Jun 19 2022 to Jun 19 2022 11:30 a.m.

EVENT HAS ENDED

Where

Urban Solace

32, Annaswamy Mudaliar Rd, Ulsoor 560042

Event Description

BOOK UNDER REVIEW: The Nutmeg’s Curse- Parables for a Planet in Crisis by Amitav Ghosh ENTRY: FREE Day: Sunday Date: 19th June 2022 Time: 11.30 am to 1 pm Venue: Urban Solace, 32, Annaswamy Mudaliar Road, Bangalore 560 042. (Opposite Ulsoor Lake, Next to Tamil Sangam) Telephone: 98450 13055, 99450 22177 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ABOUT THE BOOK: The Nutmeg’s Curse - Parables for a Planet in Crisisby Amitav Ghosh A powerful work of history, essay, testimony, and polemic, Amitav Ghosh’s new book traces our contemporary planetary crisis back to the discovery of the New World and the sea route to the Indian Ocean. The Nutmeg’s Curse argues that the dynamics of climate change today are rooted in a centuries-old geopolitical order constructed by Western colonialism. At the center of Ghosh’s narrative is the now-ubiquitous spice nutmeg. The history of the nutmeg is one of conquest and exploitation—of both human life and the natural environment. In Ghosh’s hands, the story of the nutmeg becomes a parable for our environmental crisis, revealing the ways human history has always been entangled with earthly materials such as spices, tea, sugarcane, opium, and fossil fuels. Our crisis, he shows, is ultimately the result of a mechanistic view of the earth, where nature exists only as a resource for humans to use for our own ends, rather than a force of its own, full of agency and meaning. Writing against the backdrop of the global pandemic and the Black Lives Matter protests, Ghosh frames these historical stories in a way that connects our shared colonial histories with the deep inequality we see around us today. By interweaving discussions on everything from the global history of the oil trade to the migrant crisis and the animist spirituality of Indigenous communities around the world, The Nutmeg’s Curse offers a sharp critique of Western society and speaks to the profoundly remarkable ways in which human history is shaped by non-human forces. About the Author: Amitav Ghosh Amitav Ghosh (born 11 July 1956) is an Indian writer, best known for his English language historical fiction. He won the 54th Jnanpith award in 2018, India’s highest literary honor. Ghosh's ambitious novels use complex narrative strategies to probe the nature of national and personal identity, particularly of the people of India and Southeast Asia. He has also written non-fiction works discussing topics such as colonialism and climate change. Ghosh studied at The Doon School, Dehradun, and earned a doctorate in social anthropology at the University of Oxford. He worked at the Indian Express newspaper in New Delhi and several academic institutions. His first novel The Circle of Reason was published in 1986. Later fictional works include The Shadow Lines, The Glass Palace and the Ibis trilogy. His non-fiction work includes In an Antique Land and The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable. Ghosh holds two Lifetime Achievement awards and four honorary doctorates. In 2007 he was awarded the Padma Shri, one of India's highest honours, by the President of India. In 2010 he was a joint winner, along with Margaret Atwood of a Dan David prize, and 2011 he was awarded the Grand Prix of the Blue Metropolis festival in Montreal. He was the first English-language writer to receive the award. In 2019 Foreign Policy magazine named him one of the most important global thinkers of the preceding decade. About The Curator: Neeraj Sinha Neeraj is a regular member of Urban Solace Book Lovers' Club. He loves reading but can't claim to be an avid reader. He reads whenever he gets time especially during his official travels. He reads books in almost all genres but his favorite genres are mythology, history, travelogues and thriller. His personal favorites are 'The Mahabharata', 'The Last Mughal', all stories of Arthur Conan Doyle and the Millennium trilogy. Professionally he works in an IT company as a capital market domain expert.