Nagaraja Shetty did not want the day to dawn. It would mean that he could see exactly how much the elephants had taken. But the remorseless sun did rise, only to reveal a completely destroyed paddy field. Nothing was left of his meagre one acre. Starvation and deepening debt stared him in the face, but […]

If this is a vision of dying, it is a reassuringly rowdy affair, more bar-room brawl than somber wake.  The corpse lies all around, its skeleton slowly decaying and it is difficult to reanimate her in your imagination from the scattered ribs that remain.  Rowdy rabbles swarm around, and every so often, soundless scuffles break […]

Humans have always looked upon everything in nature as resources. Forests continue to provide us a staggering range of raw and finished products. Wildlife too, are resources. And there are different ways of using these resources—we hunt deer for meat, trap tigers for skin, poach elephants for ivory. We cut trees to cook dinner, to […]

What would our life be like if we could see, but not discern? If we could hear, but not listen, and if we could touch, but not feel? How would we experience life if we could taste and smell, but not savour? What would we be like, as a species and as individuals, if we […]