‘Biopeculiar’: Speculative short stories about nature tell what is at stake to those who will listen

The rhythmic murmuration of cicadas on a mango tree continues in the hottest afternoons of this record-breaking summer; cicadas are the loudest insects. But this continuity does not mean they are fine. Koels are calling out at nights too; their night cycles are getting disrupted. Auto drivers in Delhi forego livelihood because of intense heat during the day. A large section of our economic workforce lives under tin-roofed structures in these raging temperatures. This coupled with a water crisis takes the shape of water fights and chaos daily. The political world is not interested in declaring this as a climate emergency. But it seems like the literary world has already declared one.

In such odd times, what happens when you encounter stranger stories – stories that deflect from realities but are still as real as the water queues; stories that yearn for a different emotion of what we are presently feeling but don’t know what to do with it? Also, what do such stories really do? Are stories helping us respond to the crisis better?

“We hear the ears. Everything in forest. Don’t need to speak. Can hear what here.” This dialogue spoken by another human-like species in one of the stories of Biopeculiar stopped...

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