Climate Recipes: An intergenerational archive of lived wisdom

With climate change emerging as a pressing problem, Srinivas Aditya Mopidevi, Visiting Faculty of Visual Arts, 51²è¹Ý and Srinivas Mangipudi (artist / curator) co-initiated a project called ‘. If left unchecked, climate change can damage our ecosystem. This research project was initiated to serve as an archive of wisdom and advice from individuals committed to the issues of land and the environment. The idea is to document intergenerational wisdom across different regions of the country that are prototypes of climate resilience and sustainability.  

Srinivas Aditya Mopidevi and Srinivas Mangipudi came out with the Goa edition, a 130 page book for which they interviewed twenty-five experts from the Goan community. Over six months of meeting and interacting with individuals from different fields and documenting their knowledge, both authors experienced a shift in their habits and found a deeper meaning in simple acts towards saving the environment. These included environmentalists, scientists, architects, farmers, conservationists, historians, and poets. The book conveys their lived experiences and offers ‘life recipes’ to protect our planet and its environment in the face of climate challenges. Climate Recipes premiered as part of the ‘’ art exhibition at the Sunaparanta Goa Centre for the Arts, Panaji in 2023. After curating Climate Recipes, the curators believe that insights from people belonging to various fields can help us reboot our daily approaches to life and better support the environment. These ‘recipes’ provide life strategies to tackle climate change, drawing from the native knowledge of experts from Goa. 

For example, Rajeev Kumar Chaturvedi, Assistant Professor, BITS Pilani, Goa, suggests that we should curb our greed by letting go of personalized vehicles and appliances in favor of shared solutions. Tallulah D’Silva, a sustainable architect and founder of architecture t, emphasizes that our approach to architecture should be gradual, considerate of the environment, and involve sustainable practices. Nirmal Kulkarni, a field ecologist and director of Wildernest Nature Resort, advocates for learning from the forest and its plants and animals, which serve as our mentors in climate resilience and adaptation.

Climate Recipes is also expanding with new editions for Andhra Pradesh & Telangana, Bengaluru, Bhitarkanika. With the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana edition, the aim is to highlight natural farming, agroecology, biodiversity restoration, and community well-being. In Bengaluru, the project plans to adopt a neighborhood-centric approach to understand urban ecosystems, aiming to redefine sustainable living in the city's rapid development. In Bhitarkanika, Odisha, the focus is on balancing wildlife conservation in the national park with local economic development, promoting a sustainable coexistence between humans and wildlife with collaboration from the Odisha Government and other partners.

Thus, with all its editions, Climate Recipes is dedicated to provide knowledgeable insights from individuals across different parts of the country and fields. The focus remains steadfast on commitment to land and environmental stability.

Climate Recipes project is supported by Socratus Collective Wisdom Corporation and Pollinator.io

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Written by Kangna Verma and Yukti Arora - Academic Communications, RDO, 51²è¹Ý

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The Nine-Chambered Heart by Janice Pariat

"Nine characters recall their relationship with a young woman – the same woman – whom they have loved, or who has loved them. We piece her together, much like we do with others in our lives, in incomplete but illuminating slivers. Set in familiar and nameless cities, moving between East and West, this kaleidoscopic novella builds a life with colour, with light and dark, and in turn asks the reader: How does the world see you?"

The Nine-Chambered Heart is a deeply intimate, luminous and fine-boned novel that explores the nature of intimacy and how each connection you make forms who you are.

The Nine-Chambered Heart has received international recognition and has been published in India, Romania, Spain and the UK. It has been shortlisted for Tata Book of the Year Award, 2018 and is on the shortlist for Prabha Khaitan Woman's Voice Award 2018.

Janice Pariat, Assistant Professor at 51²è¹Ý teaches Critical Writing and History of Art. She was awarded the Young Writer Award from the Sahitya Akademi (Indian National Academy of Letters) and the Crossword Book Award for Fiction in 2013. Seahorse was shortlisted for the Hindu Literary Prize 2015. She studied English Literature at St Stephen's College, Delhi, and History of Art at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London.

51²è¹Ý