A fascinating account by a passionate marine environmentalist explaining why seaweeds are environmentally the most sustainable foods on our planet. ******************************* Hi! Do you guys know what a seaweed is? It’s like the spinach of the sea. You might have eaten it in a roll of sushi or a bowl of green salad or a soup. But most likely, you wouldn’t have tasted it at all. That’s because in India, we don't have a popular tradition of seaweeds. But that's about to change—I believe as the founder of a seaweed food company called The Good Ocean...
Mangroves are nature's superheroes! Found along India’s coastlines, they protect shores from big storms, tsunamis, and erosion with their strong roots. They filter out water impurities and sequester carbon, helping in the fight against climate change. Mangroves are also home to amazing creatures like Bengal tigers, Gangetic dolphins, and various birds! But they’re in danger. Pollution, shrimp farms, and urbanization are destroying these magical forests. We need to act fast to save them from being murdered—by replanting them, protecting their habitats, and raising awareness—because mangroves are more than …
Lavanya Karthik’s delightfully narrated and illustrated biography of Janaki Ammal, a path-breaking woman scientist in colonial India, inspires young readers. Edavalath Kakkat Janaki Ammal was one of India’s first female scientists, but before she broke glass ceilings, she was just a little girl in Kerala’s seaside town of Thalassery. The short, illustrated biography by Lavanya Karthik charmingly captures her story, looking for a dream world away from her hometown with rigid rules.The book is Janaki’s journey from being a seed to a blossoming forest. The storytelling is captivating even though the …
Deepak Dalal’s latest from Andaman Adventure series uncovers and solves mysteries on Barren Island amidst thrilling twists and volcanic wonders. With an idea to introduce a unique island that has something not seen anywhere else in India—an active volcano—children’s author Deepak Dalal continues his Andaman Adventure series with Barren Island. The book takes teenaged adventurers Vikram and Aditya, protagonists of several Dalal books, to Barren Island in the Andaman as they attempt to find answers to questions raised in the first book of this series, Andaman Adventure—The Jarawa. In this …
The triple planetary crisis refers to three interconnected environmental crises that pose a threat to humanity—climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss. We need to address this crisis by adapting to nature-based solutions that can leverage the inherent resilience of our ecosystem. One such solution is the conservation of mangroves. Mangroves are the kind of trees that are found in intertidal zones, between high tide and low tide, in tropical and subtropical regions...
Deep dive into the jungles undersea and gather some fascinating facts about the wonder world of seaweeds along India’s coastline.
Summarizing the Union Budget in a cool, simplified, less dreadful, more interesting, nowhere mind-boggling, and in quite a thought-provoking manner. *********************************** 11am, 1st February: a moment for which people across the country wait anxiously every year. Why?...
Trees are indispensable for our survival. We rely on them for fuel, fodder, medicine, and innumerable other necessities. They make our planet conducive for life. According to a research published by Nature Climate Change, the world’s forests sequestered about twice as much carbon dioxide as they emitted between 2001 and 2019, thus playing a critical role in mitigating climate change. Therefore, keeping in mind the saying, van se vayu, vayu se aayu (air from forests, life from air), planting saplings is very important for conserving our environment...
From privileges for a few to rights for all There was a time, not so long ago, when the so-called ‘civilised’ world was divided into free humans and slaves. Free humans were those who had the right to own property while the slaves were those who were considered as property. Free humans had the privilege to make decisions not only for themselves but also for their slaves. As we learnt from others who we thought were less civilised than us...
A simple, lucid explainer on the ‘what’ and ‘why’ of wildlife corridors. ******************************************************************************** When I was little, my grandparents used to tell me stories about how they left their small village in Rajasthan to travel to the big city of Jaipur for better opportunities. Today, I have left Jaipur for the even bigger city of Delhi to try my luck. I am sure all of you know of family members and friends who have migrated for studies, jobs, or marriage. All of us witnessed the plight of lakhs of people who migrated back to their villages on foot …
A passionate movie buff and avid videographer narrates his journey through the reels on the importance of films in spreading environmental awareness. **************************** Growing up in Perumannur, a small village in Kerala, my childhood was all about ploughing fields, playful cows and calves, and a big pond where I learnt swimming. I was so close to nature that it never occurred to me if the environment—with all its greenery, birds, trees, and grass—can ever be distinctively separate from us. My training, among the lush green coconut and rice fields...
