Radha Rangarajan is usually found lost in either a forest or a book. A photographer, Radha dabbles in filmmaking, art and writing. She is the Editor at Nature inFocus and also curates and edits stories for JLR Explore. She's a natural history buff and is partial to elephants, fungi, owls, and trees. Radha has written and guest-edited over ten picture books for children, all of which have been published by Pratham Books.
When Bijal Vachharajani is not reading Harry Potter, she dreams up picture books as Editor Scissorhands at Pratham Books. Bijal is the author of four children's books including A Cloud Called Bhura and So You Want to Know About the Environment. She has edited a magazine, rescued parakeets, tigers and elephants, and is part of the Abhiyan Library movement. Bijal has a Masters in Environment Security and Peace from the University of Peace in Costa Rica and is a certified climate worrier.
The word 'champion' may make you think of someone crossing the finishing line in a race with the theme from Chariots of Fire blaring in the background. It could also make you think of Freddie Mercury in a white vest crooning 'We are the champions, my friends'. But there is another meaning apart from victorious: a champion is also a person who vigorously supports or defends another, or a cause. Those are the sort of champions you will meet in this book-and their cause is to save this planet. Through their work-writing, researching, drawing, challenging, protecting-they make the Earth a better place for all of its denizens.
This book will be published at a time when the world is overheated, and globally, temperatures are rising steadily-the carbon in the atmosphere has crossed 415 parts per million (that's bad; 350 ppm is a safe level), and a million species are at risk of going the dodo way (extinct!). So much so that the UK-based newspaper Guardian has changed the way it reports on climate change by calling it a climate crisis.
For every policymaker who pretends climate change is not urgent, there are many more people who fight to make the Earth a more liveable place for humans and flora and fauna. These are the stories of ten such people-out of many, many more. Researchers, writers, activists, conservationists, scientists, cartoonists, all fighting the good fight against the climate crisis, the burgeoning waste problem, food insecurity and polluted waters. Those who are standing up for underwater and terra firma denizens, for birds, snakes, mammals and corals. Because everyone has the right to live a good life.
The notion of 'who is an environmentalist has evolved over the years. From being a few people who had the attention of the policymakers, it now encompasses all kinds of change-makers-from those who live sustainably, to those who fight injustice, to those who are writing, tweeting, talking about it at different forums. Everyone can be an environmentalist.
When we started work on this book, we were filled with dread at the prospect of picking only ten people. We made lists, scratched out the lists, re-did the lists and made more lists. Our first list had the great stalwarts of environment and wildlife, yesterday's and today's-Salim Ali, Indira Gandhi, J Vijaya, Shehla Masood, M Krishnan, Anupam Mishra, Zafar Futehally, Bittu Sahgal. Then we realized we wanted to talk about today and tomorrow, the problems and the solutions. And meet these everyday heroes, both young and old.
Hindu (886)
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Biography (598)
Buddhist (544)
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Islam (235)
Jainism (275)
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