Hey friends,
Greetings from Bangalore, India!
It has been a whirlwind of activity over the past few weeks. It’s been hard to write because of shuffling across the country (I’ve had to travel across 7 states in the past few weeks).
I was trekking deep in the Himalayas.
I came face to face with a tiger in Kerala ON FOOT.
I was on the CNN-News18 breakfast show
I graduated from Ashoka University
I spoke at various events about my bestselling book - The Light of Wilder Things
And more.
I doubt I’ll be able to talk about everything here. But I can give you the gist. Maybe I’ll explore all of them in detail in the next few issues.
On 22nd May, International Biodiversity Day, I was invited by CNN-News18 as their Person of Interest on their show, “The Breakfast Club”, to speak about my bestselling book - The Light of Wilder Things. You can watch it below
We talked about everything from my passion for the natural world to my journey writing a best selling book, to what we need to do to preserve our wild spaces
Funnily enough, it was quite a task getting to their studio. I flew into Delhi the previous night, but because of the heavy turbulence, I dropped my phone, and for some reason, it stopped working. One fall was enough to kill it.
On top of that, the turbulence was so heavy that my flight had to be diverted to Jaipur. And so here I am, in a city I didn’t plan to travel to, with a phone that isn’t working.
Luckily, I’ve been stuck in worse places without a phone before, and so I kept my old, battered phone in my bag as well. I got that to work and then, after a few hours, flew back into Delhi, reaching by 2:30 AM. And thus, the next morning, I could hop into the car sent for me, taking me to the CNN-News18 studio.
For 8 days, I went deep into Kumaon(Uttarakhand) to explore its oak and rhododendron forests near the village of Gogina. And can I just say, I’ve never seen a forest section like this in the Himalayas. The trail is bursting with rhododendron tress, and I can only imagine
Not many people know, but there are many varieties of rhodos, beyond just the typical pink ones (used to make the traditional “buransh” drink in Uttarakhand, which I DEFINITELY recommend)
Postcard
I also happened to have graduated from Ashoka University, after spending 4 years of my life (~1/5 of my ENTIRE LIFE) here. This probably merits its own issue.
Favourite Quote
“I raise up my voice not so that I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard…we cannot succeed when half of us are held back.” -Malala Yousafzai, education activist
Have a creative, wild and inspiring week!
If you’re new, welcome to The Owlet! My name is Ishan Shanavas, and I am an Artist, Photographer, Writer and Student of the Natural World.
Here I talk about my work, along with curating the most interesting ideas on the internet. I confine them to topics like Nature, Culture, Photography, and Art but often fall prey to other genres.
I would greatly appreciate it if you shared my newsletter and work with your friends. It really helps me out :)
Congratulations. The next exciting phase beckons!
Ok STAR! Congrats on graduating! Wow time flies