The Long Version of a Short Story

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It was one of those perfect summer days, commonly seen in stories and seldom in the real world. The sun bathed the morning with soft warmth that made the presence of the cool wind pleasantly known. The weather was ideal for travelling, the bus driver proclaimed as an unspoken apology for the malfunctioning air conditioner on the bus. But that hardly seemed like a problem to him. As the bus left the city limits in search of greener pastures, he thought that something didn't quite make sense. He knew he wouldn't figure it out by pushing so he nudged the feeling to the back of his mind...

There have been many attempts at understanding and exploring the Ghats, most of which have contributed to our current knowledge about this mercurial mountain range. However, herein lies the problem; using a static frame to map a dynamic entity will only yield partially correct results.

Here, I would like to suggest that The Western Ghats is a Bubble, an ephemeral act of appropriation, comprising of many such acts of appropriation within it. Thus, exploring the Ghats as an ephemeral splice as opposed to a set of boundaries would help create a dynamic lens through which they could be experienced in their entirety.

The immersion field visits were instrumental in understanding how being in wildlife affects human psyche. The few days spent there where I was more in touch with wildlife felt more natural than any amount to time spent in the city.

The skill development workshops were conducted post the recce trip. They really helped me get started with my Narrative. The first sketch of the concept was done using words. The free writing exercise was especially very helpful as it declogged the flow between my thoughts and my words.

An illustrated novella that alludes to civilization as the air inside a bubble and draws attention through the ephemeral nature of Western Ghats as the air surrounding. The intent is to draw attention to the fact that they are both inherently Air.