Atulya Misra’s ‘Vultures of Paradise’ explores human-environment conflict

The Chennai-based IAS officer says the eco-fiction novel was conceived during the pandemic, in the midst of his work towards the containment of COVID-19

“Our education teaches us that the environment is in danger, not how to tackle waste, or curtail our greed. How many pens should a person possess, how many clothes? During the festive season, our packaging comes with frills. We create waste for nothing, and many of us don’t discard or recycle. How safely is nuclear waste secured at the bottom of the ocean?” asks Atulya Misra, IAS, when we meet at his office on the busy Anna Salai.

Misra, who is Additional Chief Secretary and Chairman and Managing Director of Tamil Nadu Power Finance and Infrastructure Development Corporation, makes the planet and its supportive ecosystem the hero of his second book Vultures of Paradise (published by Rupa).

For decades, eco-fiction has sounded the alarm about the damage that may not yet be visible on the planet, although of late, so much devastation is already staring us in the face. Misra too believes that fiction is a better tool to raise environmental awareness. “Academics have said enough about our relationship with the Earth. When you create a fictional character who deals with the planet, anyone will be drawn to read it, as it sounds less like moral instruction,” he says, adding that the book was conceived during the pandemic, in the spaces between his busy schedule working towards the containment of COVID-19.