Intertidal: A Coast and Marsh Diary

by Yuvan Aves

Over two years and three monsoons, Yuvan Aves pays scrupulous attention to the living world of his coastal city. The result is a diary of deep observation of coast and wetland, climate and self. Set in beaches and marshes, and the wild places of the mind, Intertidal comprises daily accounts of being in a multispecies milieu.

In language that is jewel-like and precise, we hear frog calls through the night, spot butterflies miles into the ocean, find blue buttons washed ashore, see the churning of longshore currents and meditate on the composting abilities of worms. We also witness communities stand together to preserve the homes and livelihoods of the human and non-human inhabitants of the coast and the marsh.

Intertidal asks us to reimagine values to live by in the here and now, heeding the living world and attending to the climate's calling, moving away from the old political, religious and cultural values that have proved to be ecologically disastrous. Yuvan Aves invites us to see beyond the binaries of sea and coast, mindscape and landscape, human and not human, self and other, and live in deep animism amid all of life.

Genres: Nature, Nonfiction, Environment, Ecology, Natural History, India, Science

284 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 20, 2023

Reviews

[Areeb Ahmad (Bankrupt_Bookworm) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wrote about this one for Panorama. You can read the full essay here: https://panoramajournal.org/issues/is...

"‘Intertidal is the part of the shoreline that appears during low tide and is hidden during high tide. In some places it is thin, in others it is vast.’ So identifies Yuvan Aves the theme and rhythm of his book, also titled Intertidal, which is a diary of his astute observations over two years (and three monsoons) in and around the coastal city of Chennai, the capital of the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It begins in November of 2020 and ends in November of 2022. Divided across six chapters called meditations, each having a broad thematic focus that is aligned with the shift of seasons, the book is as much an exploration of physical time and place as it is of ‘a metaphorical and metaphysical space’. It is a deeply reflective work that privileges attention and contemplation as affirmed by the useful, sensorial, guided meditations that appear in each chapter ‘like a tide somewhere during its length’."

[Natasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yuvan Aves is a nature educator and an environmental activist, and in this book, he marries the sensibilities of both to come up with something almost otherworldly. Like the intertidal zone, which is neither land nor water, but something much greater than the sum of both, this book while describing creatures and their habitats and the effects of unchecked development, manages to transcend that and almost get into the philosophical realm of who we are and why we remain as we are. The scope of the book is almost mind boggling- on one page he is describing the life cycle of larve in a water tank, and in the next he has gone onto the false binary of believing that development can only come at the cost of the environment. Just when you start to get comfortable with the cosmos plants in his balcony and the winged creatures they attract, you find yourself reading about how generational trauma is perpetrated and of how each of us can take the decision to not pass it forward. Words cannot do justice to the book, because it is not a book you read; it is a book you experience. And if after you finish the book, you find yourself humming Don McLean's lyrics "the world was never meant for one as beautiful as you", you will not be the only one doing so!

[Arthy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book feels like poetry in motion. It is one to be read slowly, savored and re-read. For me it was a reminder of the intense, natural beauty around us that we’ve forgotten to pay attention to in our busy lives ; a book for a world that’s steeped in procuring material wealth, that reminds us of the wealth of information that can be acquired by observing the millennia of evolution around us.

Attention in its purest form, as the author demonstrates can be an extremely rewarding experience. Watching nature unfold and observing patterns in life around us is a skill that needs a ton of perseverance, patience and perspective but also one that can be incredibly valuable in developing ourselves, our community and our society.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m not at all surprised that a book for which Robert Macfarlane has written the introduction so beautifully captures the magic of nature. It’s no coincidence that so many poets write about nature and so many nature writers seem to have the hearts of poets. Yuvan Aves is no exception; Intertidal poetically paints a picture of Alves’ local landscape and biodiversity. Divided into six chapters, this nature journal transports us to the coastlands of Chennai, blending information, imagery, and meditation into an immersive environmental experience.

[Laurence · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars.
A fascinating and rich look at so many species and lives around intertidal India. A few too many references to religion that presuppose the answer is that none of them are correct, along with suggestions that being non-binary is the way forward, for me personally. Also less into the meditations.

[Tisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

INTERTIDAL A COAST AND MARSH DIARY by Yuvan Aves. A terrific session with him (and Robert Macfarlane bringing some delightful generosity to his Zoom screen live at JLF)
The book marks a unique entry into Indian nature writing in English, straddling both personal grief and a sandy slipper of grounded work. So many layers and insights meet interestingly. Highly recommend.

So very happy to see the nurturing spaces of Chennai continue to birth generations of young Indian environmentalists, including this deserving young star.

[Harshith J. V. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal diary by an ace naturalist, activist and an educator.

The book starts with Yuvan's personal tragic childhood story. If a sadistic movie director, prolific in rowdyism plots, picks this piece from the prologue may make this content into a feature length epic with lot of blood in the hands of the adult protagonist. However, reality is stranger than fiction. Yuvan's life is exemplary and stands out to motivate others to lead a life of curiosity, exploration and teaching(instead of filling with good life with anguish and vengeance as in movies).

I've not read earlier works by Yuvan, but I do follow his Instagram handle. However, I'm completely astonished by his vocabulary and prose skills on this book. Absolute mastery over writing skills with plethora of words in his quiver; for both general and scientific language. One of those tough book I've read where I need to lookup for meanings and definitions in every paragraph. The book also contains many Tamil dialect terms related to oceans, winds and its denizens.

Very well written meditation chapters. Although reading it is not helpful to truly experience it. Audio-book format might to do more justice to feel the meditation.

One can find eloquent description of natural history observation by the author. I'm amazed at the details in which author writes about each natural events; along with expertise in using common and scientific names, a wonted skill of proficient naturalists like Yuvan.

Apart from documenting observations, the role of the author as a nature educator is endearing and inspirational for a wannabe nature enthusiasts. I was also not aware this side of Yuvan being engaged with children of some schools in Chennai. I hope most kids under him and his fellow nature educating peers will take a good role in future of Chennai's bustling metropolis balancing sustainability with development.

Though the book covers mostly Chennai and other parts of Tamil Nadu, for a reader it can be a source of inspiration to observe their backyards, towns or cities with curious lens. Our kind, at every opportunity, make the planet we live on only cozy enough for our own species, thereby grossly neglecting rights of other denizens on this earth. But when you start to observe nature properly, you realize that wild animals are still trying to adapt, even though we've made the landscape not welcoming and inhabitable to them. The behaviors observed in frog tank, the granite ghost dragonfly, shorebirds, etc. in the book can have parallels in reader's city or towns. Similar sociopolitical scenarios, mentioned in the book, can be observed in various places by the readers.

Recommended for nature enthusiasts, activists, naturalists, bird-watchers, herpers and so on. The book is easy to connect and reflect for people who regularly observe nature. May not be so for other readers who're not into these activities. However, if it captivates such readers, it can serve as stepping stone in nature appreciation and will add extra voices for the voiceless critters and floras.

I feel the book is compatriot to previous nature I read this year, i.e., Marginlands by Arati Kumar-Rao. In a way Intertidal is one of the type of marginlands.

A comment on book cover: The design is well thought. There is rough embossing where there is sand and sediments. The embossing gives tactical understanding of the term: Intertidal. Kudos to the design team for such incorporation of sand-like feel to the book cover.

[Rahul Vishnoi · Rating 5 out of 5]

-Trying To Inject A Little Sense in This Beyond-Redemption World-
Review of 'Intertidal'

Quote Alert
"𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝, 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐚 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝."

In the beginning of the book, the bylines and praise for Intertidal goes on and on, without seeming to end. That's saying something for a genre that's nascent in birth and doesn't have a wide reading range. If you too are on the other side of this genre (climate non-fic,) you need to pick this book up right now.

Intertidal is an ode to Chennai, it's ocean, trees, wetlands, marshes, rivers and 'more-than-humans'. It's polished in writing but raw in intensity. Aves brings a searing honesty, coupling a city's history with his own, compiling a narrative that's so emotionally intense, the words feel like a tug somewhere between your ribs. Being a community dog carer, I understand his empathy for those who are more-than-humans.

There are many insights that Aves shares, some highly intellectual, others deeply emotional. Watch out for harrowing incidents of violence against a child, although the author does give a fair warning about them. Reading this book is as much as knowing Chennai as it is about knowing Yuvan Aves. Let me tip my writing hat to you, sir.

Those who are wondering why this review has come a day after Earth Day, shouldn't every day be Earth Day? And this book should be read by everyone who calls themselves either a bibliophile or a nature enthusiast.

[മോസിൻ · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful diary where the reader is left yearning for senses that are as curious, accepting and imaginative as the author's. Yuvan Aves' entries do not go subtle; every tiny creature is named, with actions and behaviours and appearances described with awe and detail. What enables Aves to experience all of this isn't a scientific degree or access to advanced tools — rather it's that space of mind to get engrossed in what an average city-dweller would ignore or find mundane. "A 5x3 seasonal body of water gets deeper and deeper the more one observes", as mentioned in one entry. Though he hears and sees what everyone else around him does as well, Aves is able to listen to sounds and take in sights that others aren't able to.

To understand an organism, it is necessary to consider their umwelt. While the diary does mention this at various points, the more important takeaway is to develop oneself to give prominence and visibility to these organisms in one's own umwelt. Through the author's teaching excursions with young children, we are left believing that cultivating this in ourselves can lead to increased tolerance, breakage of artificial barriers among us, and an awakened socio-political mind.

While I initially felt disappointed that there weren't (more) pictures accompanying the sensorial writing, I realized that such a desire was flawed and possibly even selfish. What creates this book is Aves delving into the world around him with all senses heightened as the brain undergoes an intertidal state of blissful wonder. Those moments aren't to be interrupted with a camera.

[Sudeepa Nair · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite living in Chennai for eight years, I know little about its geography, and how the gradual changes in its topography has transformed the social fabric. The livelihoods of many depend on how the city survives the multiple assaults on its natural resources and terrain.

It's not a surprise that many like me whose daily lives encroached upon the habitats failed to observe the inevitable -- nature does not and will not conform to our plans. The sooner we realise this the better.

I laughed out loud, albeit embarrassingly, when I read how Yuvan told his young students that the most populous species in the marshlands are the IT professionals.

I often say that my apartment got flooded in the 2015 floods but as Yuvan asks how do you call it flooding when you sit in the catchment area and wait for the water to rise?

Yuvan Aves offers a tour of this beautiful world that a layman often ignores. The book not only opens our eyes to the world outside but also encourages us to delve into our minds. The meditation guides are something to cherish.

[Shalini · Rating 5 out of 5]

This wonderful book’s invitation to enter the meditative space in nature is hard to resist. There are six mindful themes- ocean, tree, rain, detrivore, different and the intertidal; followed by day to day observations in and around Chennai. As someone familiar with the city (my own ancestral connection is to the Pulicat lake), I am aware of the environmental devastation wrought in the name of ‘development’ that Yuvan describes but surprisingly he also fills me with hope. I have learnt not to ignore the connectedness nature brings and have started to notice beetles, bees and butterflies. As Yuvan says, the individual is a cultural construct. He asks some interesting questions; what is the the fragmented reality of our oculocentric species? What does our collective evolutionary past remember? It was also nice to see some familiar names mentioned; Yuvaraj Anna the boatman who took me on a recent birding trip on the Pulicat lake and Subramaniam Sankar, the birdsong recorder of Chennai.

[Delilah Walter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another CORKER of a book. Makes me tingle. Yuvan is a new hero of mine, and he is soooo wise. He manages to relate ecology to the human body/psyche and behaviour so well and so poetically. I was definitely lost when it came to the hundreds of insects and birds and sea creatures he reels off but I found myself googling all sorts of stuff which has to be a good sign. There’s so much we don’t understand about the natural world and we only know to measure it by our own standards. E.g. He explains how spiders pass on parts of their cognitive function into their webs so that the webs themselves can relay messages and actually MOVE towards prey. I am in awe of mummy nature 🙌🏽

[IA AI · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is a red flag. We cannot allow people to claim that Rudolf Steiner, a pseudo-scientist still responsible for medical deaths due to loss of chances, was a great educator, or to reference Carlos Castaneda, another scientifically irresponsible figure and indirect killer. Biodiversity saved Yuvan Aves when he was a beaten teenager. Now, as a known naturalist and educator, he draws upon it but ultimately does it a great disservice with his scientific and spiritual missteps. Biodiversity needs better. Hoping Aves finds a more responsible path to help it.

[Hannah St John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, truly in love with this book. Whole heartedly agree that our self and nature and the way we view the world are all mixed together. And as Yuvan suggests that development and climate change are unjust in their disproportionate impacts on vulnerable peoples, then conservation and observation of the natural world are forms of action against oppressive systems and ways of thinking. You can tell I’m excited by this book based on this slightly chaotic review - please read!!

[edith]

unfortunately a dnf (at least for now, maybe i'll come back to it?)
this is my first time trying nature writing and i'm not sure it's for me? the book is split into 6 parts and i read the first part over a couple of weeks. what i read was nice, i like the diary style and there was lots of interesting information but it took me a while just to read one part and i wasn't sure i really wanted to read 5 more parts.

[Bhairavi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the depth, philosophy, reflection of the author's life, connection with Chennai and the connect with nature
This book is an experience of the author’s inner world and their engagement with the environment around them
It is truly incredible and deserves all the recognition and will, no doubt, inspire action and deeper connections to nature
Highly recommend!

[Meera Pazhampori · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just like the title, this book explores the inter-tidal of our existence - queer ecologies, than the binary of land and water. I agree with the author when he says that when we look closely at nature, nothing is actually in the binary - nothing is either male or female

[gowri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful and devastating. It's hard to formulate the words to describe the emotional journey that I went through reading this impactful work. The only word that really comes to mind is yearning.....

[Shreya Vinodh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a well written inquisitive curious book

[Pratibha Rohal · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a poetry in motion, to be read slowly, savored one entry at a time. Nature writing at it's finest.

[Formed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Diel vertical migrations, aeroplanktons, ark clams, ornamented pygmy frogs, neustonic creatures, breath as tides.