With improved technology and a much greater appetite among the young for books to remind them of the wonderful biosphere in which they live, it is heartening to see how many new, high-quality publications are emerging from within India. Here are three books that Sanctuary believes should be in every public library and in the homes of all those whose hearts beat to nature’s drum.
The Cobra’s Gaze
By Stephen Alter
Published by Aleph Book Company,
Hard cover, 424 pages,
Price: Rs. 999/-
My mind is in flux. From blackbuck in the Tal Chhapar Wildlife Sanctuary in Rajasthan, to elephants and oil in Digboi, Assam; Tipu Sultan and otters in the Kaveri to Captain James Forsyth and Korku tribals; and Jim Corbett and the Wolf-Child to Tamil Sangam poets and romance in nature, the landscape of Stephen Alter’s prose in The Cobra’s Gaze is vast, magnificent, layered, and intricate. This book is well worth investing your time on; for itinerant travellers and naturalists as a snapshot of nostalgia, and for enthusiasts and explorers as a dream and plan. From start to end, it is an ode to the natural world, and a lyrical prayer for its conservation.
In each of its over 20 chapters, Alter covers an ecosystem or Protected Area and its star species, weaving in details of grasses, insects, current conditions, and so much more that he observed along the way. The book is divided into three parts – Living Landscapes takes the reader through India’s forests and grasslands; Tracing the Edge is a dive into the rivers, coastlines, and wetlands; On Higher Ground climbs into the hills, mountains and grasslands of the country. To put together this journey into the wild world, the author has presented varied material in exquisite detail – scientific information, mythology, history and natural history, geography, and more, in addition to interviews and patient undertakings to remote, tough-to-reach locations. The prose moves swiftly and gracefully from one idea to another, like thoughts that pass through the mind… an insect-eating plant leads to a goral, which connects to an archer who directs you to a naturalist who melds into biophilia and umwelten (an organism’s unique perspective of the world). The book is written with the freshness of curiosity despite coming from an award-winning author, with great command over language, who hopefully has much more to pen in the coming years.
For me, The Cobra’s Gaze was a reminder of the enormity of conservation challenges ahead, and why we work so hard to protect the environment. And that there was and is still hope in pockets of wilderness, where the will to protect animals resides alongside. Alter’s writing highlights how conservation is a mission for a lifetime, involving thousands of people from frontline staff, officials, passionate individuals, authors like him, and so many more, and is an ongoing journey that we must persist to ensure the survival of animals and the ecosystems they live in, and the joy and insight they bring us. Like all the best literature, this book is a conduit to other authors, researchers and people that you must look up, since it covers India’s biodiversity, people and historic institutions such as the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS).
I felt thrilled every time I picked up the book. It warrants several readings, it’s like taking a magic carpet ride, because it is so packed with information, that you can mull over the contents. For instance in the chapter on the cheetah, beyond the debate about the reintroduction project, Alter talks about the invasive prickly pear, the remains of a leopard’s cow kill, river terns, history, ghost trees, and crocodiles. In his chapter on Assam, he describes feral horses from the world war; weaving a mystical narrative of the wild re-emerging in the progeny of domesticated creatures. He doesn’t shy away from identifying problems either – for instance, the prohibitive costs of exploring national parks. Writing about the Chambal, he shares this spiritual observation, “For a fish, a turtle, or a crocodile, flowing water is not just its home but also its frame of reference, the enveloping consciousness that an animal occupies and experiences.” He brings such lovely details to a book on biodiversity. Sample this piece – an intriguing myth about the Girnar Parvat in Gujarat says that when the Earth was first formed, mountains had wings and flew about in the sky like birds. The chapter is actually about the lions of Gir and birding in Gujarat!
I hope someday to watch an episodic documentary, just like the BBC retraced Last Chance to See in the steps of the inimitable Douglas Adams, that covers these areas in as much detail as Alter’s writing does, possibly hosted by him, in the company of the many naturalists and frontline nature heroes he has introduced in the book.
By Shatakshi Gawade
