The Author
Words are the second tool of conservation — the camera is the first.
I write for the same reason I film: because the forest teaches, and silence is not enough. My writing carries the records of my family's lineage, the sciences of the Rasashala, and the ongoing story of human-wildlife coexistence across Karnataka.
Together with the preservation of palm leaf manuscripts — knowledge that would otherwise be lost — my books and writings work to keep these threads unbroken.
The Lineage of the Forest
My great-grandfather, Haṭha Yogi Sri Sri Sri Veerananda Swamiji, left behind no books — only a discipline of living close to the wild. Part of my work as an author is to record that inheritance: the caves, the dīkṣās, the silences, and the orphanage he founded at Vishwakundali Ashrama for the nourishment of food, learning and wisdom.
This history is preserved so that what was lived can be read — and what was read can be lived again.
The Sciences of the Rasashala
The sacred alchemy of the Rasashala — the classical preparation of Rasa Mani and Chintamani — has been carried in our family for generations. My writing documents these classical methods with care and precision, combining ancient knowledge with honest, modern practice.
Wildlife & Coexistence
The same research that informs my films and my conservation work fills my pages: the behaviour of leopards at the edges of villages, the loss of habitat, and the difficult, hopeful choreography of coexistence. These writings aim to make the reader feel what the data means.
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What was lived can be read — and what is read can be lived again.
Raghunandan S.