A platform for and
from the Western Ghats
India’s coffee scene has never been more buzzing—or more unpredictable. We speak to historians, coffee-growers, and artisanal brands on the past, present, and future of this dark, bitter wonderbean.
Ever heard the saying ‘A rolling stone gathers no moss’?
As someone who spent their childhood in crowded cities, I have found the mountains hold a sort of mysterious appeal. My earliest memory of the mountains is from a family trip to Chail in Himachal Pradesh, when I was 11 years old.
“We were driving on a road—little more than a dirt track with large pot holes—the car’s headlights eerily reflecting off the swaying silver oaks among the tea bushes and occasionally elephant or gaur dung making us wary of running into one of these great animals.
Meeting Dr Raees Muhammed on a cold winter morning at a friend’s office in Coonoor, I am struck by his open, smiling face as he ushers in Tamil Chelvan, a young lad of 20, his teammate at Clean Nilgiris.
‘I wouldn’t say the sky islands of the southern Western Ghats are shrinking or being destroyed. Rather, they are being transformed and changed,’
A detailed growing guide to nurturing avocados, from a veteran farmer in the Palani Hills of Kodaikanal