A journey through the mesmerising creations of nature, the diverse range of species, the darker side of humanity, their greed and deeds, the resistance against environmental exploitation — a narrative spun with the threads of science and language. A language that grips with metaphors and analogies. This is how I would describe the book Our Potpourri Planet, which is thoughtfully divided into three parts, yet tied with curiosity.
In the words of the creator of the book, “The first part illustrates the fantastic diverse forms of life that have evolved; the breathtaking beauty and ingeniousness of nature.” This part, the author Ranjit Lal hopes to be like a “bait” for the reader. “Too many people just take these marvels for granted without pausing to think about them. Once you do, then you can’t stop…”
The second part is a mirror to the destruction humans have been doing to satiate their greed, to showcase their power by exploiting whatever they can — the forests, the rivers, the beaches, what not. Nature has also been retaliating to these irreversible damages — the sea’s disappointment as tsunami, the rivers’ spate as floods, forests’ anger as temperature imbalance, but will this process of ruination ever stop remains a big question mark.
Ranjit says, “We really are no match for her, and need to watch our step. Unfortunately, there are too many powerful people who think we can go on looting and destroying her indefinitely, putting all life in peril. Nature has the most remarkable show on Earth for us to enjoy and be dazzled by. You do not take a sledgehammer to the Taj Mahal...which is what we’ve been doing!”
But there is a silver lining in this ordeal too. There are initiatives to subdue the brunt we are bearing. There have been protests defending the injustice. The third part is a tribute to those individuals and NGOs. The author says, “There need to be many more before our leaders and politicians will change their way of thinking.”
Our personal experiences are usually the driving force to do something significant. Many of our lives were probably spent living in concrete jungles, and understanding nature intuitively would have been an alien thought. For Ranjit, his own lifestyle nudged him to think and rethink about the quality of our lives. For someone who has grown up in the greens of Chennai, who has tasted playing outdoors with frolicking frogs, relished the tanginess of raw mangoes, and intuitively known which ants bite and which ones are friendly, nature was quite close to heart. Moving to Mumbai’s crammed buildings wasn’t a pleasant transition for him, but he never missed any chance of exploring the green spots there. As he says, “Just being outdoors (much easier when I was a child than is perhaps now) was enough…” Nature, thus, became an inseparable part of his life.
The book, undoubtedly, is an offshoot of rigorous research and planning. It’s a wholesome experience to read through the fascinating facts, reflect and regret about the planet’s depletion, and find a sense of solidarity in the goodness of humanity — it’s indeed a potpourri, taking us through different tinges of emotions. On the writing process, the author says, “Well, I had planned what I wanted to write in the three parts and then researched those subjects. I discovered many fascinating things for the first time too.”
Many places in the book will scare you, but it also has a fragment of hope that never dies throughout the book. Ranjit emphasises that finding so many people who are working towards making a change was indeed a source of hope for him. “The Earth can be made a better place — if we can bring back animals such as the lion, and rhino from the brink of extinction, we can do it! It’s just the majority mindset that needs to be changed, which is slowly (agreed, too slowly!) beginning to happen.”
Another element of awe is the illustrations by Anushua Sinha — the bright colours she used adds to the narration and underlying optimism. The author appreciates, “...No one can look at the illustration of her frog and not smile!! And the turtle… Her illustrations really matched the tone of the book perfectly!”
One of the reasons it drives home the message is the structure of the writing — it’s unique in its own way — one could judge the book to be one for kids, but as you flip the pages, it’s a gradual realisation that it can grip adults alike. It goes forth and back to the past events and phenomena, making the readers realise the urgency to act, do their bit, and to question the power. It’s a reminder about the wrath of the planet. As the author puts it across, “All it takes is doing simple things like not wasting, avoiding plastic bottles etc, reusing and recycling, and asking questions of those in power: like school kids asking leaders of clean-up drives, why they have to do this every year and what’s been done to stop the pollution at source?”
‘Our Potpourri Planet’ is priced at `599.