My tryst with climate started many years back when my wife Sona and I noticed that our kids Siddharth and Rhea had drawn the sky grey whereas all other kids who were not from Delhi had drawn it blue. This happened during a lazy social afternoon when we grown-ups orchestrated a painting competition for the kids, just to keep them off our backs. We realized that a grey sky came naturally to our kids, since you rarely see it blue in Delhi.
This got me interested in air pollution, but I soon realized that there was a bigger monster by way of greenhouse gases that was playing havoc in the air. The main source of these greenhouse gases were fossil fuels, which incidentally were also a significant contributor to air pollution. But more importantly, they were the cause for global warming and the extreme weather events we have been witnessing so often.
Unfortunately, my interest remained confined to surfing the internet or occasionally cribbing during social events and drawing room discussions.
And then came COVID-19, which provided a pause in everyday life. I took a sabbatical and went for a fellowship where I spent most of my time studying climate change—the science, the politics and possible solutions to avoid a climate crisis.
Backstage Climate is an attempt to demystify climate change and raise awareness about it, as I believe that only when people are aware will they get involved in ensuring that we are doing whatever is within our means to avoid this crisis.
My professors at Harvard played an important role in providing me with information and knowledge and, more importantly, sparking a spirit of inquiry. So did my batchmates, many of whom were working on various climate-related subjects. My sincere thanks to all of them.
A book is usually a culmination of lifelong experiences, anecdotes, learnings and motivations in which many people play a role. My sincere thanks to all those who helped me in this journey—my parents, my siblings, my larger family, friends and colleagues.
You would not be holding this book but for my wife Sona. Not only did she motivate and support me, she often attended some classes with me at Harvard and meticulously took notes, which I lavishly referred to while writing this book. Besides, all the illustrations in the book are her’s. My son Siddharth often helped with research, and my daughter Rhea chose the title.
Most importantly, I want to thank the team at Westland, especially Karthika and Aurodeep, for making this an exciting project. Their feedback and direction at every stage were insightful, beneficial and prudent.
I would be misleading if I did not inform the reader that I am no expert in climate. I am just interested and concerned about what the consequence might be if we ignore the issue. You may find gaps in the information and arguments presented. Please blame me solely for them.
Hope you enjoy reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it.
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