The Living Air: The Pleasures of Birds and Birdwatching by Aasheesh Pittie
A collection of essays that offer a fresh perspective into birdwatching and its transformative experience.
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Varghese
A sprawling literary fiction novel set in the backwater regions and estuaries of Kerala, this book takes readers through three generations of an orthodox Malayali Christian family and subtly portrays water as a silent dictator – the creator of destinies.
Smoke and Ashes: A Writer’s Journey Through Opium’s Hidden Histories by Amitav Ghosh
Part travelogue, part memoir, this book delves into history to find the role of one plant in shaping the world economically and culturally today.
A Walk up the Hill: Living with People and Nature by Madhav Gadgil
An earnest account of a celebrated ecologist’s life, a documentation of his work and encounters, this book blends personal journeys with the larger, crucial discussion on our relationship with the environment.
Marginlands: Indian Landscapes on the Brink by Arati Kumar Rao
A magical blend of captivating photography and evocative text, this book is a compelling narrative of India’s vanishing landscapes, the people entwined with them and the knowledge they carry.
Intertidal: A Coast and Marsh Diary by Yuvan Aves
This deeply meditative memoir and journal, among other things, revolves around the writer’s inner and outer world. It takes the reader into estuaries, marshes, and coasts in and around Chennai and the multiple species that inhabit those spaces.
Women In The Wild: Stories of India’s Most Brilliant Women Wildlife Biologists, edited by Anita Mani
A chronicle of India’s successful biologists and ecologists, their journeys in conservation, their struggles and victories, this book is an ode to the women who dared to fight for the natural world. It spotlights the role of women in conservation and their largely invisbilised stories.
Shades of Blue: Connecting the Drops in India’s Cities by Harini Nagendra and Seema Mundoli
Offering a glimpse into the water bodies in Indian cities, this book also addresses the threats they face. Interspersed with anecdotes (both scientific and anthropological), myths and vignettes, it shows humans’ connection with water, historically and culturally.
Rescuing a River Breeze by Mrinalini Harchandrai
Set in Goa, on the banks of River Mandovi, this novel traces the life of a girl on the cusp of womanhood battling identity in a worn-torn region.
Dattapaharam: Call of the Forest by V.J. James, translated by S. Ministhy
A moving tale about a group of friends searching for their guide and leader, this surreal novel inspects man’s deep connection with nature.