All the light we cannot see

We need only a fraction of artificial light, unnecessary strong illumination is the cause of light pollution.

It is hard not to agree with zoologist Johan Eklöf that darkness has a cosmic purpose, a natural and ecological imperative for a large number of living species to thrive for supporting those for whom light is life. Humans might abhor darkness but some two-thirds of all mammals are nocturnal. Then there are numerous other creatures, notably insects and reptiles, who also shun light. Yet humans dispel darkness to feel safer amidst lights, although there is no evidence to prove that dreadful activities and crimes are committed only under the cover of darkness. Little is realized that indeed it is human obsession with light that has darkened the lives of innumerable non-humans.

Light pollution as a subject of concern and enquiry has been in vogue for over half a century, however, its ecological manifestations have begun to surface only in recent years. Such is the persistent glow of light from cities that some 80 percent of the global population today lives under light-polluted skies, unable to view stars in sky tinted orangish-grey. As light pollution is increasing at an annual rate of 10 percent, more and more people will miss watching the night skies. But the impact goes beyond impeded stargazing as it the cause of insomnia, depression, obesity and several related ailments too. 

The Darkness Manifesto not only tracks how light pollution impacts human health but records its terrifying influence on the circadian rhythms of nocturnal creatures. It unleashes an impaired sense of direction leading to mass extinction for many nocturnal creatures. Oblivious of how much is too much, the society has extended the day with artificial lighting that has forced out the inhabitants of the night. Satellite pictures show how brightly glowing our planet it, disrupting the natural cycle of day and night.

In his well-researched book, bat-researcher Eklof argues that we need only a fraction of artificial light, unnecessary strong illumination is the cause of light pollution that is the equivalent to carbon dioxide emissions from nearly 20 million cars. In a persuasive narrative packed with scientific facts, the author comes out as a self-proclaimed ‘friend of darkness’ and with good reasons too. What seems good for us is worst for many others? Land-dwelling insects are disappearing by about 1 percent each year and light pollution has a role to play. 

Eklof suggests that impact of artificial light on insects must concern us all. But for the insects the decomposition of dead things will come to a halt, pollination of plants will get affected, and nutrition of insect-feeding animals will be disrupted. In effect, the entire food chain will be in shambles, and the early signs indicate that it already has. With about half of all insects on the planet nocturnal, artificial light is robbing them of food and reproductive partners. The night’s limited light protects these insects, and the pale glow from stars and the moon is central for their navigation and hormonal systems.

Packed with disturbing facts, The Darkness Manifesto has had such an impact that this reviewer immediately switched off extra lights in the room. It is reassuring to learn that the concern for darkness is gaining worldwide currency. France has adopted a national policy that imposes curfews on outdoor lighting and drastically limits the amount of light that can be projected into the sky. And countries with less light contamination areas are embracing ‘dark sky tourism’. Ireland already has dark sky parks, and dark sky festival movement is catching on. Darkness is fast developing into a new tourism destination.

Ever since The Darkness Manifesto appeared in translation, interest in darkness as an ecological virtue has exploded. If you have ever watched moths circle the porch light, suggests Eklof, you will learn how fatal artificial bulbs to insects are: who die of exhaustion without getting their nectar, without finding a partner, and without laying any eggs. If such are the shocking facts, the streetlights, floodlights, and neon signs cannot be considered signs of progress. 

The light bulb, long considered the symbol of progress and development, needs to be given some rest. From a fiscal standpoint it makes sense, from an environmental standpoint it makes sense, and even from a safety standpoint doing a better job of harmonizing the lighting in the city makes sense. The Darkness Manifesto needs early adoption by city planners and administrators.   

The Darkness Manifesto 
by Johan Eklof
Scribner, London 
Extent: 272, Price: US$. 26.

First published in Deccan Herald on June 11, 2023.

Life beyond the ordinary

As those who have lived in a typical university hostel know, it's an experience that's simultaneously enjoyable and shabby. 

Originally written in Hindi, Banaras Talkies is a fast-paced novel about three law undergraduates who live in Bhagwandass Hostel at Banaras Hindu University. Satya Vyas, now the author of five bestselling books, captures the mood, hopes, aspirations, and challenges of his protagonists even as he hilariously presents their hare-brained schemes to steal exam papers and critiques of bad mess food.

As those who have lived in a typical university hostel know, it's an experience that's simultaneously enjoyable and shabby. Still, it remains a life beyond the ordinary; one that evolves its own idiom of expressing the obvious. Like hostelites everywhere, the law students at the center of this novel, have their hilarious in-jokes: for its technical complexities, a particular black laptop is adjudged "the most harmful object of the twenty-first century"; elsewhere "Amicus Curiae", Latin for "friend of the court", is referred to as "the sister of Madame Curie". Readers are taken on a roller coaster ride through the BHU campus with its youthful love affairs, fierce competition that forges lifelong bonds, and camaraderie reflected in both words and actions. While the narrator, Suraj, pursues his love interest, Anurag is intent on winning a game of cricket, and Jaivardhan, the deltiologist, approaches semester assignments like he would a new bride.

Banaras Talkies captures several vignettes of hostel life as it wanders down laughter-filled college corridors -- the banter between friends, the amusing but creative exchanges with teachers, the heartbreaks on the way to lucky successes in love, and the ever-looming pressure of having to one day leave the campus and "get serious about life".

In its recreation of a brief but unforgettable period of youth, Banaras Talkies calls to mind works like RK Narayan's The Graduate and Philip Roth's Goodbye Columbus that also deal with student life and its excesses, exhilarations and disappointments. College life has been effectively captured on screen too in 3 Idiots and the quirky Chichhore. The success of the genre across media can be attributed to the great impact that the time spent on campus has on the individual. It often remains permanently etched on the canvas of the human mind as a golden interval before the persistent tensions and sordid disappointments of adulthood.

A bestseller in Hindi, this version tries to graft the verve and linguistic authenticity of the original into English, a language that's often too stiff for Hindustani hi jinks. Translator Himadri Agarwal has a point when she states that readers must learn to make peace with translated text which, like most art, is eternally incomplete. Indeed, it will always be difficult to capture the colloquial nuances and wit of the original. For instance, the phrase ‘cut the crap’ can never convey the punch of ‘Bakaiti band kar’.  

Still, as with all good campus novels, this one succeeds in transporting readers back to their own student lives and younger, more eccentric and carefree selves.

Banares Talkies
by Satya Vyas, Translation Himadri Agarwal
Ebury Press, New Delhi
Extent:216 Pages, Price: Rs. 199.

First published in the Hindustan Times on May 26, 2023.

In search of identity and space for oneself

Many parents indulge in sacrificing early childhood of their children to emerge celebrities through reality shows, little realizing that the road to instant fame leaves lasting impressions on teenage minds.

It is the disturbing title that is no less intriguing. How could a daughter be so rude to her cancer-suffering mother, more so when her career as a child actor was literally shaped by her mother? Why would a celebrated actor regret the early years of her life, and lament her life purpose of keeping her mom happy? Reading McCurdy is akin to the experience of riding a wave: you plunge into a bracing narrative, never quite sure where you’ll emerge—only certain that whenever the ride ends you’ll find yourself in an uncharted territory. The debut memoir of a child star of Nickelodeon’s sitcom iCarly, is amusingly heartbreaking but sadly furious. 

This unsettling autobiographical narrative is about years of emotional abuse at the hands of her demanding, emotionally unstable mom, Debra. Born into a family with three older brothers, McCurdy found the household fully controlled by her mother. Such was her mom’s control that the author found the house as an embarrassment, that would often make her feel tense and anxious. McCurdy candid reconstruction of her journey from teenage to adulthood is a saga of emotional, mental, and physical abuse that insisted on molding an innocent something into ‘Mommy’s little actress’. At an age when little girls are mischievously playful, McCurdy was trained to view life as an innate opportunity. Shuffled with auditions from age 6, painting eyelashes and whitening teeth were outside manifestations of strict diet restrictions and regular genital examination enforced on the little child in her. The confessions are anything but cruel and disturbing. 

Could Debra be fighting her own devils to escape social and economic deprivation that inflicted the household? Her cruel perfectionist approach and abusive behavior pattern may not be uncommon, as many a parents indulge in sacrificing early childhood of their children to emerge celebrities through reality shows, little realizing that the road to instant fame leaves lasting impressions on teenage minds. McCurdy didn’t emerge from her childhood unscathed, her harrowing experience of ‘loosing herself’ fills the pages of her sad, honest, heart-wrenching and startling journey that the reader will only help empathize at a deep level. It is an insightful coming-of-age story that seeks freedom, the enjoying-me part of what makes each human curate one’s natural tendencies, responses, thoughts and actions.

I’m Glad My Mom Died is a journey in search for understanding the complicated truth of striking a balance between having adored and feared someone as close as a mother, and to be missing and being relieved of her when she is gone. It is a psychological journey on self-awareness, to seek a space for oneself through self-assertion, realizing that ‘so much of my life has felt so out of my control for long’. It is a cultural document of contemporary relevance. It makes compelling reading to understand and know the cost of making others happy. McCurdy confesses that all the time she spent orienting her thoughts and actions to please her mom were indeed pointless as after her demise she was left wondering who she is, and what should she wish for.

This memoir should not be judged by its title. What makes it different from others of the genre is how McCurdy strikes a balance between hard truth and dark humor. She avoids evoking self-pity, but lays bare the emotions that raced through her celebrity life. It is for the reader to make a sense of her confessions. On her part, McCurdy not only looks back on her mom’s abuse with resentment but acknowledges the abuse and manipulation she was subjected to. In detailing the testing time, the author had to go through, she rejects the idea that childhood stardom is a fun while asserting that the media world ignores human emotions too. ‘Once you become a celebrity, you are no longer a person, but an archetype.’ she tells the world outside. 

I’m Glad My Mom Died is as much a book of hope as despair. McCurdy learnt it the hard way that guilt and frustration can be helpful in moving forward. She took the bold step in letting go her acting career in a flash and switched to hosting podcasts and writing. What she has compiled in 310 pages of her memoir is a immensely readable coming-of-age-story, that is fearless, reflective, and inspiring. I could not put this book down.

I’m Glad My Mom Died 
by Jennette McCurdy
Simon&Schuster, USA 
Extent: 310, Price: US$27.99.

First published in Deccan Herald on May 14, 2023.