Call Of The Blue Mountains
With Photographs by Susan Bullough-Khare
(NAWA Books)

Distilled, sharp, hard-hitting. These essays have grown out of the author’s real life experiences among tribal communities scattered across the Indian subcontinent, culminating in the Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu, among the hunter-gatherer, artisan and pastoral tribes of the region, partnering a silent movement for tribal empowerment that has been happening in the blue mountains. Colour photographs heighten the experience.

"The subjects refuse to be classified as victims; nor are they hankering for a world gone by. The denouement may be predictable; the likelihood of small tribes being either museumized or incorporated into the mainstream remains high. But, as long as they are around, Khare’s subjects march to a different tune." BIBLIO
"‘Khare gives us glimpses of the past, of a society in torment, of ancient knowledge lost and the vicious manner in which administrators, historians and colonialists have abused our tribal communities…after coming face to face with prejudice against tribals for being “uncouth, unhygienic, animal-like, uncivilized, unreliable,” he finds “they were more humane, just, uninterfering than all their neighbours put together.”OUTLOOK
"Unabashed sympathizer of lost causes and a scathing critic of the worthless, the sham and the effete." INDIA TODAY

Review on tehelka.com