T. R. Shankar Raman

My new book: The Trees of My Country

It's been nearly five years in the making, and now it's almost here! The Trees of My Country: A Natural History of India in 50 Trees, published by Aleph, will hit the bookstores soon. It took me across India, this great country of the trees, from the steamy forests of the Andaman and Nicobar islands to the high Himalaya, from the coral atolls of Lakshadweep to the far reaches of Arunachal Pradesh.

https://shankarraman.in/2026/05/24/my-new-book-the-trees-of-my-country/

RE: https://shankarraman.in/2026/05/24/my-new-book-the-trees-of-my-country/

My new book on #trees of #India is now on pre-order at many outlets and independent bookstores like Champaca in #Bengaluru
https://champaca.in/products/the-trees-of-my-country-a-natural-history-of-india-in-50-trees?variant=42450808897571

My book The Wild Heart of India is now out in paperback as a revised edition with five new essays. Published by Westland, the book has a brand new cover, a beautiful piece of art by Sartaj Ghuman, whose illustrations grace the pages inside as well. The book is now making it's way into bookstores across India. #books #naturewriting #wildlife #biodiversity #India #indiebookstores #theWildHeartOfIndia

https://shankarraman.in/2026/05/18/paperback-writer/

The world's getting crazier by the day. I'm turned away from a neighbourhood store I walked up to to buy fruits. The fruits are right there. People manning the store are right there. But I've to go back I believe and order the same thing online so that someone can deliver it, presumably driving up on a motorbike. Maybe even from a store that's part of the chain somewhere else in the city that the algorithm selects.
#enshittification

Swiftly fly the years

Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly fly the years
One season following another
Laden with happiness and tears
~ Fiddler on the Roof

Why do we journey? What makes us put one step in front of another? What propels us to head one way and not in a different direction? What do we take along? And, equally important, what do we leave behind?

https://shankarraman.in/2026/01/10/swiftly-fly-the-years/

My 2025 reads... A modest haul, rich in reading...
#storygraph #books
And here's to another year of reading! #newyear2026

A #blog post with ruminations on #nostalgia and a "partial and eclectic list of the things that I’ve left behind that I feel deserve a revisit, and a brief account of my incipient steps towards reimagining their place in my present and future."
https://shankarraman.in/2026/01/10/swiftly-fly-the-years/
#memoir #essay #longread #books #music #fieldnotes #radio

Last few copies of the hardback edition of my book available via the #ncfindua store
#books #naturewriting #wildlife #biodiversity #india
The Wild Heart of India
https://ncf-store.zohocommerce.in/products/the-wild-heart-of-india/1638627000003261114

@JohnAltringham@mastodon.online Thank you.

A perceptive take on one of the most ecologically and socially ruinous and destructive projects to ever be planned in Indias lands and waters.

Is India’s Great Nicobar Gambit an Asset or Liability?
https://www.globalasia.org/forum/is-indias-great-nicobar-gambit-an-asset-or-liability_nirmal-ghosh

For these bullshit artists to come to their senses, we'll have to wait until the cows come home!

#News #Delhi #NewDelhi #Aravallis #Forests

https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/delhi-news/cm-govt-working-on-scientific-plan-to-link-gaushalas-with-ridge-101777486380563.html

A lovely and lively article by #ecologist Bibidishananda⁩ Basu on how the #forest comes alive around a fascinating fruiting #tree in #ArunachalPradesh. #India #nature #wildlife
https://roundglasssustain.com/wild-vault/chalmugra-tree-visitors