Arati Kumar-Rao's guest appearances

Arati Kumar-Rao

Emergence Magazine Podcast

Terra.do - Solve #climatechange

Kyodo williams

Emma Marris

Jake Skeets

Sandor Katz

Martin Shaw

David Zilber

Joanna Macy

Michael McCarthy

Robert Macfarlane

Nick Hunt

Thomas Merton

Lia Purpura

Carl Phillips

Paul Elie

Robin Wall Kimmerer

OwlTail

Visiting West Bengal during monsoon season, writer and photographer Arati Kumar-Rao bears witness to all that is formed and all that is destroyed in the swell and retreat of the Ganga. Struck by the immense power of the ancient river—a deity alive and accessible, benevolent and merciless—she wonders how human activity will continue to both affect and be determined by the will of its waters. As the Ganga transforms the lay of the land, shifting modern-day political boundaries, agricultural settlements, and historical constraints on its movement, Arati considers the confluence of the sacred and the profane.Read the essay: https://emergencemagazine.org/essay/in-the-shifting-embrace-of-the-ganga/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Visiting West Bengal during monsoon season, writer and photographer Arati Kumar-Rao bears witness to all that is formed and all that is destroyed in the swell and retreat of the Ganga. Struck by the immense power of the ancient river—a deity alive and accessible, benevolent and merciless—she wonders how human activity will continue to both affect and be determined by the will of its waters. As the Ganga transforms the lay of the land, shifting modern-day political boundaries, agricultural settlements, and historical constraints on its movement, Arati considers the confluence of the sacred and the profane.Read the essay: <a href="https://emergencemagazine.org/essay/in-the-shifting-embrace-of-the-ganga/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://emergencemagazine.org/essay/in-the-shifting-embrace-of-the-ganga/</a> Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://megaphone.fm/adchoices" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">megaphone.fm/adchoices</a>

In the Shifting Embrace of the Ganga – Arati Kumar-Rao

Arati Kumar-Rao ventures into a forested river gorge in the hidden land of Pemakö, which exists deep within the heart of the Tibetan Buddhist belief system. Intersected by the sacred waters of the Yarlung Tsangpo river, and its tributary the Yang Sang Chu, Pemakö has long been considered impenetrable and prophesied as a place that will one day regenerate and renew the world. But, as Arati learns, this prophecy is now confronted by the persistent grind of industry that threatens to invade this promised land. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Arati Kumar-Rao ventures into a forested river gorge in the hidden land of Pemakö, which exists deep within the heart of the Tibetan Buddhist belief system. Intersected by the sacred waters of the Yarlung Tsangpo river, and its tributary the Yang Sang Chu, Pemakö has long been considered impenetrable and prophesied as a place that will one day regenerate and renew the world. But, as Arati learns, this prophecy is now confronted by the persistent grind of industry that threatens to invade this promised land. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://megaphone.fm/adchoices" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">megaphone.fm/adchoices</a>

River at the Heart of the World – Arati Kumar-Rao

Arati has always wanted to tell stories. She realised that writing and storytelling was her passion. A childhood listening to family arguments about the benefits of dams ensured that her focus lies on freshwater issues. Her heart lies in slow journalism - following a story over seasons and years becomes important in shaping the narrative. The National Geographic grant awarded to her opened a lot of doors in terms of reaching out to people. Whilst long-form journalism is important, social media is extremely important for outreach. Climate change and the environment is a nuanced and scientific topic. There are so many tools available to storytellers like photography &amp; video to showcase the story's significance. Her goal is to combine different kinds of media to reach as many people as possible. Slow journalism is important - for eg - floods are a symptom of the problem. A quick social media post doesn't give us context. Arati’s form of journalism tries to delve deeper. Patterns are changing across the planet. Climate change is so much more than the ice caps melting or even trees flowering earlier. Getting to the crux of what is important with diverse voices speaking up is essential in the climate change narrative. India has varied ecosystems. Planting of trees in grasslands is something that disturbs the ecosystem. A desert is not a ‘wasteland’ - adding solar panels can potentially destroy livelihoods on grazing lands. The climate change narrative in India needs to change drastically. #RiversAreNotPipes is pan India. Water cannot be just put into canals and fed across the plains. For eg: Arati calls the Indira Gandhi Canal a large pipe - the Himalayan waters are being fed into Jaisalmer. The desert was never meant for that kind of agriculture. We need to understand the function of a river. It behoves us to know how our land works. Slow walking with Paul Salopek was a fun yet challenging experience. Paul is a National Geographic Fellow &amp; spending time with him was an enriching experience. Walking 700 km through a landscape forges a bond. Going to places that weren’t even on Google Maps was a fabulous adventure; seeing the country through Paul’s lens and even just absorbing the landscape gave Arati perspective.The Peepli Project was all about communities and ecosystems negotiating with each other within the frame of a large topic. There were natural intersections of issues. For example, freshwater intersected with women’s issues or health. The idea behind the Peepli Project was to follow a story to try to effect change. There are very few outlets that funded this kind of work and the project eventually ran out of funding, unfortunately. This kind of long-form journalism is imperative in Arati’s opinion. What is maybe right for the West may not be right for India. Growing paddy in Punjab is an example of this. The Indian audience needs to keep asking questions. Listening to scientists is extremely important. It's necessary to sift the propaganda from the truth. We should always try to maintain a scientific temper. Arati’s last piece of advice is not to lose our connection with the earth. 

Arati has always wanted to tell stories. She realised that writing and storytelling was her passion. A childhood listening to family arguments about the benefits of dams ensured that her focus lies on freshwater issues. Her heart lies in slow journalism - following a story over seasons and years becomes important in shaping the narrative. The National Geographic grant awarded to her opened a lot of doors in terms of reaching out to people.  Whilst long-form journalism is important, social media is extremely important for outreach. Climate change and the environment is a nuanced and scientific topic. There are so many tools available to storytellers like photography &amp; video to showcase the story's significance. Her goal is to combine different kinds of media to reach as many people as possible.  Slow journalism is important - for eg - floods are a symptom of the problem. A quick social media post doesn't give us context. Arati’s form of journalism tries to delve deeper. Patterns are changing across the planet. Climate change is so much more than the ice caps melting or even trees flowering earlier. Getting to the crux of what is important with diverse voices speaking up is essential in the climate change narrative.  India has varied ecosystems. Planting of trees in grasslands is something that disturbs the ecosystem. A desert is not a ‘wasteland’ - adding solar panels can potentially destroy livelihoods on grazing lands. The climate change narrative in India needs to change drastically.  #RiversAreNotPipes is pan India. Water cannot be just put into canals and fed across the plains. For eg: Arati calls the Indira Gandhi Canal a large pipe - the Himalayan waters are being fed into Jaisalmer. The desert was never meant for that kind of agriculture. We need to understand the function of a river. It behoves us to know how our land works.  Slow walking with <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.org/projects/out-of-eden-walk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Paul Salopek</a> was a fun yet challenging experience. Paul is a National Geographic Fellow &amp; spending time with him was an enriching experience. Walking 700 km through a landscape forges a bond. Going to places that weren’t even on Google Maps was a fabulous adventure; seeing the country through Paul’s lens and even just absorbing the landscape gave Arati perspective. The <a href="http://peepli.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Peepli Project</a> was all about communities and ecosystems negotiating with each other within the frame of a large topic. There were natural intersections of issues. For example, freshwater intersected with women’s issues or health. The idea behind the Peepli Project was to follow a story to try to effect change. There are very few outlets that funded this kind of work and the project eventually ran out of funding, unfortunately. This kind of long-form journalism is imperative in Arati’s opinion.  What is maybe right for the West may not be right for India. Growing paddy in Punjab is an example of this. The Indian audience needs to keep asking questions. Listening to scientists is extremely important. It's necessary to sift the propaganda from the truth. We should always try to maintain a scientific temper. Arati’s last piece of advice is not to lose our connection with the earth.