Description: "In this lyrical and intimate tapestry of five stories dealing with life, loss, and survival in modern-day India, Meera Subramanian travels in search of the ordinary people and micro-enterprises redeeming India's natural world. An engineer-turned-farmer brings organic food to Indian plates. Villagers revive a dead river. Well-intentioned cook stove designers persist on a quest for a smokeless fire. Biologists bring vultures back from the brink of extinction. And in Bihar, one of India's most impoverished states, a bold young woman teaches young adolescents the fundamentals of sexual health and in the process, unleashes their untapped potential. In these true stories, Subramanian discovers renewed hope for a sustainable and prosperous future for India"--
Review Quotes: "Subramanian's writing brings a positive approach to India's problems...Throughout this book, Subramanian takes us on a true journey of learning and she does it in a quiet, thorough, and knowledgeable manner. She educates us on the evolution of the problem and finally, through small narratives of those she met along the way--everyday farmers, wives, volunteer workers, and government employees, we learn of how they have embraced the progressive ideas as ways to save India's ecology." --New York Journal of Books
"A sweeping story of loss and the fight for restoration -- both maddening and hopeful, as many environmental stories are." --Eugene Weekly "It could be depressing to read about seemingly intractable problems, but Subramanian showcases positive efforts at mitigating these problems and passions of people seeking to make India into a better place for all." --Saathee Magazine "What happens in India may turn out--even more than China--to be the key to the kind of environmental future the planet faces. Very few people are qualified to tell the story with as much clarity, compassion, and character-driven power as Meera Subramanian." --Bill McKibben, author of Oil and Honey: The Education of an Unlikely Activist