India’s ancient rhythm in an age of extreme weather A Monsoon Out of Step The Himalayas have provided the latest and most unsettling images of India’s monsoon. In Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, intense rain has triggered landslides, flash floods and the collapse of roads and bridges. Mountain slopes have given way, sometimes carrying away everythingContinue reading “When the Monsoon Changed”
Tag Archives: environment
India’s Ethanol Story: From Sugarcane to Energy Security
A Supplement to the E20 Debate The several responses to my earlier piece ‘E20: A Debate That Needs More Science And Economics Than Rhetoric’ suggest that the subject requires some further understanding and clarification. I have therefore written this supplementary article, which sets out some of the relevant facts and arguments that may help makeContinue reading “India’s Ethanol Story: From Sugarcane to Energy Security”
E20: A Debate That Needs Science And Economics More Than Rhetoric
When a fuel blend becomes the subject of political campaigns and even gives birth to a political outfit, it is evident that the debate has travelled well beyond chemistry. India’s transition to E20 petrol—20 per cent ethanol blended with 80 per cent petrol—has generated sharply divided opinions. Supporters see it as a milestone in energyContinue reading “E20: A Debate That Needs Science And Economics More Than Rhetoric”
Beyond the Hydrogen Train
A Journey Towards a New Energy Era A train moved quietly across the plains of Haryana. Unlike the locomotives that have powered India’s railways for generations, it left behind neither smoke nor the smell of diesel. Its only visible emission was a plume of water vapour. To many, it was simply another railway trial. YetContinue reading “Beyond the Hydrogen Train”
Horn OK Please
The Motorcycle Manifesto I wonder how many of us have experienced it. A motorcycle roars past, its silencer apparently discarded as an unnecessary accessory. The sound is not merely loud; it is physically invasive. Startled pedestrians look up in alarm. Conversations stop mid-sentence. Birds take flight. For a fleeting moment one wonders whether a movingContinue reading “Horn OK Please”
When Paradise becomes A Parking Lot
In the past few weeks, several friends have returned from summer visits to India’s celebrated hill stations. Their stories were remarkably similar. Not one began by describing pine forests, mountain sunsets, misty mornings or cool evenings. Instead, they spoke of traffic jams stretching for kilometres, vehicles crawling for hours along mountain roads, overflowing hotels, litteredContinue reading “When Paradise becomes A Parking Lot”
COP30: From a ‘COP of Truth’ to a ‘Theatre of Delay’ ,
India and the Search for a Fair Climate Path COP30 has concluded, but the conversations it provoked continue to echo through diplomatic channels, civil society networks, and editorial pages. When the conference opened in Belém, Brazil, it was hailed—almost with hope and relief—as the “COP of Truth.” By the time it ended, the disappointment for many, insideContinue reading “COP30: From a ‘COP of Truth’ to a ‘Theatre of Delay’ ,”
The Oak — A Tree of Time, Myth, and Memory -III
The Green Sovereign: The Oak’s Environmental Generosity “When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.” — John Muir There are trees that stand in quiet splendour, content to let the centuries pass without fanfare. And then there is the oak — a monarch not onlyContinue reading “The Oak — A Tree of Time, Myth, and Memory -III”
Mother—Who Breathes Through Earth
(A Mother’s Day Meditation) ( Last Sunday, we remembered our mothers. Though the occasion itself may be borrowed, motherhood is not. It belongs to no single culture—because it belongs to everyone. A mother is the purest flame of memory—guiding, giving, enduring. She is the one constant in every time, every life, every sorrow, and every joy.Continue reading “Mother—Who Breathes Through Earth”
Why Bengulurians Must Produce Less Garbage
Once famed for its flowering trees and lakeside breezes, Bengaluru now finds itself buried beneath the detritus of its own growth. The transformation from “Garden City” to “Garbage City” isn’t just about mismanaged infrastructure—it’s a symptom of something deeper: a culture of unchecked consumption, buoyed by convenience and prosperity. A City Consuming Itself With oneContinue reading “Why Bengulurians Must Produce Less Garbage”
