Vaishali Shroffs Submerged Worlds explores the untold tales of Indias rivers

In 2023, throughout a trek by way of Uttarakhand, writer Vaishali Shroff stopped on the Tehri dam. The huge, glassy expanse of water shimmered below the solar. But behind its calm, she sensed absence, a whole world drowned in silence. As her driver pointed to the reservoir and mentioned softly that his residence lay someplace beneath these waters, the second stayed along with her. That submerged reminiscence turned the seed for Submerged Worlds and Other Amazing Stories of India’s Mighty Rivers, printed by Penguin Random House earlier this yr.

The ebook is a set of 21 tales that learn as each intimate reflections and expansive chronicles of India’s rivers. Each story unfolds into a number of smaller narratives that reveal lives intertwined with these waterways. Shroff examines rivers as residing entities, repositories of historical past, ecology and tradition, whereas additionally tracing their gradual decline below the load of neglect and exploitation. “The phrase submerged,” she explains, “means that there are tales which have been intentionally saved from us, both ignored or buried below different agendas.” According to her, her intent isn’t solely to tell however to revive these tales to public reminiscence. In the course of the ebook, she strikes by way of the Yamuna’s air pollution, the encroached riverbeds of city India and the vanished riverfronts that after sustained communities. There are accounts of dams that altered landscapes and displaced households, of glaciers retreating into fragility and of cities that now flood as a result of their rivers can now not breathe. To perceive the anatomy of rivers, Vaishali enrolled in a water research programme at Tarun Bharat Sangh. The course, she says, allowed her to see past the romantic picture of rivers and into the science of their decline. “It helped me perceive why rivers die, how they are often revived and what our function should be in that course of,” she says. This basis of analysis varieties the bedrock of Submerged Worlds. For Vaishali, who’s skilled as an engineer however has spent the final 15 years as a author, the ebook represents a confluence of technique and emotion. It is her first work that she has each written and illustrated. The black-and-white sketches scattered throughout the pages have been drawn through the writing course of. “They are an extension of my storytelling,” she says. “Sometimes, what can’t be mentioned in phrases may be drawn.” The line drawings supply pause within the textual content, moments for readers to soak up the depth of what has been misplaced and what nonetheless survives. Vaishali’s strategy to the topic isn’t mournful however investigative. She brings collectively the voices of farmers, volunteers, scientists, archaeologists and activists. Their experiences and experience kind the collective reminiscence that the ebook seeks to protect. “These are their tales,” she insists. “I’m solely the medium, taking them from the rivers to the readers.”

Her writing additionally makes an attempt to bridge what she calls the “data hole and motion hole” in conversations round local weather and ecology. While environmental consciousness has grown, she observes that a lot of it stays confined to information and headlines, hardly ever translating into sustained engagement. By framing scientific and social realities by way of human tales, she hopes to construct a extra private connection between readers and the pure world. While Submerged Worlds recounts harm and displacement, it additionally carries a thread of optimism. Vaishali highlights the efforts of people and teams who’ve devoted their lives to river conservation. Organisations similar to Jeevit Nadi and Pune River Revival and communities just like the Rabaris, Warlis, Shompen and Nicobarese, who proceed to dwell in concord with their rivers. “It was essential to indicate that there’s hope,” she says. “That rivers can recuperate if we hearken to them and to those that dwell by them.” Vaishali, who will likely be in Visakhapatnam for the Vizag Junior Literature Festival on November 8 and 9, will conduct periods on Submerged Worlds and the artwork of weaving environmental narratives for younger audiences (13 to 16 years age group). For her, the ebook’s most important function lies in sparking curiosity amongst youngsters. “The tales on this ebook could not clear polluted rivers or revive useless rivers on their very own. If nothing in any respect, I hope that the tales make the readers, younger and outdated, fall in love with rivers and take them on their very own journeys alongside their flowing waters,” she says. Over the years, Vaishali Shroff has constructed a particular voice in youngsters’s literature. A Bal Sahitya Puraskar 2025 nominee for Taatung Tatung and Other Amazing Stories of India’s Diverse Languages, she has authored about 50 youngsters’s books and printed over 350 tales in 22 languages. Her biography Meera Mukherjee: Breaking Moulds was chosen for The White Ravens 2023 and he or she obtained the AutHer Award 2023 for Batata, Pao and All Things Portuguese. She has additionally written a movie script, Rajasaur, on Indian dinosaurs, which has been screened and awarded internationally.

Vaishali Shroff will likely be holding a number of periods on the Vizag Junior Lit Fest to be held on November 8 and 9 at Hawa Mahal. Registrations for the periods may be carried out at Tanishq (VIP Road), Pages Book Store and Book Magic Library.