Amitav Ghosh

And the Sundarban, you know, I've been going there since I was a boy because one of my uncles lived there.

So that was what made me want to write about the Sundarban.

And in the year 2000, I started, you know, really getting deeply into research on the Sundarban and so on.

And it was that experience that really exposed me to what's happening in the world in terms of all the many environmental crises that we face, that is climate change, biodiversity loss, species extinctions, and so on.

But the Sudan is a very powerful environment.

I did a program with Take Four Books of BBC, and they had just interviewed Rob McFarlane, whose work I like a lot, and he's written a wonderful book called Is the River Alive?

And they were quoting Rob McFarlane to me because Rob, who's a good friend, actually says that

that he felt at various points that the river was writing the book with him.

So, you know, again, the Sundarbans is like that.

It's a very alive, it's a very alive landscape where you can feel the vitality of the earth.

And ever since I started really getting into the Sundarbans in the year 2000,

I mean, it's just come back to me again and again.

And in some way, I feel, as Rob said, that this landscape is kind of writing with me.

Oh, yes, absolutely.

All these concerns of mine grow out of a profound sense of urgency, because really we can all see that the world is heading towards absolute collapse.

I mean,

Several species going extinct every day.

The incredible biodiversity loss that we see all around us.

And of course, you know, all these disasters that are sort of unfolding all around us.

So once you've seen all that, you can't unsee it.