Why I left full-time Journalism to explore the world of Climate change..
A quick flashback and the future that awaits.
Two years ago my life changed beyond control.
And a year ago, I consciously changed my life.
This Newsletter is a product of the learnings that took place in between these two life changing incidents.
I was a full-time journalist for 8 years and when I say full-time, I mean I was either doing or thinking about my work 24x7. I would get up in the mornings, read five newspapers, work through the day and then wonder what I would work on the next day.
Politics, crime, environment, entertainment, you name it and I have covered it.
With the backing of some great colleagues and a stellar editorial team, I won multiple awards for my documentaries and investigations.
When the pandemic struck, our hours became longer, the stress higher as we dealt with unprecedented circumstances around us. I got through the first wave relatively unscathed and even got married to my best friend!
But then the second wave began and I could feel my body physically and mentally resisting the reportage and the human suffering that lay ahead of me. Around the same time I started developing a stabbing pain in my neck and shoulders every few days. I ignored it.
I thought there was more important work to do, stories to write and videos to shoot. I clearly needed a break but I was so caught up in the whirlwind of news and reporting that I did not prioritise myself. I did not recognise that my body needed me to stop.
I still remember the day I collapsed.
I had gone to government hospitals in a PPE suit a day prior, to interview COVID-19 patients who were waiting in a long line of ambulances for entry into government hospitals.
Their oxygen levels were low and without treatment, they could soon die.
I interviewed several of them and put out a video explaining the circumstances and how the city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu, India was facing a never seen before situation. Their medical facilities were inadequate for the surge of patients coming in. I rushed back home to write a script and put out a video.
That night my neck pain was slowly turning into a headache. But I persevered.
The next day I woke up with searing pain in my neck, head and shoulders but I began to write what I saw for a ground report. From the previous night I had been calling helplines, volunteers and bureaucrats I knew to help secure beds for the people I met with dangerously low oxygen levels.
As I submitted the report, I got calls confirming that three oxygen beds were available. I immediately began to call the caretakers I interviewed and to my horror, the three patients they had brought had all died.
It was as if something shattered in me. The pain in my neck became unbearable and I started losing sensation in my hands and fingers. I fell from my chair and lay on the ground in excruciating pain. My head was drumming and I was nauseous. I knew something was really wrong.
In the year that followed I visited multiple doctors, physiotherapists and attempted several treatments to reduce my pain. Just sitting on the computer would leave me sobbing from the shooting muscle cramps and nausea. Doctors told me I had to slow down, be in physiotherapy for possibly a large portion of my life and of course the magical solution, reduce stress!
I had to quit a job I adored, stop playing the sports I loved and go into intense physiotherapy to be able to function. I was told I would never regain my full strength ever again.
Even as recent as a week ago, a doctor told me there is 'no solution' and that my neck will forever be weak. One of my cervical bones - C5 was completely worn and torn and there was no going back.
But the good news is, from suffering from unbearable pain and complete loss of strength in my hands, I am now able to function much better. With continuous and regular physical therapy and treatment, I can do what I love - Report, research, script. There are still days when I struggle and suffer but I have accepted those as days when my body simply wants to rest.
Most importantly, the break from everyday news gave me perspective. I started noticing things that I wouldn't have realised before and I became open to learning new things, exploring different subjects. I studied social media marketing, I read about the environment and I even started learning to write in my mother tongue.
In between all this, the Climate Space somehow found and healed me.
I applied for a part time role in a Climate Communications organisation because it would be a great learning experience if they chose me. Miraculously, they did. Soon I was neck deep (pun intended) in reports and documents about carbon, net zero, energy transition, EVs and more.
I was thrilled! It was extremely exciting to learn so many new things and see how I can help improve the engagement and communications in the space.
And as I was diving into the subject, I realised that there were some glaring gaps in the way it was communicated. Experts were just talking to experts. Nobody was telling the people (including me) what climate change would mean at a very fundamental and everyday level to them. To tackle this I did a series of explainers in Tamil on various aspects of energy in the state of Tamil Nadu.
It also struck me, just how blind I had been even as a journalist. Everything I reported on a daily basis had a climate angle to it and I had never seen it!
Take for instance, my documentary on children being sold to bonded labour after the Gaja cyclone in Tamil Nadu. This was clearly a story of how climate change was affecting livelihoods and childhoods. It was a sign that extreme weather events will lead to more human trafficking. But I didn't use the word climate even once in my report.
This dramatically changed my perspective. I started seeing the impact of climate change on my life and everyone else's around me. The one aspect that really bowled me over was heat. Temperatures around us are dramatically increasing and we are all behaving like the proverbial frog in hot water, oblivious to the nearing boiling point.
I noticed my patience and temper were short on hotter days and wrote about it here.
As I was trying to order some fish one day, I began to question why the prices had shot up so dramatically and why certain types of fish that I remember from my childhood were not easily available any more.
I wrote about why this change was because of heat and then explained what we can do to be more sustainable in the consumption of seafood.
Most recently, I have been thinking about tourism. I attended a carbon neutral Nilgiris meeting in May this year where officials spoke about the effects of excessive tourism in the hill district. They worried about how it would affect their efforts to make the district carbon neutral.
If you were like me, summer holidays for the family usually meant a visit to Kodaikanal or Ooty (after much begging and pleading). But what if our love for the cool hills was actually destroying it? How can we protect our favourite holiday destination while still enjoying it occasionally?
I delved into the solutions we could look at and wrote about it for the Hindu Tamil . The response I got via emails and DMs on Twitter and Instagram was overwhelming! So to kick off this newsletter, here is the English version of the article for free. I was able to think of three solutions! But let me know what you think could work to protect the blue hills!
How can we protect the Nilgiris district from excessive tourism?
The Nilgiris district has a serious tourism problem.
In just one year, according to the district administration, nearly 1.5 tons of plastic waste—mostly shopping bags and wrapping materials—have been dumped in the Nilgiris Hills, an ecological hotspot and tourism-friendly region where plastics are technically banned.
Most of the litter is by tourists who are held up in kilometres-long traffic jams in summer when lakhs of people from across India throng to the hills.
In 2022, Nilgiris’ capital city, Ooty alone reportedly received 35 lakh tourists and close to 10,000 vehicles entering the town every single day during summer. All this in a town set within a 3.5 kilometre radius that can only handle a population of 90,000 residents.
Residents and environmentalists now fear that if left uncontrolled, tourist pressure could completely destroy the hills.
In a recent petition to the newly appointed Collector of the district, the Confederation of Environment Association of Nilgiris (CEAN) has flagged that the tourism department of Tamil Nadu is creating infrastructure and facilitating more tourism in the district. They warn that this could lead to further biotic stress in the hills. They are not alone in their concerns.
In June this year, the former collector of the district, SB Amrit too opened up discussions on placing restrictions on tourism in the Nilgiris, highlighting that this could help address vehicular emission and waste management.
But what does a restriction on tourism mean and is it implementable?
Bhutan is a country that is well known for its sustainable tourism efforts. Bhutan has resisted quick financial returns of mass tourism in favour of conservation. The country requires international visitors to pay $100 per night as a “sustainable development fee" with an aim to offset the carbon footprint of travellers. While this policy may be promoted as 'sustainable tourism', it also reeks of inequality, with the exorbitant fees ensuring that only wealthy tourists have a chance to visit the country.
Tamil Nadu, a land that promotes social equality, cannot afford to make such a decision. But there are some alternatives to consider.
Restricting tourist numbers
In September this year, the Union government revealed that it has directed 13 Himalayan states that are considered eco-sensitive zones to study their carrying capacities in response to a public interest litigation seeking to curb overcrowding of hill stations.
Similarly, restricting day tourists in the Nilgiris district, experts say, could provide some relief during the peak seasons which is echoed by IPCC Author and researcher, Professor Anjal Prakash
According to conservationists, one way to implement this without affecting the economy severely is to allow tourists to enter the hill station only after they show proof of a booked hotel room.
It does not have to be an expensive stay, even a budget hotel will suffice. This in turn will also help the economy," explains Pratim Roy, founder-director of Keystone foundation. "One major problem however is that tourists bring their own vehicles and create immense congestion. We are currently in a situation in Nilgiris district where the size of roads can't be increased because of ecological factors," he adds.
Congestion fee
Indiscriminate widening of roads on the hills have in the past reportedly led to landslides. Thus, a congestion fee, where private vehicles are taxed to drive through certain areas, could be a solution.
"Imposing a congestion fee would de-incentivise visitors from bringing their own vehicles and the money collected could be used towards addressing the damages caused by tourism," says conservationist CR Jayaprakash. "To successfully implement this, there should be a focus on improving public transport infrastructure. Currently, public transport to and within the Nilgiris is severely lacking both in terms of numbers and accessibility," he adds.
Energy and water audits
In 2018, Nilgiris district saw a crackdown on 27 resorts that were illegally constructed in elephant corridors. In addition to worsening man-animal conflicts through unauthorised building, they are also responsible for guzzling a large amount of water and energy to meet tourist demand.
"Commercial entities or licensed providers of services (hotels, Airbnb, home-stays, cloud kitchens, taxi services) could be mandated to measure their footprint and meet benchmarks, to be able to renew their licences. This is an easy entry point for driving sustainability in tourism, even in areas where ecotourism opportunities are limited," says Karthik Ganesan, Director of Research coordination at the Council on Energy, Environment and Water.
While restricting tourist numbers may seem to some like a drastic move, it could be the only way to protect the district’s fragile ecosystem and sustainability for future generations.
What other solutions can you think of?
For me, the last few years has been a lot about listening to my inner voice and overcoming challenges my own body and the broader society throw at me. It is about trying to move forward. But one aspect of this is wanting to be an element of systemic change. My training as a media person has shown me that I want to create change through storytelling and this has helped my long term priorities fall into place.
I am not under the impression that my pain will ever vanish…The daily negotiation with my my own pain and the challenges I face at an individual level, has given me perspective and patience to negotiate with the world to create the change that I want. Here is the first step of carrying the pain, but moving forward.
Thank God that you finally decided to listen to your body However, you are one of the most hardworking people I know and had the joy of working with.
It is always a pleasure reading what you write. Keep growing! Sky is the limit for you. 😘