“The Sunderbans has been a large part of my life. It’s a strange and wild landscape,” said author Amitav Ghosh of the mangroves that feature in his book Jungle Nama, during a session on Day 1 at The Hindu Lit for Life 2021. He was in conversation with Somak Ghoshal, writer, and the books editor of Mint Lounge.
Mr. Ghosh spoke at length about the story and verse in the book in which he uses the vernacular poyar meter adapted for the English language.
“Reading in silence was not a practice until the late 18th century. Until then, reading was a collective exercise where people experienced a text together. I wanted to go back, recreate a text that could exist in these multiple iterations,” explained Mr. Ghosh.
The final session of the day had biochemist Pranay Lal talk about science writing and viruses in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr. Lal was in conversation with Ramya Kannan, Tamil Nadu bureau chief, The Hindu.
Much like the content of his most recent book, Invisible Empire: The Natural History of Viruses, he gave an alternative view on the role of viruses in ecosystems and the evolutionary history of life.
“Viruses or pathogens that we treat as enemies are enemies, of course, but we need to accord them a certain sense of respect or give them a little more importance for their larger role in the ecology,” he said. “We are micro specialised in our sciences so much that we forget that there are other things operating together with the microbe to cause the disease it does.”
The sessions can be viewed at: https://bit.ly/THLFLD1
