Reportage on a planet without equitable or sustainable development.
And now for something completely different
After too long a hiatus, another bike ride. This one, from Alibag to Shrivardhan and then, given paucity of time, from Devgad to Siolim. Four days. 240-odd kilometres. This route carries memories. There were multiple trips, during college and again during my years in Business Standard and Businessworld, to Rev Danda and the forts at Korlai and Murud Janjira. Much later, the Pune-Goa cycle ride with Vidya and Mathew had also touched on a part of this route — hitting the coast around Dabhol, we had passed through Devgad, Vengurla, Malvan, Tarkarli and so on before entering Goa. It was a good break. For six days, I stepped away from the world’s endless stimuli, replacing it with a focus on the here and now. I was reminded too, to ignore the odometer and to put my faith instead in time. Keep pedalling and one will eventually reel in whatever distance one has to cover. A metaphor for life, right there. In the evenings and nights, I kicked the productivity trap and read for pleasure — Jasper Fforde’s The Fourth Bear. A very happy break from the routine. Should do this again. I have, so far, over three trips, cycled from Mumbai till Gokarna. Should push further south next. What is life, after all, without flights of fancy?
I am an Indian journalist with interests in energy, environment, climate and India’s ongoing slide into right-wing authoritarianism. My book, Despite the State, an examination of pervasive state failure and democratic decay in India, was published by Westland Publications, India, in January 2021. My work has won the Bala Kailasam Memorial Award; the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award; five Shriram Awards for Excellence in Financial Journalism; and, more recently, been a finalist at the True Story Award and GIJN’s Global Shining Light Awards. Write to me at despitethestate@protonmail.com.
“Westland closure: Titles that are selling fast and a few personal recommendations,” by Chetana Divya Vasudev, Moneycontrol. (Because this happened too. In February, a year after DtS was released, Amazon decided to shutter Westland, which published the book. The announcement saw folks rushing to buy copies of Westland books before stocks run out.)
Fractured/Earth 
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