‘You cannot prepare for the future without having a sense of the past’ 

The recently concluded Vijay Thiruvady Memorial Lecture, saw Mahesh Rangarajan elucidate on how the 20th century shaped India’s present and continues to impact its future. Titled, ‘India Ekologika: Revisiting India’s 20th-Century Environmental History’, his talk highlighted how decisions made at crucial junctures of history had a profound impact on politics, economy, culture and society.

The recently concluded Vijay Thiruvady Memorial Lecture, saw Mahesh Rangarajan elucidate on how the 20th century shaped India’s present and continues to impact its future. Titled, ‘India Ekologika: Revisiting India’s 20th-Century Environmental History’, his talk highlighted how decisions made at crucial junctures of history had a profound impact on politics, economy, culture and society.

Mahesh is the Professor of History and Environmental Studies at Ashoka University, Haryana. He is also Chair of the Ashoka Archives of Contemporary India. Some of his books include Fencing the Forest (1996), India’s Wildlife History (2001) and Nature and Nation (2015).

BIC was honoring the memory of its member Vijay Thiruvady who started the iconic ‘Green Heritage Walks in Lalbagh.’ Vijay conducted Imperial Colonial Walks in Cubbon Park and Military Heritage Walks at the MEG&C, and participated in the various activities of Bangalore Environment Trust as a trustee.

Mahesh touched on numerous topics during his talk. The following are a few:

Climate Change 

One of the most pertinent issue that haunts us today is climate change, “The pace of climate change has a lot to do with human action and changes in the carbon cycle,” he said. When we think about the carbon cycle, one of the consequences is when the quantum of carbon in the atmosphere increases rapidly, and the atmosphere comes under risk.

One of the factors for the increase in carbon is the combustion of fossil fuels; these materials compressed in the Mesozoic and Jurassic Ages are now being extracted and burned extensively.