Elemental India

Around the world, people are increasingly facing a future that is crowded and hot, thirsty or drowning, subject to violent weather extremes and a changing climate, where the rich and poor inhabit separate spheres and governments are unable or unwilling to confront the most vital challenges their citizens face. For India, this reality is the very tangible present. In this lyrical exploration of life, loss and survival, Meera Subramanian travels in search of the ordinary people and micro-enterprises determined to revive India’s ravaged natural world. An engineer-turned-farmer brings organic food to Indian plates. Villagers resuscitate a river run dry. Cook stove designers persist in their quest for smokeless fire. Biologists bring vultures back from the brink of extinction. A bold young Bihari woman teaches young adolescents the fundamentals of sexual health. By investigating these five environmental crises, Subramanian discovers individual stories that renew hope for a nation that has the potential to create a sustainable and prosperous future, for India, the Earth and all her inhabitants.