Walking Is a Way of Knowing: In a Kadar Forest - Hardcover

Ramesh, Madhuri; Chandi, Manish

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 9383145609 ISBN 13: 9789383145607

Publisher: Tara Pubns, 2018

Synopsis

The Kadars are a small indigenous community in south India. Even though they no longer live deep in the forest, they still walk its paths every day. For them, walking is a way of knowing, not just a way of getting from place to place. This is the story of a Kadar elder who takes a young urban visitor through the tangled woods that make up his ancient home. The book captures an urban nature lover s experience of learning from a forest-dweller and is beautifully illustrated to bring alive the dark richness of an lndian tropical forest.

About this title

About the Authors

Madhuri Ramesh is an ecologist who first met the Kadars when she went to study the secretive Travancore tortoise in the Anamalai Hills. At present, she is completing her doctoral thesis on the political ecology of marine turtle conservation in Odisha, at the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) in Bangalore.

Manish Chandi studied Economics in the Madras Christian College, and went on to work on a doctoral thesis on the Nicobar islanders after spending two decades in the islands. He worked in the Valparai plateau on the Anamalai Hills along with the Nature Conservation Foundation during which he collected folktales from various Kadars he lived and worked with.

Matthew Frame is a London-based illustrator. Since completing his Masters at Central St. Martins, Matthew’s practice has focussed on how illustration can address the issues surrounding social cohesion in the globalised world. Matthew’s intricate drawings play with texture and pattern to explore his passion for film, politics, trash culture and science fiction.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

These are tiring paths, especially if it is a steep climb, because I can’t even stand comfortably at any point. Usually my chest heaves and I struggle to breathe before I go very far, but Madiyappan, my elderly companion, keeps walking and says calmly, “This is how all paths are first made.” While I stop to drink water, he goes on, “Paths have character: there are easy ones, challenging ones, unforgiving ones, ones that encourage you to walk with a steady swinging rhythm and others that tease your stride with odd twists and turns.” He points in the direction of the broad trail we left behind earlier and says, “Paths also speak of the kinds of people who walk on them: the Kadar paths are confident, well-worn and wide. The Malai Malasars’ are shy; rarely more than narrow, grassy trails like those made by jungle fowl – their paths often go across marshes and swift streams, making it hard for anyone else to pursue them. You’ve to be surefooted to walk fast on such paths.”

Edition details

• Publisher: Tara Pubns
• Publication date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 9383145609
• ISBN 13: 9789383145607
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Frame Matthew
• Number of pages: 56