Gurukula Botanical Sanctuary

Synaesthesia in Nature: Gurukula Nature Botanical Sanctuary

This post looks at Suprabha Seshan’s experiences of synaesthesia in nature. Suprabha is a conservationist. She lives and works as part of a community at the Gurukula Botanical Sanctuary: a forest garden in the Western Ghat mountains of Kerala.

“Founded in 1981 by Wolfgang Theuerkauf, the sanctuary is a garden of wild plant species grown at the edge of a rainforest reserve. Our intention is to rehabilitate endangered species and restore habitats in a highly fragmented landscape, in which only a fraction of original rainforest remains and a high percentage of species are rare, vulnerable or threatened by imminent extinction.” (excerpt from Gurukula Botanical Sanctuary’s website)

When Rhea Quien, the narrator of this post, read Suprabha’s essays on the forest, she recalled something that Professor Brian Cox has written about. In ‘Wonders of the Universe’ Brian writes about how our bodies are made of up the remnants of stars. About how all the material in our bodies, and in rocks and in plants, and so on – originates from that residual stardust. It reminded her about the interconnectedness of life and how we, and everything around us, is directly connected to the universe.

Suprabha is currently working on her book, ‘Rainforest Etiquette in a World Gone Mad’, forthcoming from Context, Westland Publishers.

The Swedish documentary filmmaker, Boris Ersson, has produced a series of films about people who dedicate their lives to saving some of the finest forests on earth. This is his film about Gurukula Botanical Sanctuary, and the work of Suprabha Seshan:

Please support the important work at Gurukula Botanical Sanctuary by donating here.

Related Links

Gurukula Botanical Sanctuary

Meena Subramaniam’s website.

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