Ignites Flame of Resistance to Confront Neo-fascism in Punjab 
Slaughter Central 
Israel Rejects ICC Investigation: What Are the Possible Future Scenarios? 
Making Yemen Bleed 
How America’s leadership weakened during the pandemic 
Living with the Virus? – A New Nirvana for our Times 
Narrow Response to Crisis Situations Which Ignores Basic Causes Will Not Resolve The Crisis 
Ramadhan: The spiritual treat laced with mercy 
Same land-Different perspectives: How Google Map eliminated LoC, but only for Indian users 
Japan government will release irradiated water from Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea 
Riot, curfew, protesters besiege Brooklyn Center police department in Minnesota, U.S. 
Lok Rang has created an alternative space for Folk artists against indecency and vulgarity 
Human Trafficking & Violence Against Naga Tribal Girls and Women in South India 
I A Rehman : The torchbearer of Human Rights Movement in Pakistan 
Do Not Let Hindutva Rulers Destroy Heritage Of Communal Unity Of Jallianwala Bagh Martyrs 
The commons 
Beautiful Plots: Israel Sabotages the Natanz Nuclear Facility 
A BACK to the FUTURE DIALECTIC 
COVID Times Should Not Be Used As A Cover to Push Narrow Interests 
Drinking Water Needs of Wild Life Need More Care 
Why I am not a Hindu woman: A personal story 
Homage to legendary Comrade Anuradha Gandhy on 13th death anniversary 
Why Women get obliterated in Kerala renaissance history? 
Neo-Imperialism and Indigenous People 
Democracy and the Rule of Law: A lesson from Norway 
Worst drought in modern history may hit Western U.S. 
Indigenous Land Grabbed For Solar Power Plant In Assam 
Nimble Failure: The Australian COVID-19 Vaccination Program 
The Secret Wars of Africa’s Sahel: What Is Behind Mali’s Ongoing Strife 
Financiers of the Belarusian dictator 
Sant Kabir—People’s Poet and Social Reformer Whose Enduring Legacy Still Impacts Millions 
Apple Orchards Should Stick to Sustainable Paths 
Impact of Social Media on Our Attention Span and its Drastic Aftermath COVID-19: South Asia passes the grisly milestone of 15 million cases 
Remembering Sunder Navalkar 
When I founded Countercurrents.org in 2002, Disha Ravi who was arrested for sedition yesterday was a two-year-old toddler. In 2002, the CO2 level in the atmosphere was 370 ppm. Now it is 415 ppm. In just 19 years CO2 levels increased by just over 2ppm/year. The level of cumulative greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, including Methane, Nitrous Oxide etc is[Read More…]
