Rohan Chakravarty's Blog, page 8

Birdwatching in Gaza

What is it like to be a birdwatcher in Gaza? My cousin, Dr. Sukrita Lahiri, a scholar on Palestinian gender studies, sent me this poignant piece by Marta Vidal and Ameera Harouda about birdwatching in Gaza, which prompted this comic, dedicated to the twin birdwatching duo, the Sirdah sisters, who co-authored the Gaza bird checklist.
From my column with The Hindu Sunday Magazine. 

Environmentalists Under Threat

Reports indicate that environmental defenders were killed at the rate of one every day last year, with Colombia emerging the most unsafe nation in the world to be an environmentalist in! Catching up fast with Colombia are other nations in Lat Am, South-east Asia and India.
Green Humour for DW Environment.

Which Gastropod Shell is Your Personality Type

Which gastropod shell is your personality type? Green Humour for Roundglass Sustain.

‘Gastropod personalities’ prints and merch are available on my webstore on Redbubble (shipped worldwide) and Happywagon (for orders within India).

World Okapi Day

18th October is World Okapi Day! Meet the bizarre half-giraffe-half-zebra, endemic to the rainforests of DR Congo, that rocks striped pants like nobody else! Comic from my column with The Hindu Sunday magazine.
Okapis are endangered, having endured poaching, hunting, habitat loss, and collateral damage from armed conflict in the region. The Okapi Conservation Project works towards the conservation of this beautiful, gentle ungulate. 
Get Okapi prints and merchandise on my Redbubble webstore, shipped worldwide. (Okapi Stripes, Okapi Kakapo, Okapi caricature)

Kaveri or Cauvery

Is it ‘Kaveri’or ‘Cauvery’? The South Indian river’s Smooth-coated Otters discuss, in my column with Roundglass Sustain. The river is threatened by dams, sand mining, blast-fishing and deforestation.

Climate Change and Mental Health

I recently had the opportunity to attend the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre's conference on the intersections between climate change and mental health, with a focus on the Middle-East and North Africa, as part of the Connecting Climate Minds programme. These cartoons were drawn live during the three hour long online conference (and furnished later), based on inputs from speakers, researchers and activists participating in the conference. 
A huge thanks to Margot Curl from the RCCC for the opportunity! 

Armageddon Reedtail

Meet the newest Indian damselfly discovered from Kerala's Western Ghats, named the 'Armageddon Reedtail' after the Ecological Armageddon. Comic from my column with The Hindu Sunday Magazine. A huge congratulations to Pankaj Koparde and team for the discovery!

Fashion Influencer Instagram Carousel BTS

The Instagram aesthetic contest between fashion influencers has been fuelling a grossly unsustainable monster- the fast fashion industry! Is your friendly neighbourhood fashion influencer a fashion influenza? Or do you know an actually sustainable fashion influencer? 
Green Humour for DW Environment. 

Amazonian Droughts and Amazonian Dolphins

In more climate-change-induced panic this week, a heatwave records as well as hearts were shattered in Brazil’s Lake Tefe, with hundreds of Botos (Amazonian River Dolphins) reported dead. Carcasses also included those of the Tucuxi (Grey Dolphin) and thousands of fish. The deaths are estimated to have reduced the already endangered Boto population by 10% (report here).

Cartoon from my Gocomics page, also available royalty-free on my Cartoonstock gallery.

Bats and Music Festivals

New research from the Universities of Bath and the West of England concludes that loud music festivals reduce bat activity by half, unsurprisingly so. 
Reading the research findings took me back to circa 2012, when as an animation designer for a film studio that won a contract for live coverage of a Metallica concert in Bangalore, I got free tickets to attend the show. Not knowing anything about western music, I decided to look the immensely popular band's music up on Youtube. The crippling headache that ensued for the next few days certainly make me wonder if I am a bat without wings! Goes without saying I gave that concert a miss, and probably turned to Jagjit Singh to cure my migraine.
Comic for Roundglass Sustain.