History without romance is sterile

The history of romance for silk has never waned since it was first discovered some 3,000 years ago in China. The most closely guarded state secret has paid rich dividends for China which presently accounts for 74 per cent of the world’s total production of raw silk, and controls 90 per cent of the world’s silk market. Such is the fascination for the chequered history of trade in silk that the present Chinese government has decided to revive the historic Silk Road – through the controversial Belt and Road initiative.  Ever since the first century scholar Claudius Ptolemy wrote about it, the earliest highway in the world has continued to fascinate historians.  

Considered by historians as the quintessential example of ancient globalization connecting the great empires of China and Rome, the old Silk Road influenced social and economic assimilation of cultures across Europe, Asia and beyond. Trading in silk, jade, spices, horses and slaves, the caravans trundling along this road discovered each other and the encounter between them changed the course of human history. It is for this reason that the history of the Silk Road assumes significance in questioning  the Western bias on the role of  the older civilizations in shaping the world. There is much to counter such assumptions. 

In the quest to resolve the 2,000-year-old riddle about the Stone Tower that Ptolemy had written about - the midpoint in the route linking Asia and Europe that was the most important landmark for travelers on the silk route - Dean retraced the Silk Road from Istanbul to Xi’an, and sifted through earlier descriptions in geographical search. The mid point remains important pivot on the Silk Road  because locating the elusive site would help capture the wider historical context for future excavations towards understanding the history of civilizations that existed along the route.

The Stone Tower is as much a book on ancient history and political intrigue, as much on geography and cartography, taking the challenge to mark the spot among a dozen mentions of a Stone Tower in Ptolemy’s a monumental atlas of the ancient world, Geographia. Though his vague description about the tower even misled Christopher Columbus, the clue that it was on top of a revered mountain did serve a crucial purpose. Narrowing his search down to four chioces, Dean examined the diverse functional requirements of the passing caravans in making a case for Sulaiman-Too  at 1,175 metres above sea level as the location of the tower, a clearly identifiable and permanent landmark close to the Chinese border. How the author finally arrives at the elusive site of the tower makes The Stone Tower a fascinating read.    

The origin and history of The Silk Road comes to life through three carefully crafted chapters, from the birth of the Silk Road to the historical events on its ascendency and control, leading to the establishment of the tower as the pivot that connected social, cultural, political, and geographical dots along the silk road. Backed by meticulous research, the erudite narrative on  the Silk Road presents the region as the progenitor of important inventions that powered then world economy. With China still leading the world in modern technology, and India with its philosophical riches, the history seems to be on the verge of repeating itself.

The Stone Tower covers almost 300 years of ancient history, from 140 BC when a Chinese palace guard had volunteered to travel west for his emperor to AD 140 when Ptolemy had probably completed his monumental Geograhia. It is that part of our shared history that augers well to redefine and realign the present. Dean succeeds in bringing to life 300 years of the bygone era, providing a wider perspective on our shared history. The book makes engaging reading in parts, as some sections will appeal more to history buffs. All said, the search for elusive Stone Tower makes a significant contribution to the literature on the Silk Road, offering a fascinating tale of archaeology and exploration. It is the romance for silk that brings the bygone era to life!

The Stone Tower
by Riaz Dean 
Penguin Viking, New Delhi 
Extent: 223, Price: Rs. 599.

First published in Deccan Herald on March 20, 2022.

The palm oil’s curse on life and the environment

The story of palm oil is the story of colonialism, armed gangsters, murderous executive, and corrupt politicians.

There are moments in life when doubts on closely held beliefs begin to surface, as truth gets distilled out of social delusion. It eventually guides us to hold our  assumptions to a deeper scrutiny. That is what award-winning journalist Jocelyn Zuckerman has succeeded  through her groundbreaking research, compelling the reader to examine the connections between the choices we make at the grocery store that keeps the  planet under siege. That palm oil’s overwhelming presence in soap and lipstick to baby formula and dog feed is the cause for persistence of poverty and hunger in other parts of world would unsettle any sane mind.

Having insinuated itself into every facet of our lives over the past few decades, palm oil alone counts for one-third of total global vegetable-oil consumption. With annual purchase of 9.2 million metric tones in 2019, India is the world’s number-one palm oil importer. Far from being a boon to the world economy, the multi-billion dollar palm oil business has been a bane instead. Our growing appetite has worsened the situation - more forests are cleared for new plantations, forcible evictions have escalated human sufferings; and enhanced carbon emissions remain the resultant outcome. Despite its long term health and environmental implications, the worrisome aspect is how a lesser-known oil suddenly became an indispensable consumer product? Did consumers really demand it, or had it somehow been the other way round?

Zuckerman unearths palm oil troubled colonial legacy to draw a parallel with its current fetishism, promoted by ruthless industrialization of our modern food systems. With multiple uses and an economic life of a quarter century, palm oil productive potential could not escape the attention of maverick George Goldie, credited for securing Nigeria for the Crown, and quirky businessman William Lever, for establishing oil-palm plantations in Congo, whose disturbing ways of the 19th century continue to loom large over the palm oil industry today. The story of palm oil is the story of colonialism, which is sinister in its present-day design involving armed gangsters, murderous executive, and corrupt politicians.  

Planet Palm is not only a disturbing expose on contemporary ills associated with the palm oil trade but holds unsuspecting consumers complicit in the corporate monopolisation of $65 billion global business. Trade liberalisation has contributed to this inconspicuous consumption, easing crossborder peddling of ultra-processed junk foods by multinational companies. ‘Part of the problem, ‘ explains Zuckerman, ‘is the sort of nutrient-deficient, heavily processed junk that all of this cheap oil enables’. And land planted with oil palm across the developing world, an estimated 104,000 square miles, is land which is diverted from growing healthy foods. Having traveled across four continents, from Indonesia to Honduras and from Liberia to India, the author is unsparing in her revelations, providing disturbing evidences on the world’s most environmentally damaging product – something most of us unknowingly use every day. 

It is an extraordinary work of investigative journalism that will make the discerning reader rush to look differently at the items stacked in its kitchen and bathroom. The collective power of consumer choices  is critical to turning things around as incidences of violence against those opposing the industry has grown – half of 212 eco-defenders reported killed in 2019 were opposing palm oil interests. Such intimately linked are national economies (those of Malaysia and Indonesia) to the palm oil industry that even the governments remain obliged to defend the commodity. What could be more shocking than the fact that France was diplomatically forced to drop plans for a tax on palm oil in 2016, as Indonesian government had made it clear that passage of the law might result in the execution of a French citizen then being held in Jakarta on drug-trafficking charges. Palm oil business is reviving the colonial-era historical horrors. 

Engaging, intriguing and disturbing, Zuckerman provides compelling account of the darkest underside of late-stage capitalism. While there is no denying that our food systems need overhauling, equally important for the consumers is to raise their voices to demand more transparency from the industry. Zuckerman leaves the reader with an optimist note to wean ourselves away from palm oil by using synthetic versions of the oil and convincing companies to adopt no-deforestation policies in their production codes.

Planet Palm is a riveting account blending history, science, politics, and food as seen through the lives of people upended by this hidden ingredient. Instructive and provocative, Planet Palm makes an essential reading for everyone who wonders if our food choices matter. 

Planet Palm 
by Jocelyn C. Zuckerman
Hurst & Co, London 
Extent: 335, Price: Rs. 1,606.

First published in the Hindu on Feb 27, 2022.