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Marginlands : India's Last Natural Frontiers
'A tour de force' – Robert Macfarlane 'Some of the best environmental writing I have read' – Amitav Ghosh 'Brilliant and evocative' – Pradip Krishen 'Luminously written' – Paul Salopek 'A book for the ages' – Ed Kashi AN ENVIRONMENTALIST’S JOURNEY THROUGH INDIA’S PRECIOUS YET VULNERABLE LANDSCAPES. In the boundless Thar, deemed a ‘wasteland’ by the authorities, miners bulldoze sand dunes guarding life-sustaining water. The Gangetic dolphin, once a thriving apex predator, struggles for survival as its riverine habitat is fragmented by dams and roiled by incessant shipping. Deep in the mangrove forests of the Sunderban, tigers prey on desperate crab-catchers. Encroachments on the Mumbai coastline unleash cataclysmic floods. Along the eroding beaches of Kerala, fishers live in fear of the sea swallowing them whole. As the spectre of climate change compounds these natural and human-induced disasters, India’s most endangered landscapes are pushed to the precipice of destruction. Arati Kumar-Rao journeys to these marginlands, listening intently to their inhabitants, paying close attention to each fissure, fold and ripple, as she documents the misguided decisions, wilfully ignored warnings and disregarded evidence that have brought us almost to a point of no return. But the land is still rich in ancient wisdom, and its cracks hold lessons that may yet aid us in undoing centuries of slow violence – so long as one is willing to attune their senses. Combining enthralling nature writing and journalism with immersive art and photography, Marginlands is an urgent, vital work by a passionate chronicler of our environment.
264 pages, Hardcover
Published June 2, 2023
64 people are currently reading
3028 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
March 20, 2024
The book makes a good case for everyone to look around us and observe nature. We are part of it, however in a concrete jungle we often do not consider ourselves part of it and hence there are unintended consequences. Often the people who bear the brunt of nature are not the people who made decisions. This is an important book to be read by policymakers about the unintended consequences of their ill-thought decisions. The stories that Arati tells range from the Thar desert of Rajastan to the fishing villages of Sunder bans and Kerala and the foothills of the Himalayas and riverine systems. The impact is India wide and is eye-opening. The disconnect between man and nature and the resultant environmental challenges should give everyone who has read this book pause for thought. Also not only is the environment marginalized but also people who are affected and living in these environments. Margin lands makes a excellent argument for these people, their fragile environments and should be clarion call for environmentally conscious people.
January 21, 2024
There is so much we don’t know and understand about the interlinkages of landscapes, their people, traditions, ancient sciences and human-induced impact we create. Aarti Kumar-Rao’s narration of these hidden gems makes you want to become a super hero that could save atleast these marginlands from extinction they face against our “development” activities.
May 6, 2024
Expansive, searing writing on India's marginlands, from Rajasthan to Bengal, Ladakh to Kerala. The book portrays landscapes of deep loss, almost a balance sheet of what we're losing as we 'develop'. But it also urges us to see our place in these landscapes relationally, as entwined and hence, dependent.
January 20, 2025
An environmental thriller and a delightful read!
The book delves into how unthoughtful development, short-term interventions and climate change are impacting various communities around parts of India, and how traditional knowledge of the land and water are being lost and disregarded. A wonderfully crafted book - and a very well researched one! A must read!
The book delves into how unthoughtful development, short-term interventions and climate change are impacting various communities around parts of India, and how traditional knowledge of the land and water are being lost and disregarded. A wonderfully crafted book - and a very well researched one! A must read!
July 19, 2024
Important problems communicated through beautiful stories. With every chapter, I was transported to a different landscape that I could visualize and feel (or how I imagined it to feel like :))
July 9, 2023
The Great Ignorance.
Ignorance of the people, by the people, for the people...for the people and all the sentient beings who rely on mother nature for basic needs in life.
Arati Kumar-Rao is an environmental photographer & writer based in Bangalore, India. 'Marginlands', her recent book is a documentation of the great ignorance that we talked about in the start, about the effects of environmental degradation and how livelihood of people or their health, culture as a whole and biodiversity takes a toll due to the great ignorance.
Arati reminded me of a novel I recently read by Eleanor Catton, 'Birnam Wood', where a group of youth come together and venture into what they call guerrilla gardening for their love for our planet. Arati hasn't ventured out on the same path haha, but in the prologue we read how she left her well-paying corporate job for her passion for environmental storytelling and for nature herself.
'Marginlands' is a detailed documentation of her travels right from 2013 where she puts forth primary data and experiences regarding the poor planning by the governments (not just now, but throughout since independence of our nation) majorly that threatens our nature and all the people that it affects in a way that leads to endless misery or an end to the souls. From the detailing of rainwater harvesting methods in the deep Thar and the poorly planned government projects that have disrupted the traditional food and water sources and livelihoods of the locals, to the struggles of the Gangetic dolphin to survive due to the impoundment by dams, to the crab-catchers in the Sunderbans threatened by man-eating tigers and the incursions into the Mumbai coastline, which has exposed the city to devastating flooding every monsoon, Arati Kumar-Rao talks about all of them in brief with great pain and empathy.
The crisp size and the lucid writing had me finish this one in 2 days. I remember talking to my pulmonologist about the rising air pollution & how it's upcoming effects on immunocompromised individuals like me would turn, the author here depicts the multiple ways in how we have othered nature. She calls it 'The Slow Violence.'
Ignorance of the people, by the people, for the people...for the people and all the sentient beings who rely on mother nature for basic needs in life.
Arati Kumar-Rao is an environmental photographer & writer based in Bangalore, India. 'Marginlands', her recent book is a documentation of the great ignorance that we talked about in the start, about the effects of environmental degradation and how livelihood of people or their health, culture as a whole and biodiversity takes a toll due to the great ignorance.
Arati reminded me of a novel I recently read by Eleanor Catton, 'Birnam Wood', where a group of youth come together and venture into what they call guerrilla gardening for their love for our planet. Arati hasn't ventured out on the same path haha, but in the prologue we read how she left her well-paying corporate job for her passion for environmental storytelling and for nature herself.
'Marginlands' is a detailed documentation of her travels right from 2013 where she puts forth primary data and experiences regarding the poor planning by the governments (not just now, but throughout since independence of our nation) majorly that threatens our nature and all the people that it affects in a way that leads to endless misery or an end to the souls. From the detailing of rainwater harvesting methods in the deep Thar and the poorly planned government projects that have disrupted the traditional food and water sources and livelihoods of the locals, to the struggles of the Gangetic dolphin to survive due to the impoundment by dams, to the crab-catchers in the Sunderbans threatened by man-eating tigers and the incursions into the Mumbai coastline, which has exposed the city to devastating flooding every monsoon, Arati Kumar-Rao talks about all of them in brief with great pain and empathy.
The crisp size and the lucid writing had me finish this one in 2 days. I remember talking to my pulmonologist about the rising air pollution & how it's upcoming effects on immunocompromised individuals like me would turn, the author here depicts the multiple ways in how we have othered nature. She calls it 'The Slow Violence.'
August 20, 2024
The Robert McFarlane of India, Arati Kumar Rao draws a rich tapestry about the communities living in the fringes of the country. From the deserts of the Thar on the western border to the mangrove marshlands on the east, from the beaches of kerela in the south to the plateau of Ladakh in the north Arati evokes the natural splendor of the land and the indigenous ingenuity of its people. The book does not shy away from the dire however. Mining in the desert threatens ancient ways of living while each year the sea and rivers displace more and more people into doomed uncertainty. Marginlands is an absolute tour de force. Built on top of decades of patient research and on-site exploration, the book provides a lens into a part of the country often overlooked in the desperate bid for progress and development. Marginlands makes you stop and consider the impact of this rampant development and how the negative consequences on the fringes ripples back to the centers of development with devastating force. A hearty recommendation to anybody interested in nature and ecological writing and especially to anybody interested in the sheer diversity of the Indian subcontinent
January 17, 2026
An excellent deep dive on India’s margins and the interlay of geography, climate, local knowledge, flora and fauna. The author travels far and wide to Deserts, glaciers, beachfronts and more to bring us landscapes that are integral to India and being affected real time by us. The book, while a sociological study, is written in an accessible format and reads like a story, rather than a dense academia. I felt like I was learning (so much) alongside the author, and she does a wonderful job balancing reality and practicality with the customs and humanity. 10/10 recommend to everyone.
October 1, 2023
Imagine having to live in a pretentious world where we are constantly made to believe that we are the supreme creatures and that everything and every other living being around is for us to cherish. And suddenly, someone snaps you into reality, showing how we are actually destroying this land in the name of development and modernisation. This book is a hard-hitting portrayal of the man-made destruction of natural resources, some due to overuse and some simply because we could.
The author not only quit her high-paying software job to become an environmental storyteller, but she also made sure to look into the crevices and ripples in the environment to point them out subtly and skillfully. From the ill effects of de-desertifying the 'wasteland' of the Thar desert to how the construction of dams closed the portal to the outside world for West Bengal, this book is an eye-opener in all ways.
The essay on endangered dolphins, coral reefs, vultures and sea anemones made me ponder about them for long. The book doesn't accuse humans blindly. It also points out how humans also become victims of civilisation, like women becoming the 'tiger widows' when tigers prey on humans who go crab hunting in the mangrove forests of Sunderbans, exposure to toxins from having to clean the toxic sludge in the seas and the fear of losing houses to sea swallowing.
The author has spent a lot of time with the locals of each landscape she has stayed in and has analysed it in its entire depth, which is evident in the book. She has spoken about the problems of human encroachment of forests and coastlines with wit and power. The author impressed me with her narrative style, captures, and illustrations, which were enlightening and heartbreaking. I realised how much uninformed I was about environmental challenges, even though I thought I knew enough. This is a book that everyone must read and put their thoughts into.
The author not only quit her high-paying software job to become an environmental storyteller, but she also made sure to look into the crevices and ripples in the environment to point them out subtly and skillfully. From the ill effects of de-desertifying the 'wasteland' of the Thar desert to how the construction of dams closed the portal to the outside world for West Bengal, this book is an eye-opener in all ways.
The essay on endangered dolphins, coral reefs, vultures and sea anemones made me ponder about them for long. The book doesn't accuse humans blindly. It also points out how humans also become victims of civilisation, like women becoming the 'tiger widows' when tigers prey on humans who go crab hunting in the mangrove forests of Sunderbans, exposure to toxins from having to clean the toxic sludge in the seas and the fear of losing houses to sea swallowing.
The author has spent a lot of time with the locals of each landscape she has stayed in and has analysed it in its entire depth, which is evident in the book. She has spoken about the problems of human encroachment of forests and coastlines with wit and power. The author impressed me with her narrative style, captures, and illustrations, which were enlightening and heartbreaking. I realised how much uninformed I was about environmental challenges, even though I thought I knew enough. This is a book that everyone must read and put their thoughts into.
July 16, 2024
Stunning book but the it didn't really dig as deep as I expected it to
October 25, 2023
This Puja decided to read something different.
From medieval and contemporary history of Bharat to nature and environmental studies may seem a little unusual change of track, but it was a change that proved to be immensely satisfying.
Because, Marginlands: Indian Landscapes on the Brink was a rewarding read.
On the brink. Yes.
But, still, this is not a book of despair. It is a book of hope.
Arati Kumar-Rao, whose love for nature grew with her, has left her corporate job to tell us stories; to “fruitfully communicate fundamental ecological issues to the public; tell stories that married hydrology, ecology, social science and lucid communication; and reach past rhetoric to open minds to the unfamiliar and the inconvenient.”
From the Roof of the World – the 4,500-metre high Tibetan plateau – to the mangrove forests in the Sundarbans, from the turbulent waters of the Brahmaputra to the vanishing coastlins of Kerala, she has travelled the length and breadth of the country to see and feel the impending ecological disaster and the human cost it has started extracting.
And she has told the story in a language that will keep resonating in your ears long after you have turned the last page.
On the fast-vanishing water retention capacity of the deep sands in the depths of the Thar desert because of human activities: “The loss of a landscape lexicon is more acute than just vanishing of words – it foreshadows a time when the elemental connections between the land and its people will be severed. It plunges us into a blindness that is total, wilful, destructive – the blindness of those who refuse to see.”
On the fast-depleting marine life and faster-dwindling marine biodiversity across the country: “Night falls quickly in northeast India. There is no wind to delay us. We set off from the chapori for the last hunt of the season. The blackness closes in on us; the only sound is that of Lekhu teasing the waters with his harpoon. Two dolphins materialize ahead of us, then another, followed by a mother and her calf. They whoosh and arc and dip and sigh. There are no fish for them or us. Whichever side of the net you are on, there is only loss.”
On Mumbai’s endangered coastline: “I pause. The moon and the tides; the tides and the shore; the shore and the creatures; the creatures and the sea; the sea and humans … We are connected by one eleborate conversation, whether we choose to hear it or not.”
We – living in our cocoon of urban indifference and smugness – may never know the pain of the people living on the edge of survival: Chattar Singh in the unforgiving depths of the wind-swept dunes of the Thar; sisters, Sheba and Sunitha, waiting helplessly as the collapsing coastline of the Arabian Sea promises to devour their “house” in Kerala next monsoon; Sunanda, a “tiger widow”, trudging deep inside the tiger- and crcodile- infested mangrove forests of the Sundarbans to catch crabs and prawns that will ensure that her two young boys can have dinner at night.
Still, Marginlands is a book of hope. Because, as Arati says, in her travel across the subcontinent she meets people “who have immersed themselves in landcsapes and show us the way” and there are million others “who live attentively so they may still be able to hear the land, understand it, show it respect, adapt and survive.”
The Earth – the only place we can call home – is standing at epochal crossroads. Like all else, Bharat is also affected. Badly.
The silver lining is that we are fighting back as best as we can. Bharat is determined to meet her carbon-emission reduction target. She has recorded the highest increase in the green cover. Awareness of everyday pollution – especially pollution caused by use of plastic – is on the rise.
But is it too little, too late? We may not know, as yet. But there cannot be any let up in the fight.
As the Magsaysay Award-winning engineer and educator, Sonam Wangchuk, who is leading the fight for water conservation in Ladakh’s cold desert, says, “Why should we take these changes lying down?’
Why, indeed? We cannot afford to.
Thank you, Arati, for bringing the message of this resilience home.
Our horizon stands broadened.
From medieval and contemporary history of Bharat to nature and environmental studies may seem a little unusual change of track, but it was a change that proved to be immensely satisfying.
Because, Marginlands: Indian Landscapes on the Brink was a rewarding read.
On the brink. Yes.
But, still, this is not a book of despair. It is a book of hope.
Arati Kumar-Rao, whose love for nature grew with her, has left her corporate job to tell us stories; to “fruitfully communicate fundamental ecological issues to the public; tell stories that married hydrology, ecology, social science and lucid communication; and reach past rhetoric to open minds to the unfamiliar and the inconvenient.”
From the Roof of the World – the 4,500-metre high Tibetan plateau – to the mangrove forests in the Sundarbans, from the turbulent waters of the Brahmaputra to the vanishing coastlins of Kerala, she has travelled the length and breadth of the country to see and feel the impending ecological disaster and the human cost it has started extracting.
And she has told the story in a language that will keep resonating in your ears long after you have turned the last page.
On the fast-vanishing water retention capacity of the deep sands in the depths of the Thar desert because of human activities: “The loss of a landscape lexicon is more acute than just vanishing of words – it foreshadows a time when the elemental connections between the land and its people will be severed. It plunges us into a blindness that is total, wilful, destructive – the blindness of those who refuse to see.”
On the fast-depleting marine life and faster-dwindling marine biodiversity across the country: “Night falls quickly in northeast India. There is no wind to delay us. We set off from the chapori for the last hunt of the season. The blackness closes in on us; the only sound is that of Lekhu teasing the waters with his harpoon. Two dolphins materialize ahead of us, then another, followed by a mother and her calf. They whoosh and arc and dip and sigh. There are no fish for them or us. Whichever side of the net you are on, there is only loss.”
On Mumbai’s endangered coastline: “I pause. The moon and the tides; the tides and the shore; the shore and the creatures; the creatures and the sea; the sea and humans … We are connected by one eleborate conversation, whether we choose to hear it or not.”
We – living in our cocoon of urban indifference and smugness – may never know the pain of the people living on the edge of survival: Chattar Singh in the unforgiving depths of the wind-swept dunes of the Thar; sisters, Sheba and Sunitha, waiting helplessly as the collapsing coastline of the Arabian Sea promises to devour their “house” in Kerala next monsoon; Sunanda, a “tiger widow”, trudging deep inside the tiger- and crcodile- infested mangrove forests of the Sundarbans to catch crabs and prawns that will ensure that her two young boys can have dinner at night.
Still, Marginlands is a book of hope. Because, as Arati says, in her travel across the subcontinent she meets people “who have immersed themselves in landcsapes and show us the way” and there are million others “who live attentively so they may still be able to hear the land, understand it, show it respect, adapt and survive.”
The Earth – the only place we can call home – is standing at epochal crossroads. Like all else, Bharat is also affected. Badly.
The silver lining is that we are fighting back as best as we can. Bharat is determined to meet her carbon-emission reduction target. She has recorded the highest increase in the green cover. Awareness of everyday pollution – especially pollution caused by use of plastic – is on the rise.
But is it too little, too late? We may not know, as yet. But there cannot be any let up in the fight.
As the Magsaysay Award-winning engineer and educator, Sonam Wangchuk, who is leading the fight for water conservation in Ladakh’s cold desert, says, “Why should we take these changes lying down?’
Why, indeed? We cannot afford to.
Thank you, Arati, for bringing the message of this resilience home.
Our horizon stands broadened.
August 10, 2024
You are likely to visualise the margin lands discussed in the book.
June 17, 2023
A deeply moving set of vignettes that brings into stark relief the human cost of fathomless greed and wilful disregard. Equally, it is a sparkling tribute to all the beauty and wonder still in our world and the people that have learnt to harness but not exploit it.
Tender, disturbing, infuriating and somehow, against all odds, hopeful. This book will stay with me for a long time.
Tender, disturbing, infuriating and somehow, against all odds, hopeful. This book will stay with me for a long time.
Read
August 14, 2025This is an engaging and moving account of the writer's journey within and without. Drawing from her context and ideas that shaped her generational outlook, the accounts from the marginlands and the communities that live on them state the obvious that those in power and the mainstream narrative choose to ignore. The choice not to understand or take into account the histories and geographies that have shaped life in the desert, the costs and the river systems is a political one. The extractive outlook is a well-orchestrated plan, as those on the margins living in climate-sensitive geographies face the brunt of the extractive and parasitical industrial and monopoly-driven system.
One of the aspects highlighted by Ms Rao is the loss of memory and the knowledge systems coded in it that provide an innate understanding of one's being and ecological space, which is being lost, leaving future generations at a loss of what connects them with the past.
One of the aspects highlighted by Ms Rao is the loss of memory and the knowledge systems coded in it that provide an innate understanding of one's being and ecological space, which is being lost, leaving future generations at a loss of what connects them with the past.
January 9, 2025
My first DNF review. The author is painfully caste-blind: there are references to the 'Bhils' as this cursed monolithic entity without any explanation of who they are, their origin story is told through a Brahmanical gaze (please tell me again how they're cursed for murdering a bull?) while stories of the Paliwal Brahmins are lauded for atleast two pages prior. The first quarter of the book reads like a biography of, and an homage to Chattar Singh, who seems her only source for the Thar region. You really feel the lack of triangulation as you read these pages.
I had previously been impressed by the author's essays online, so I plodded along. But I was met with more descriptions I'd rather have read on Wikipedia, especially those summarising a century of history into a poorly written 2 paragraphs. I'm sorry this review is so brutal: I'd been very excited about this one.
I had previously been impressed by the author's essays online, so I plodded along. But I was met with more descriptions I'd rather have read on Wikipedia, especially those summarising a century of history into a poorly written 2 paragraphs. I'm sorry this review is so brutal: I'd been very excited about this one.
July 19, 2024
Marginlands is a useful book to understand the impact of environmental conflicts in India.
I loved how Arati Kumar Rao adjusts her lens to bring us a bird's eye view of the landscape, yet brings it under a microscope when needed.
More importantly, she brings us the vocabulary needed to understand and appreciate our diverse landscape as well as articulate its significance to the future generations.
I loved how Arati Kumar Rao adjusts her lens to bring us a bird's eye view of the landscape, yet brings it under a microscope when needed.
More importantly, she brings us the vocabulary needed to understand and appreciate our diverse landscape as well as articulate its significance to the future generations.
February 25, 2024
So insightful. It's a beautiful reality check for our ecosystem.
May 1, 2025
🌿 Marginlands: A Journey into India’s Vanishing Landscapes
✍️ by Arati Kumar-Rao
📚 Thank you so much to Milkweed Editions for the ARC!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ — A wake-up call dressed in lyrical prose. One of the most quietly powerful books I’ve read this year.
🌍 What It Is:
This isn’t just a book. It’s a map.
A dirge and a hymn.
A chronicle of vanishing worlds and the people tethered to them by soil, salt, water, and memory.
From the parched heart of the Thar desert to the drowning shores of Kerala, Arati Kumar-Rao takes us across India's crumbling ecological edge—the "marginlands"—where landscape, tradition, and livelihood collide with modern “progress.”
This is not light reading. It is soul-work.
💔 Why It Shook Me:
• The prose? A punch wrapped in poetry.
There were lines I had to stop and reread because they hurt—but in the way truth always does.
Kumar-Rao writes like someone who’s listened long enough to let the land speak through her. And what the land says is urgent, fierce, and begging to be heard.
• The scope? Colossal.
You’re in the sand-whipped silence of Rajasthan one chapter, then gasping for breath beside the eroding coastlines of Mumbai the next. This isn’t a story—it’s a whole continent’s worth of grief and resilience.
• The storytelling? Devastating and intimate.
These aren’t statistics. They’re people.
Chattar Singh watching the dunes erase his legacy.
Sunanda, a crab-catcher in tiger country, who’s already lost her husband to the forest.
Sisters in Kerala living one monsoon away from losing everything.
🍃 TROPES (but make it nonfiction):
• 🏜️ “Wastelands” that are anything but
• 🧭 Journeys that unravel both land and self
• 🐚 Disappearing coastlines & cultures
• 🧑🌾 Local wisdom vs institutional ignorance
• 📷 Lush nature writing + immersive photography
• ⚖️ Environmental injustice & slow violence
• 🌱 Unexpected hope through ancient practices
• 🗣️ Storytelling as resistance
🌱 My Thoughts (and Feelings):
This book reads like standing at the edge of something irreversible.
And yet... it doesn’t let you despair.
Because Marginlands isn’t only a record of loss—it’s also a record of resistance. Of ancient knowledge, of people who still know how to listen to land and river and sky. Of choices we could make, if only we stopped to see what we’re destroying.
Kumar-Rao’s portraits are intimate and sharply observed. There’s beauty in the desolation, yes—but also a clear, grounded rage. You’ll finish this book and want to plant something. Save something. Scream about something.
🖋️ Favorite Lines That Gutted Me:
If The Overstory broke your heart and Pilgrim at Tinker Creek rewired your soul, Marginlands is your next essential read. It belongs on your shelf, and more importantly, in your conscience.
🛑 Final Thoughts:
You don’t just read Marginlands.
You sit with it.
You stew in it.
You carry it with you when you step outside and look at the land under your feet a little differently.
This is environmental storytelling at its finest—lyrical, personal, political, and urgently important.
🌍 Five stars for the landscapes we’re losing.
🌱 Five stars for the ones still fighting to protect them.
📖 Read this. Then reread it. And then, do something.
✍️ by Arati Kumar-Rao
📚 Thank you so much to Milkweed Editions for the ARC!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ — A wake-up call dressed in lyrical prose. One of the most quietly powerful books I’ve read this year.
🌍 What It Is:
This isn’t just a book. It’s a map.
A dirge and a hymn.
A chronicle of vanishing worlds and the people tethered to them by soil, salt, water, and memory.
From the parched heart of the Thar desert to the drowning shores of Kerala, Arati Kumar-Rao takes us across India's crumbling ecological edge—the "marginlands"—where landscape, tradition, and livelihood collide with modern “progress.”
This is not light reading. It is soul-work.
💔 Why It Shook Me:
• The prose? A punch wrapped in poetry.
There were lines I had to stop and reread because they hurt—but in the way truth always does.
Kumar-Rao writes like someone who’s listened long enough to let the land speak through her. And what the land says is urgent, fierce, and begging to be heard.
• The scope? Colossal.
You’re in the sand-whipped silence of Rajasthan one chapter, then gasping for breath beside the eroding coastlines of Mumbai the next. This isn’t a story—it’s a whole continent’s worth of grief and resilience.
• The storytelling? Devastating and intimate.
These aren’t statistics. They’re people.
Chattar Singh watching the dunes erase his legacy.
Sunanda, a crab-catcher in tiger country, who’s already lost her husband to the forest.
Sisters in Kerala living one monsoon away from losing everything.
🍃 TROPES (but make it nonfiction):
• 🏜️ “Wastelands” that are anything but
• 🧭 Journeys that unravel both land and self
• 🐚 Disappearing coastlines & cultures
• 🧑🌾 Local wisdom vs institutional ignorance
• 📷 Lush nature writing + immersive photography
• ⚖️ Environmental injustice & slow violence
• 🌱 Unexpected hope through ancient practices
• 🗣️ Storytelling as resistance
🌱 My Thoughts (and Feelings):
This book reads like standing at the edge of something irreversible.
And yet... it doesn’t let you despair.
Because Marginlands isn’t only a record of loss—it’s also a record of resistance. Of ancient knowledge, of people who still know how to listen to land and river and sky. Of choices we could make, if only we stopped to see what we’re destroying.
Kumar-Rao’s portraits are intimate and sharply observed. There’s beauty in the desolation, yes—but also a clear, grounded rage. You’ll finish this book and want to plant something. Save something. Scream about something.
🖋️ Favorite Lines That Gutted Me:
“We are connected by one elaborate conversation, whether we choose to hear it or not.”
“Whichever side of the net you are on, there is only loss.”
“The loss of a landscape lexicon... plunges us into a blindness that is total, wilful, destructive.”
If The Overstory broke your heart and Pilgrim at Tinker Creek rewired your soul, Marginlands is your next essential read. It belongs on your shelf, and more importantly, in your conscience.
🛑 Final Thoughts:
You don’t just read Marginlands.
You sit with it.
You stew in it.
You carry it with you when you step outside and look at the land under your feet a little differently.
This is environmental storytelling at its finest—lyrical, personal, political, and urgently important.
🌍 Five stars for the landscapes we’re losing.
🌱 Five stars for the ones still fighting to protect them.
📖 Read this. Then reread it. And then, do something.
February 1, 2024
If you're expecting "Marginlands: India's Landscapes on the Brink" by Arati Kumar-Rao to be a light-hearted romp through India's countryside, think again. It's more like a safari through the environmental jungle of India, and Rao is our khaki-clad, chai-sipping guide.
First off, let's address the elephant in the room (and not the one sneezing because of Mumbai's pollution). We need more books like this in India! Globally, we've got more climate change literature than we have polar bears left, but when it comes to India-specific stuff, it's as rare as a politician keeping an election promise. Rao's book is like finding an oasis in the desert – except this oasis is full of hard truths and environmental challenges, not palm trees and camels.
Arati starts her journey in 2013, hanging out in Ramgarh. She wanders around with shepherds, and engages in ‘bantal’ – 'aimless conversations'. These 'aimless' chats, however, reveal tales that could leave the most experienced novelists in awe of their depth.
Take Chhattar Singh in the Thar Desert, for example. This guy could find water in a desert by digging six inches! He pulls out wet sand like a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat, except it's more impressive because, you know, it's water in a desert.
But it's not all desert magicians and philosophical chai sessions. Arati gets serious about the bureaucratic mess that's as tangled as yoga instructor's limbs in an advanced pose. There is a huge disconnect between the people who intimately know the land and the detached 'officialdom'!
And then there’s the urban biodiversity. In India, we have solitary bees that don't live in hives or make honey. These bees are the unsung heroes of the pollination world, doing their crucial work without any buzz or recognition.
In conclusion, "Marginlands" is more than just a book; it's akin to the alarm clock of environmental awareness. It’s high time we embrace and disseminate such insightful reads, especially when it comes to the untold stories of India's battle with climate change. Dive into "Marginlands", then hand it off to a friend, a colleague, or even a stranger. Together, page by page, we can foster a greater understanding, do something about it and perhaps, inch closer to a more sustainable and regenerative future.
First off, let's address the elephant in the room (and not the one sneezing because of Mumbai's pollution). We need more books like this in India! Globally, we've got more climate change literature than we have polar bears left, but when it comes to India-specific stuff, it's as rare as a politician keeping an election promise. Rao's book is like finding an oasis in the desert – except this oasis is full of hard truths and environmental challenges, not palm trees and camels.
Arati starts her journey in 2013, hanging out in Ramgarh. She wanders around with shepherds, and engages in ‘bantal’ – 'aimless conversations'. These 'aimless' chats, however, reveal tales that could leave the most experienced novelists in awe of their depth.
Take Chhattar Singh in the Thar Desert, for example. This guy could find water in a desert by digging six inches! He pulls out wet sand like a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat, except it's more impressive because, you know, it's water in a desert.
But it's not all desert magicians and philosophical chai sessions. Arati gets serious about the bureaucratic mess that's as tangled as yoga instructor's limbs in an advanced pose. There is a huge disconnect between the people who intimately know the land and the detached 'officialdom'!
And then there’s the urban biodiversity. In India, we have solitary bees that don't live in hives or make honey. These bees are the unsung heroes of the pollination world, doing their crucial work without any buzz or recognition.
In conclusion, "Marginlands" is more than just a book; it's akin to the alarm clock of environmental awareness. It’s high time we embrace and disseminate such insightful reads, especially when it comes to the untold stories of India's battle with climate change. Dive into "Marginlands", then hand it off to a friend, a colleague, or even a stranger. Together, page by page, we can foster a greater understanding, do something about it and perhaps, inch closer to a more sustainable and regenerative future.
February 5, 2024
Once in a while, a book comes along, that holds you in thrall right from the first word. Such a book is Arati Kumar-Rao’s book – marginlands – Indian landscapes on the brink. It is, as the cover’s blurb indicates, an environmentalist’s journey through India’s precious yet vulnerable landscapes.
The book has a mesmerizing, lyrical quality to it, and I want to point out some paragraphs from it, in the hope that it becomes required reading for all people who are rushing headlong into the idea of development with a capital D.
The first chapter, easily the best, has her hanging out with a shepherd-philosopher, who has a lived knowledge of the desert. He bemoans the fact that his son does not have his knowledge, and that his education trains him to live for the 31st, i.e. pay day. She says, ‘modern education in this state, as in many others across India, is wholly disconnected from the geography, biology, zoology, hydrology, geomorphology, and anthropology of the land’, and ‘replaced with a universal, theoretical knowledge of nowhere in particular’. I quote, because, you can’t say this any better. She goes on to talk of solutions for the desert that have come from officialdom rather than from a deep understanding of the ecosystem.
She gives many other examples in the book. For example, she talks of Kerala. “A misguided policy, based on outdated science that did not take into consideration the hydrology of the coast, saw Kerala build seawalls and groynes over half of its 590-kilometre-long-coastline. Over time, these interventions exacerbated the very problem they were supposed to solve: coastal erosion.” She goes on to draw a vivid picture of how the walls deprive the beaches to the north of the structures of much-needed sand: the sea surges and erodes the coastline. And she states that while worldwide there is a rethink of these structures, Kerala continues to build seawalls.
In essence, the book is a call to encourage our children to become botanists, zoologists, and geologists, rather than engineers who rush into building solutions without understanding the land.
It reminded me of the chapter in the NCERT textbook on social sciences – grade 9 – called Bread Basket and Dust Bowl. It talked about America’s rush into mechanization and wheat production that created the dust bowl. I no longer see it as part of the syllabus, though.
The book has a mesmerizing, lyrical quality to it, and I want to point out some paragraphs from it, in the hope that it becomes required reading for all people who are rushing headlong into the idea of development with a capital D.
The first chapter, easily the best, has her hanging out with a shepherd-philosopher, who has a lived knowledge of the desert. He bemoans the fact that his son does not have his knowledge, and that his education trains him to live for the 31st, i.e. pay day. She says, ‘modern education in this state, as in many others across India, is wholly disconnected from the geography, biology, zoology, hydrology, geomorphology, and anthropology of the land’, and ‘replaced with a universal, theoretical knowledge of nowhere in particular’. I quote, because, you can’t say this any better. She goes on to talk of solutions for the desert that have come from officialdom rather than from a deep understanding of the ecosystem.
She gives many other examples in the book. For example, she talks of Kerala. “A misguided policy, based on outdated science that did not take into consideration the hydrology of the coast, saw Kerala build seawalls and groynes over half of its 590-kilometre-long-coastline. Over time, these interventions exacerbated the very problem they were supposed to solve: coastal erosion.” She goes on to draw a vivid picture of how the walls deprive the beaches to the north of the structures of much-needed sand: the sea surges and erodes the coastline. And she states that while worldwide there is a rethink of these structures, Kerala continues to build seawalls.
In essence, the book is a call to encourage our children to become botanists, zoologists, and geologists, rather than engineers who rush into building solutions without understanding the land.
It reminded me of the chapter in the NCERT textbook on social sciences – grade 9 – called Bread Basket and Dust Bowl. It talked about America’s rush into mechanization and wheat production that created the dust bowl. I no longer see it as part of the syllabus, though.
March 3, 2024
Bold, Riveting, Impressive long-term journalism culminated into a book!
After reading Amitav Ghosh's 'Smoke and Ashes', this is another non-fiction, which opens up reader's mind to realities which are generally ignored. 'Smokes and Ashes' sheds light on historical truth that is successively hidden from general public. This book gives in-depth hands-experience on landscapes that are mindlessly abused in name of development without foresight or blatant apathy of such projects.
Hats off to the writer for persistent pursuit on following a rare passion. Risking a secure corporate job, to follow in footsteps of people to understand the landscape they live in, is truly remarkable and bold feat!
The book takes the reader to the front-seat to experience the interactions and struggles of the writer on field. Brilliantly written! Superlative choice of words by the author, which lets a user to hunt for really good dictionary. Also equally impressive is the introduction of words from local dialects by the people she has interacted with.
This book should captivate most users on ground-realities of conservation from the people directly affected by the climate change, even they're not to be blamed for the actions of entire humanity. Working with people at grassroot level is key to the success of conservation. This book subtly covers that aspect!
The main content of the book is covered in 227, inclusive of blank pages between parts. I see max of 256 pages in the book instead of advertised 260 pages. However, there are extra of 16 pages of photo inserts. The book is available only in hard-cover edition I think. The photo inserts are only in black-and-white. Maybe for gloomy representation on topics present. Otherwise, color photos would've justifiable for the price, as I've seen some of these photos by the author on social media.
Highly recommend for all nature buffs. Also for intrepid travelers who like explore the places to understand people and topography and not just for weekend recce to escape 9-to-5 rat race. Also, I hope some bureaucrats or mandarins do read this and make atleast minute changes in their policies! (I know, that's a very futile wish.
After reading Amitav Ghosh's 'Smoke and Ashes', this is another non-fiction, which opens up reader's mind to realities which are generally ignored. 'Smokes and Ashes' sheds light on historical truth that is successively hidden from general public. This book gives in-depth hands-experience on landscapes that are mindlessly abused in name of development without foresight or blatant apathy of such projects.
Hats off to the writer for persistent pursuit on following a rare passion. Risking a secure corporate job, to follow in footsteps of people to understand the landscape they live in, is truly remarkable and bold feat!
The book takes the reader to the front-seat to experience the interactions and struggles of the writer on field. Brilliantly written! Superlative choice of words by the author, which lets a user to hunt for really good dictionary. Also equally impressive is the introduction of words from local dialects by the people she has interacted with.
This book should captivate most users on ground-realities of conservation from the people directly affected by the climate change, even they're not to be blamed for the actions of entire humanity. Working with people at grassroot level is key to the success of conservation. This book subtly covers that aspect!
The main content of the book is covered in 227, inclusive of blank pages between parts. I see max of 256 pages in the book instead of advertised 260 pages. However, there are extra of 16 pages of photo inserts. The book is available only in hard-cover edition I think. The photo inserts are only in black-and-white. Maybe for gloomy representation on topics present. Otherwise, color photos would've justifiable for the price, as I've seen some of these photos by the author on social media.
Highly recommend for all nature buffs. Also for intrepid travelers who like explore the places to understand people and topography and not just for weekend recce to escape 9-to-5 rat race. Also, I hope some bureaucrats or mandarins do read this and make atleast minute changes in their policies! (I know, that's a very futile wish.
May 26, 2025
An excellent book that shines a light on the margin lands of India - places that bear the brunt of development approaches that make their already fragile ecosystems ever more susceptible to further devastation. A solid 4.5* of a book and the reason l am not giving it a 5* is because it's hard for me to give a 5* for any book in this genre after having read Barry Lopez's Arctic Dreams, which is in a league of its own.
The author writes about the sagacity and the vulnerability of the native dwellers in these lands - the water-finders and agriculturists of the Thar desert, the fishermen of the Ganga-Brahmpautra delta, the dwellers of Sunderbans, the nomads of Ladakh, the seaside fisherfolk along our western coastline, the Buddhist mountainfolk of Arunachal and parts of Tibet, and others, with warmth and sincere understanding. The fieldwork shines through and she brings these places and their unfortunate transformations to life with her astute and remarkable observations. Her own writing itself never falls into pathos as almost always (even at her moving best when writing about the gangetic dolphin) she is crystal-eyed and documentative, yet it nevertheless leaves one with a deep sense of loss and grief. That is a testament to the quality of her writing and the sense of belonging she is able to infuse in the reader.
lt is hard to be hopeful about the future of such marginlands in these times where progress is measured only in material ways (and nearly all of us, self included, are equally culpable for this mindset), and when the mainland itself is being wrecked daily. Maybe things will change, but if they do not, books like these are at least a record of a different type of life. Sadly, much more often than not, the cost of development is far too high for those who most bear those costs.
Highly recommended.
The author writes about the sagacity and the vulnerability of the native dwellers in these lands - the water-finders and agriculturists of the Thar desert, the fishermen of the Ganga-Brahmpautra delta, the dwellers of Sunderbans, the nomads of Ladakh, the seaside fisherfolk along our western coastline, the Buddhist mountainfolk of Arunachal and parts of Tibet, and others, with warmth and sincere understanding. The fieldwork shines through and she brings these places and their unfortunate transformations to life with her astute and remarkable observations. Her own writing itself never falls into pathos as almost always (even at her moving best when writing about the gangetic dolphin) she is crystal-eyed and documentative, yet it nevertheless leaves one with a deep sense of loss and grief. That is a testament to the quality of her writing and the sense of belonging she is able to infuse in the reader.
lt is hard to be hopeful about the future of such marginlands in these times where progress is measured only in material ways (and nearly all of us, self included, are equally culpable for this mindset), and when the mainland itself is being wrecked daily. Maybe things will change, but if they do not, books like these are at least a record of a different type of life. Sadly, much more often than not, the cost of development is far too high for those who most bear those costs.
Highly recommended.
December 7, 2024
In Marginlands, Arati Kumar-Rao takes us across and around India: from the Thar Desert in the north-west to the Sundarbans in the north-east, along the Ganges and the Himalayas, to the glaciers in Ladakh, to the shifting sands of Kerala in the south-west.
With poetic observations, folklore, and research materials she shows how human encroachment of nature and illogical government policies are destroying fragile ecosystems from the depletion of Irrawaddy river dolphins; to the devastating effects of agricultural policies causing more intense desertification.There are the wild dogs that proliferated around military bases feeding off waste, destroying the natural balance, and threatening the survival of the grey wolf; and there are the breakwaters inhibiting the sands from moving up the coast with the currents which is causing further erosion, to the detriment of local fishing villages on the southern tip of India.
This book is a searing testament of how "we have disconnected not only from the natural world but, by cocooning ourselves in a controlled, manufactured space that takes us deeper into our echo chambers and discourages engagement - physical, aural, tactile or olfactory - we have 'othered' Nature. We think of Nature being elsewhere; it is now a tourist destination we can 'enjoy' on weekends for a few hours of 'detox'. Our relationship with it is now transactional rather than integral"
With poetic observations, folklore, and research materials she shows how human encroachment of nature and illogical government policies are destroying fragile ecosystems from the depletion of Irrawaddy river dolphins; to the devastating effects of agricultural policies causing more intense desertification.There are the wild dogs that proliferated around military bases feeding off waste, destroying the natural balance, and threatening the survival of the grey wolf; and there are the breakwaters inhibiting the sands from moving up the coast with the currents which is causing further erosion, to the detriment of local fishing villages on the southern tip of India.
This book is a searing testament of how "we have disconnected not only from the natural world but, by cocooning ourselves in a controlled, manufactured space that takes us deeper into our echo chambers and discourages engagement - physical, aural, tactile or olfactory - we have 'othered' Nature. We think of Nature being elsewhere; it is now a tourist destination we can 'enjoy' on weekends for a few hours of 'detox'. Our relationship with it is now transactional rather than integral"
March 14, 2025
oops this review is super late because i leave work and sit in my car for an hour and then i refuse to open my computer because that would mean moving my clothes off the couch and its not worth moving clothes off the couch at 9 pm so i don't and instead of reading a book or writing a goodreads review for a book i've already read i just walk to the beach and stare pensively at the sea and think about things including irreversible ecological damage which is what this book is about
but seriously though i really enjoyed the breadth of kumar-rao's exploration and how she centers the relationship between people and nature, especially how those who contribute the least to climate change often face the worst of it. the fact that she quit her corporate job to do this has fostered both respect and delusion in me. there's so much cool ecology in india that i knew very little about and i really enjoyed learning about them. another thing that i value in scientific writing is how compelling it is to people not already convinced of the argument and this book helped me start some conversations with my parents and i think i will force them to read it - this detail convinced me to bump up what would probably be a 4 star rating of writing alone to 5 stars. also the illustrations are gorgeous.
last but not least fuck elon musk
but seriously though i really enjoyed the breadth of kumar-rao's exploration and how she centers the relationship between people and nature, especially how those who contribute the least to climate change often face the worst of it. the fact that she quit her corporate job to do this has fostered both respect and delusion in me. there's so much cool ecology in india that i knew very little about and i really enjoyed learning about them. another thing that i value in scientific writing is how compelling it is to people not already convinced of the argument and this book helped me start some conversations with my parents and i think i will force them to read it - this detail convinced me to bump up what would probably be a 4 star rating of writing alone to 5 stars. also the illustrations are gorgeous.
last but not least fuck elon musk
September 25, 2024
An engaging book. Each of the stories sent in such disparate locations as West Bengal, the Thar desert , Ladakh, the Sunderban and Arunachal Pradesh tells us the story of how we are losing our ancient wisdom to nurture the environment and how development projects degrade the environment and marginalise people as unintended consequences. It depriving them of their customary lifestyle and occupations like fishing, and agriculture and turns them into internal migrants in our country. And how every thing that is taken away from the marginalised people is for the benefit of the urban and other rich people.
Aarati Kumar Rao has a literary style of writing beyond the journalistic and her prose makes enjoyable reading while educating. Her brand of slow journalism where she spends many months and years exploring the stories she writes, gives a richness and an aura of authenticity to the book. It is a must read for everyone to get a nuanced understanding of development versus environment.
Aarati Kumar Rao has a literary style of writing beyond the journalistic and her prose makes enjoyable reading while educating. Her brand of slow journalism where she spends many months and years exploring the stories she writes, gives a richness and an aura of authenticity to the book. It is a must read for everyone to get a nuanced understanding of development versus environment.
March 28, 2025
We need more people involved in saving the earth like the author. Well researched and passionately written. Simple and obvious things like preserving the earth and resources that sustain us have to be emphasized, unfortunately. Being a Bangalorean, I could relate to the changing landscape. For example, I have always wondered why tech company layouts are designed to imitate Californian desert like conditions and abomination of concrete, when we have such fertile and naturally rich flora and fauna that require little maintenance if you let them be.
Some of the other facts about Ladakh, sunderbans and water conservation in Rajasthan were eye openers. I hope this reaches the people who are at decision making levels and they do something about it. There should be an attempt at reviving ancient knowledge and local expertise instead of mindless modernization for the heck of it. We can only hope.
Some of the other facts about Ladakh, sunderbans and water conservation in Rajasthan were eye openers. I hope this reaches the people who are at decision making levels and they do something about it. There should be an attempt at reviving ancient knowledge and local expertise instead of mindless modernization for the heck of it. We can only hope.
December 31, 2025
This book explores the often ignored landscapes and traditional livelihoods which were in tune with nature. I learnt so many interesting facts and ideas about Indian landscapes ranging from deserts, lives along rivers, life in Leh and north east India through this book. It explores how, in the name of development and urbanisation, we are destroying these fragile ecosystems and the impact it has on all the life around it. Often in school, we are taught general geography and things from a mostly western perspective. I wish, we had taught a lot of the stuff I learnt in this book.
Fun facts - Most bees are solitary except a couple of species that live in hives. Elephants are capable of running silently.
Is development in line with local landscapes and along with nature possible?
I highly recommend following the author's website to explore photographs as you read the book to help one visualize the landscapes better.
Fun facts - Most bees are solitary except a couple of species that live in hives. Elephants are capable of running silently.
Is development in line with local landscapes and along with nature possible?
I highly recommend following the author's website to explore photographs as you read the book to help one visualize the landscapes better.
June 17, 2023
Fascinatingly written book…. straight from the heart !
Poignantly written stories about the devastating effects of the environmental changes hitting marginalised people like a slap in the face.
Ancient wisdom of how to milk the Thar sand dunes for precious water, showcasing impact of large barrages / dams in the long term on Ganga, a widow’s fight for daily bread and son’s education in Sunderbans after losing father, uncle and husband to man eating tigers, the havoc caused in Ladakh / Tibet by changing weather & deluges and the resilience of the people to fight back, …….
A stellar book written in an immersive, inimitable style evoking deep angst and sympathy !
A must-read indeed for every human being who cares about other human beings and nature.
Poignantly written stories about the devastating effects of the environmental changes hitting marginalised people like a slap in the face.
Ancient wisdom of how to milk the Thar sand dunes for precious water, showcasing impact of large barrages / dams in the long term on Ganga, a widow’s fight for daily bread and son’s education in Sunderbans after losing father, uncle and husband to man eating tigers, the havoc caused in Ladakh / Tibet by changing weather & deluges and the resilience of the people to fight back, …….
A stellar book written in an immersive, inimitable style evoking deep angst and sympathy !
A must-read indeed for every human being who cares about other human beings and nature.
August 21, 2025
what stood out to me most about arati kumar-rao’s writing is how it feels both analytical and artistic at once. she’s a national geographic explorer and artist, and it shows in the way she notices and describes everything. her descriptions carry this deep care for place, not just in the visual sense but in sound, texture, and feeling. she names what we’ve lost—that as a world we’ve become so removed, so transactional in the way we move through our environments.
her work draws lines between history, contemporary damage, and the way harm to the natural world is always also harm to us, whether we acknowledge it or not. i loved how she wove in folklore, personal accounts, and cultural memory alongside her observations. when she calls the skies indigo or when she writes about the rain “tattooing the roofs of homes,” those images make landscapes feel alive, almost human in an ironic way. i’ve been craving for a read that does environment writing so well and with extreme awareness & nuance, and this book definitely served that itch.
her work draws lines between history, contemporary damage, and the way harm to the natural world is always also harm to us, whether we acknowledge it or not. i loved how she wove in folklore, personal accounts, and cultural memory alongside her observations. when she calls the skies indigo or when she writes about the rain “tattooing the roofs of homes,” those images make landscapes feel alive, almost human in an ironic way. i’ve been craving for a read that does environment writing so well and with extreme awareness & nuance, and this book definitely served that itch.
September 10, 2025
In this book, Indian author Arati Kumar-Rao explores life in environmentally marginal areas of India. She writes beautifully and brings out the lives of people in these areas (desert, rivers, coastline, mountains, and cities) very well. Near the back of the book, she includes many of her outstanding photographs of these places. The one graphic that is missing is maps of these areas. It may not have been as bad for the original Indian audience, but the publisher should have added them for this American publication. I am not sure why American publishers, even when a theme is very geographic, choose to not include this in their publications. Worth reading, but try and find a good map to use while you are reading through it.
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