Guardians of the Forest

Zai Whitaker's Termite Fry captures the eternal tussle between urban aspirations and traditional forest communities

- Arshia Sattar

Zai Whitaker is truly a gem among contemporary Indian writers—her vast knowledge of animals and the natural world, her compassion for her characters, her gentle wit and ability to create an intimacy with our living environment are extraordinary. Every single one of her works is imbued with a feeling of wonder at the infinite diversity of the world around us, a feeling that she offers to her readers with a charming ease and grace.

Termite Fry is the story of a family of Irulars and their traditional community of snake-catchers in Tamil Nadu who interact with the modern world primarily through the sale of forest products, including snakeskins. Faced with a devastating blow to their livelihood by the restrictions on the snakeskin trade in the 1970s, the Irulars are partially resurrected years later by becoming the only source of snake venom, a precious antidote to lethal snakebites. Whitaker has worked closely with the Irulars and here, she weaves her respect for them and for all they have taught her into a deceptively simple story that is simultaneously an elegy for the wisdom that we have disdained and a clarion call to preserve what we have left.