From The Marginlands
From The Marginlands with Prem and Arati takes unabashed deep-dives into uncomfortable environmental issues. We converse with carefully curated guests on the art of telling stories about the environment and on climate change as it manifests around the world.
From The Marginlands
If A City Forgets Itself, What Lies Ahead? We Ask Harini Nagendra
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n this episode of From The Marginlands, Arati Kumar-Rao and Prem Panicker speak with ecologist and writer Harini Nagendra about the lost ecological memory of Bengaluru — a city once shaped by lakes, wetlands, trees and commons that sustained both biodiversity and community life.
Drawing on decades of research into urban ecology, Harini traces how cities slowly sever themselves from local water, food and ecological systems, and what disappears when nature is treated as expendable real estate. The conversation moves through Bengaluru’s forgotten lake networks, migrant relationships with urban nature, vanishing traditions of foraging and shared spaces, and the possibilities of restoring biodiversity in rapidly expanding Indian cities.
This is a conversation about memory, urban futures, ecological grief, and the difficult work of rebuilding relationships between people and the landscapes they inhabit.
ABOUT:
Harini Nagendra is an ecologist, author and public scholar working on urban ecology, sustainability, forests, commons, and biodiversity in Indian cities. She is Director of the School of Climate Change and Sustainability at Azim Premji University: https://azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/people/harini-nagendra
Official website: https://harininagendra.com/
ResearchGate page: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Harini-Nagendra/3
On X: https://x.com/HariniNagendra
On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/harini.nagendra/
Profile on edX, including course material and background: https://www.edx.org/bio/harini-nagendra
TALKS:
Harini Nagendra on Bangalore's history through its trees: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8Zo0C_NliY&t=2s
On ecology and sustainability: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k714Y_gpR1U
From Bangalore's lakes to detective mysteries: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeT1hQtcK5E
History, activism and the Antropocene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5V4tig2pARk
What happened when the British chose India's trees: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30dmqoofUXs
Nature in the city: Changes in Bangalore over time and space: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8XJ7AYVe2M
Thinking ecologically about Indian cities: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2IKCCvkzso
Let's talk climate change: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMm_OX_mA-8
BOOKS: NON-FICTION:
Nature in the City: On Bangalore's ecological history, its lakes, trees, urban memory, and sustainability: https://www.amazon.in/NATURE-CITY-OIP-Harini-Nagendra/dp/0199495467/ref=sr_1_1?sr=8-1
Cities and Canopies: An exploration of trees in Indian cities: https://www.amazon.in/dp/0670091219/?bestFormat=true&k=cities%20and%20canopies&ref_=nb_sb_ss_w_scx-ent-bk-ww_k0_1_11_de
Shades of Blue: On water, lakes and urban futures in India: https://www.amazon.in/Shades-Blue-Harini-Nagendra/dp/0670099694/ref=sr_1_1?sr=8-1
BOOKS: FICTION
(Historical mysteries set in 1920s Bangalore, weaving ecology, history and social life into detective fiction)
The Bangalore Detectives Club: A sharp young woman in 1920s Bangalore quietly begins solving crimes in a city divided by empire, class and custom: https://www.amazon.in/THE-BANGALORE-DETECTIVES-CLUB/dp/140871518X/ref=sr_1_2?sr=8-2
Murder Under A Red Moon: A murder in colonial Bangalore draws amateur sleuth Kaveri Murthy into a web of secrets, politics and social tensions : https://www.amazon.in/Murder-Under-Red-Moon-Detectives/dp/1408715236/ref=sr_1_3?sr=8-3
A Nest of Vipers: As danger closes in around her family and friends, Kaveri investigates a case that reveals the darker undercurrents of the city : https://www.amazon.in/Nest-Vipers-Bangalore-Circus-Detectives/dp/1408715244/ref=sr_1_5?sr=8-5
Into the Leopard's Den: Kaveri’s search for the truth leads her into the worlds of royalty, power and hidden violence in princely-era Bangalore : https://www.amazon.in/INTO-THE-LEOPARDS-DEN/dp/9357316175/ref=sr_1_1?sr=8-1
EOM
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