Refusing to live in Black and White

Book: Refusing to live in Black and White

Author:  Shaweta Anand

Introduction

This is not a grief memoir in the usual sense. Published by Penman Books in 2026, this book by Dr. Shaweta Anand - public health researcher, teacher and writer who studied at JNU starts where most stories of loss end.

Shaweta lost her husband during India's second wave of COVID-19 but the book is less about the event of death and more about the life that society starts writing for you after it.

 The Cover

The cover says it all. A winding road through colourful hills, rivers, sunset - with the title Refusing to Live in Black & White in the middle. It's a visual metaphor. Widowhood in India is often still imagined in black and white - in clothes, in behaviour, in future. She refuses that reduction.

Synopsis

The book moves between two timelines without asking one to cancel out the other:

Before: Her marriage, partnership, and everyday life.

After: Raising her son alone, dealing with family, navigating work, friendships, and identity.

There is no dramatic twist. The power is in the small things - how people start talking to you differently, how invitations change, how you are expected to become smaller to make others comfortable.

"I understood with startling clarity how widowhood can reorganise a woman socially, from a central person to a negotiable presence."

Core Themes

a) Grief vs. Social Script: The book says grief is only half the burden. The other half is the set of quiet assumptions about how a widow should look, behave, parent, work, and imagine her future. Nobody says it directly. Almost everybody believes it anyway.

b) Motherhood after Loss: It is also a story of a son growing up and a mother who stayed - how they both build a life neither of them had planned for. It is honest, occasionally funny, often infuriating.

c) Identity: At its heart, as the author writes, this is a book about refusing to be reduced to a single word - widow - when a person is always several things at once.

d) Systemic Collapse and Human Generosity: She writes about COVID second wave - "Both the systemic collapse and the human generosity deserve naming. Both were real."

Writing Style

Shaweta is not a sentimental writer. She writes like a researcher who is also a storyteller. The language is simple, personal, and observational. The foreword rightly says: This book neither romanticises suffering nor reduces a life to theory. It simply lets personal experience and careful observation illuminate each other.

My Verdict

What I loved: It makes you question your own behaviour - how we hand someone else a script they did not ask for. It is not about "getting over" grief, but about choosing what the rest of life can hold when love remains but the person does not.

Who should read it: Not just widows or people who have faced grief. Anyone interested in gender, family, Indian society, motherhood, and what it means to rebuild.

Rating: 4.5/5 - A quiet, brave, necessary book. It doesn't ask for pity. It asks for space to live in full colour.

Apeksha R. Tandel

Fisherman - The Unseen Hero

 

Our lives don't depend on the waves of the sea but his entire life stands on those waves.

While we are sleeping in our warm beds, he is awake at 3 AM in the morning. The whole village is asleep. A father, with his torn net on his shoulder and a lantern in his hand, walks towards the sea. No one is with him, only his shadow and the sound of the sea.

He doesn't know the weather report. He doesn't know the scientific reason for a tsunami. He knows only one thing - if the wind blows to the east, he will get fish, if it blows to the west, his life is in danger.

When he pushes his boat into the sea, his wife stands on the shore and prays to God. That prayer doesn't stop until he returns. Because she knows the sea is both a mother who gives and a demon who takes away.

Do you know what is in the one basket of fish he brings back? One day's meal, his daughter's new uniform, his son's notebook, and the interest on a loan that can never be repaid. He has never eaten the big fish he himself caught. Thinking, "If I sell this, I will get 500 rupees, I can buy books for my daughter," he smiles even on an empty stomach.

We bargain for 50 rupees in the market. We loudly say "too costly." But we never calculate the 12 hours of darkness, hunger, and fear of death behind that one fish.

He doesn't want government promises, he doesn't want big awards. He wants only one thing - his children should live happily on the shore, they should never have to fight with the sea for their whole life like him.

That is why he is still fighting with the waves today. He is a real hero. Not a hero from the movies, but a real hero who fights with the sea every day for our food.

Apeksha R. Tandel

Standing up for the cause of Planet Earth

Book: 

10 Indian Champions Who Are Fighting To Save The Planet 

by Bijal Vachharajani and Radha Rangarajan:

About the Book:

This is not a textbook. It is a collection of 10 real-life stories of ordinary Indians who became extraordinary environmental heroes. Written for children and teenagers, but inspiring for adults too, the book proves that you don't need to be a scientist or a minister to save the planet - you just need to be a concerned citizen.

The language is very simple, conversational and powerful. Each chapter is beautifully illustrated by different artists, which makes it feel like 10 different storybooks in one.

The 10 Champions - What the book covers:

The book covers all aspects of our environment - water, forests, wildlife, air and waste.

1.  Parineeta Dandekar - The River Champion. The chapter you shared. From Nashik, she fell in love with the Godavari river. At just 14, she called the Pollution Control Board to complain about river pollution. Now she works with SANDRP and fights against destructive dams and protects river ecosystems.

2.  Jadav Payeng - The Forest Man of India. A man who single-handedly grew a 550-hectare forest on a barren sandbar in Assam.

3.  Saalumarada Thimmakka - The mother who planted 385 banyan trees when she had no children of her own.

4.  Rohini Chaturvedi & others who work on waste, wildlife, oceans, and climate change.

Each story follows the same powerful pattern: Childhood Connection -> The Moment They Decided to Act -> The Struggles -> The Impact.

Strengths of the book:

1. Inspiring, Not Depressing: Most books on climate change scare us. This book gives us hope. It shows solutions.

2. Citizen Activism: The biggest lesson from Parineeta's story is what her father told her - "Tell them you are a citizen, that's all." It teaches kids that being a citizen is a superpower.

3. Deep Research, Simple Words: Authors explain complex things like Environmental Clearance, dam reservoirs, siltation, and water democracy in a way a 12-year-old can understand.

4. Truly Indian: It talks about our own rivers like Godavari, our own forests, and our own problems. So we can relate to it instantly.

Who should read it?

Perfect for students from Class 5 to Class 10, for school speeches, essays, book reviews, and for any parent who wants their child to love nature.

Final Verdict:

It is a MUST-READ. In a world of superheroes like Marvel, this book gives us 10 real superheroes.

Rating: 5 / 5 Stars

It will make you ask - "If they can do it, what can I do for my river, my tree, my street?"

Apeksha R. Tandel

Tribute of love to Great Grandma

Today, our family bids a tearful farewell to the strongest root of our family tree. My beloved Great Grandmother Smt. Gange Ramachandra Tandel left us for her heavenly abode on Saturday night at 11:13 PM at Tonka, Kasarkod, Honnavar.

She was not just a person, she was an era. An era of unconditional love, of selfless sacrifice, of endless patience, and of values that held our entire family together.

In her lap, we learned what love means. In her stories, we learned what life means. In her blessings, we found our strength. Her hands that blessed us, her voice that guided us, and her smile that gave us comfort will be missed every single day.

She was part of our existence, and now she will continue to live within us — in our memories, in our traditions, in the warmth of her teachings, and in every prayer of our family.

Though she is not physically with us today, her legacy will live on through generations. We will try to live up to her expectations, her values and her love.

We miss you deeply. We love you forever.

Om Shanti. 

Bhavapurna Shraddhanjali.

Apeksha R. Tandel

Tribute to Gange R. Tandel

Gange Ramachandra Tandel breathed last nearing mid-night at 11.20 pm on 19 September 2026 at her residence at Tonka, Kasarkod, Honnavar, Karnataka. I never got to know her age accurately but certainly know that she lived her life as wife, mother, grand mother and even great grand mother and lived till her ripe old age. I guess she must be anywhere above 80.

I knew her personally from the day stepped in her house on 27 February 2025. I met her dozen times ever since past 19 months. Last few months I have seen her deteriorating health and constant medical attention. 

Whenever I would visit her she would converse with me fondly. She narrated her life time incidents to me. There is much I learned from her.

I learned her hard toiling life not only bring up family but also about her work. She shared close relationship with the Sea. Those days fish used to be bumper. There were no trawlers, no purse seiners, no Ports around. Her husband would catch fish and she would go selling with other village women. She would go far and wide. Tonka was famous for dry fish then. There was no Honnavar Port Private Limited (HPPL) with its marauding presence disrupting dry fishing conquering spaces to dry fish and and rack up dust to trigger dust settling on drying fish in the open. There no heavy truck movements on the roads. She has seen life first hand in Kasarkod, life that was prosperous and courageous.

Gange would often come to Goa markets to sell fish. She visited Margao market often. I was stunned to know from her that she reached in bus to sell dry fish even at Mapusa Market in Goa. This market is so familiar being having being the visitor all my life. Gange would take this extra mile effort Journey to make her living little better, her family little happier.

There would always smile on her face every time I visited her house. She would sit in the balcony and converse with me and I with her till something would distract any of us.

She was witness to police brutalities on 25 February 2025 in her house, in her village. She was lady with enormous courage. I remember when I visited her house two days later on 27 February 2025 she was an exception to everyone around having broken down and let tears out as they began sharing the turmoil. She did not cry. Perhaps she did before meeting me for two days. Perhaps her tears had dried up facing life sorrows. After all she has been in witness to her villagers resisting the Port in Honnavar for last years. She has seen so much about Tonka, Kasarkod, Honnavar that even Chief Secretary of Karnataka Shalini Rajneesh has not.

Gange was first generation women from Tonka and neighbouring villages who were influenced with resistance ideology then led by famous Dr. Kusuma in late 1970s, early 1980s. Gange participated in protests movements then with Dr Kusuma. I saw Dr. Kusuma's photo at Sneha Kunja medical dispensary at Kasarkod some months ago and instantly recognised her having personally interacted with her during her awareness cycle yatra in 1993.

Her participated induced next three generations in her family to resists injustice. I got to know this from her grandson Raju D. Tandel who is NFSF Organising Secretary, Karnataka State few months ago when we pondered on her life.

Gange has been inspiration for her children and grand children and the villagers of Tonka, Karaskod to march forward in the path of resistance in daring manner. And when got glimpse into her life experiences during my visits to her house she inspired me too!

She is the one that society would easily cover under the carpet. Yet her life matters. Her struggle matters. Recognition to get contribution matters. The torch of resistance that she lighted in her family many decades ago matters. This matters because her action has turned her village into subject of history; refusing to be kicked around by Police, Politicians, Beaurecrats and Private Port company - HPPL.

Gange R.Tandel has her share of contribution for she was not just woman fishworker but but someone who demonstrated tremendous sense of Justice and encouraged her family to be in the struggle.

We thank Gange Tandel for the kind of life she lived and kind of legacy she had left behind for us to pick-up the baton and move for her toiling life may be rewarded with peaceful eternal rest.

Heartfelt Condolences to everyone in family.

Sebastian Rodrigues

A Bold Mineral Extraction Narrative about Adivasis of Odisha Struggle

 

Out of This Earth

East India Adivasis and the Aluminium Cartel (Second Edition), Orient Black Swan. 2020. Second edition. Originally published in 2010.

Authors: Samarendra Das and Felix Padel

There already are few dozen reviews of this momentous book. Non-fiction book based on epic struggles over minerals underneath on land inhabited by indigenous people known as adivasis (first settlers) in Eastern State of Odisha in India. Within the local context these adivasis are known as Dongria. They share deep relationship with their beloved mountain -Niyamgiri - whom they worship as Nebaraja. Hence the discourse around midnight extraction is as much about spiritualism as it is of economics, Politics and ecology, if not more.

Book certainly contains expected brilliant analysis of the relationship between corporates-state nexus to hoodwink local people in surrendering their rights and entitlements over bauxite beneath. Additionally book foraged it's scope into two daring terrain. The first one is a critical scrutiny of NGO-corporate nexus to hijack the struggle agenda on ground which is rare and unconventional in books like this as these aspects often get pushed under the carpet of scholarly scrutiny to find its way in public domain. It's a form of extraction by itself that is rewarded with analytical attention it well deserves.

The second terrain is extention of scope of extractive analysis to countries in three more continents - Africa, Latin America and Europe. This makes book truly international in its scope with never vanishing shelf life as the issues raised in the book remains evergreen in its relevance and shine across national and continental boundaries.

From my personal experience I know that this book is not written from the insulated academic towers. Both Samarendra Das and Felix Padel are involved with the communities on ground connected with mining to varying degrees. I have had privilege of meeting them both during different period of time during their Goa visits.

My first interaction with Samaredra Das dates back to December 2006 over a phone call when he alerted me on directory of export data published by Goa Minerals Ore Exporters Association. When I purchased this costly document and perused it's pages I was shocked to see export heads details in it's pages which mention "including black". Mining industry was so confident of its illegal conduct of business that they were brazenly knowingly calculating it in columns! That led us to sit on day long demonstration at Azan Maidan, Panjim on 19 December 2007 and later in 2008 evolved into sustained organised efforts through founding of Goa Federation of Mines Affected People (GOAMAP) for two years.

Felix Padel visited Goa in 2009 and we had public meeting in Morpirla, Quepem. The village then was in the middle of agitation against bauxite mining proposals.

Samarendra continue to be involved with mining struggles in different countries in different continents. He and his team has been particularly focussed on exposing scams in the underbelly of Vedanta mining company. In 2010 the international efforts led to founding of "Foil Vedanta" whose consistent campaign ultimately led to its de-listing of this corporate entity from London Stock Exchange in 2018.

I appreciate the way Samaredra Das moves all over the continents including Goa to maintain his connect with those who are involved at the grassroots past quarter of the century. His operational principles of granularity and ground truthing has provided him with sustainability in honest and accountable relationship to the communities he is writing about. He is one example to cite always when it comes to how a scholar can intellectually contribute to the community defence with mind and heart.

This book is a must read for everyone working on extractive mining industry specially in India, and beyond too.

Sebastian Rodrigues 

Chennai NGT Judgement details on Honnavar Port

 

This Judgement has Total 27 pages...

Text of Supreme Court order on Honnavar Port

 

This Order was in response to legal challenge to Southern Zone, NGT Judgement dated 10 June 2025.

Theory of reading books!

 

Books are not made of paper; they are made of time, dreams, tears, and courage of thousands of people who lived before us. When you hold a book, you are not holding just 200 pages but 200 lives.

In today's world, everything is fast. Reels are 10 seconds, news is in headlines, friendship is in likes. But a book teaches you to slow down. It says, "Sit. Breathe. I will take you somewhere, but you have to walk with me."

A Book Never Leaves You

A phone will betray you when its battery dies. People will betray you when their time changes but a book never betrays you. You can keep it closed for 10 years, open it on the 11th year, and it will start from the exact same line where you left it, with the same love.

When you are sad at 2 AM, no friend will pick up your call but a book will. When you are alone in a new city, with no one to talk to, a book becomes your roommate, your family, your home.

It never judges. If you are poor, rich, dark, fair, topper, failure - the book talks to everyone in the same language.

The Book Sees You

In school, teachers taught us to read books. But no one taught us that books also read us.

A 10-year-old reads Harry Potter and sees magic.

A 20-year-old reads the same Harry Potter and sees friendship.

A 40-year-old reads the same book and sees sacrifice.

The book never changed. You changed. That is the miracle. A book is a mirror. You don't see the book, you see yourself inside it.

One Book Can Save a Life

We have all heard of doctors saving lives, but books also save lives. How many people who wanted to quit life, read one line - this too shall pass - and decided to live one more day?

How many lonely children found courage in comics? How many broken hearts found healing in poetry? How many poor boys found a new world because someone gave them a free old book?

A book is the cheapest ticket to travel the world. With Rs. 100, you can go to the ocean with a fisherman, to space with an astronaut, to a war with a soldier, and come back home for dinner.

Why We Are Losing Books

Today, we have information but not knowledge. We have data but not wisdom. We scroll 1000 posts a day, but we can't finish 10 pages of a book.

We say we have no time. But the truth is, we have no patience. A book demands patience. It doesn't give you the climax in the first 5 seconds. It builds you.

If you lose the habit of reading, you lose the habit of thinking deeply. And a society that cannot think deeply can be easily controlled.

My First Book

I still remember my first book. It was not costly. It's cover was torn. The pages were yellow. It was given to me by my school library teacher.

I didn't like it on day one. But on day three, I finished it at 1 AM under a small torch light because my home lights were off. I cried that night; not because the story was sad, but because I realized for the first time, someone who lived 100 years ago, wrote something that touched my heart today. That is immortality.

Since then, books became my addiction.

The Future of Books

Some people say, "Books will die, everything will be on mobile." Books will never die. The form may change - from palm leaves to paper to Kindle - but the soul will never die because humans will always need stories. We need stories to understand our own pain, to feel less lonely in this big universe.

Even after 1000 years, a mother will still read a storybook to her child to make him sleep. That is the power of a book.

Conclusion

So today, open a book. Any book. It can be a 10-page small story, a Bhagavad Gita, Qaran, Bible, a science book, or a comic.

Don't read the book to complete it. Read it to meet yourself because in the end, we will not remember how many likes we got, but we will remember that one book that changed us.

And if you have not found that one book yet, keep searching. Your book is searching for you too!

Apeksha R. Tandel

Just how much is enough?

In my artwork, an earth mover machine is shown drilling a hole into the land alongside colossal, fresh mango fruits. The fruits appear to be engaged in a poignant conversation. This imagery tries to nudge humanity's conscience about its relentless pursuit of progress, which has led to rampant concretization, technological advancement, and consumerism, ultimately threatening to annihilate our very existence. It poses a profound question: just how much is enough?

The artwork offers multiple layers of interpretation. The imposing, fresh, and healthy mangoes symbolize the resilience and cultural significance of indigenous communities, who cherish the fruit as an integral part of their heritage. The mangoes also represent these communities' bravery in resisting the destruction of nature, despite facing forced evictions and land acquisitions that cater to the interests of the wealthy and powerful. The mangoes' imposing size serves as a testament to nature's inherent power.

In the background, a stark strip mining landscape reveals the devastating consequences of iron ore extraction, underscoring the artwork's themes of environmental degradation and the clash between progress and preservation. The painting signifies the imminent threat to the land, as iron ore is transported away, leaving the land bereft of soil – the lifeblood of its people.

The mangoes hold a deeper significance, representing a universal love and appreciation that transcends socioeconomic boundaries. Both the rich and the poor, even those responsible for destroying the land, cherish the mango. However, this shared love is paradoxically overshadowed by the destructive forces of greed and the lust for wealth. This conflict highlights the struggle between those who seek to preserve the land for the benefit of all and those who prioritize profit.

Loretti Joyce Pinto