Earthrise Stories merges Hindu mythology with speculative fiction to chart Earth’s journey from ecological collapse to cosmic renewal.
Chabria reinterprets ancient myths as visionary tools for environmental awareness and future survival.
The book’s poetic, genre-defying narrative spans billions of years, challenging readers to rethink time and tradition.
‘Earthrise Stories’ is an odyssey that defies genre constraints, masterfully stitching together epochs from the primordial past to a distant, unimaginable future—all through the lens of Hindu epics. Blending the resonant chants of the Vedas with the staggering scope of cosmic time, Priya Sarukkai Chabria’s ‘Earthrise Stories’ crafts a profound narrative that arcs from the dawn of Vedic wisdom to an Earth reborn billions of years hence.
The story traces the cyclical descent through the Yugas, exposing humanity's ‘adharma’ towards nature during the Kali Yuga as the root cause of devastating climate collapse, biodiversity loss, and poisoned ecosystems – consequences framed not just as scientific facts, but as profound karmic imbalances echoing Vedic principles of interconnectedness. Yet, beyond the ashes of that era, this genre-defying book imagines a planet reshaped by geological epochs and evolutionary leaps, where the fundamental truths of sustainability, reverence for the Earth and harmony with nature, guide the emergence of a radically transformed, conscious biosphere. This new Earth isn't merely a survivor, but a testament to the enduring Vedic vision of the cosmic order ‘Rta’ where rivers run clear through forests of alien splendour, atmospheric balance is maintained by symbiotic lifeforms, and the legacy of ancient hymns whispers through a vibrant, self-regulating environment – a poignant meditation on how humanity's forgotten sacred duty might ultimately seed a distant, verdant future.
Writing serves as a powerful and indispensable tool for environmental activism, fundamentally shaping the fight to save the Earth from destruction. It preserves knowledge and builds a lasting record of both the crises and the resistance, while also proposing concrete solutions and sustainable visions for the future. Writing acts as a critical conduit for raising awareness, translating complex scientific data on climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution into compelling narratives that resonate with diverse audiences. Speculative fiction is the genre in which we might place Chabria’s mix of fiction and non-fiction, exposing ecological injustices that have occurred over time. Chabria quotes from Vedic texts as also from The Ramayana and The Mahabharata and creates a deftly woven narrative of time. The dexterity with which she tells her story is a catalyst for transcending time and finding brilliant new perspectives in its fold.
‘Earthrise Stories’ challenges readers to leap across the vast expanse of billions of years using their imagination. More than a simple anthology, it is an act of visionary time-mapping, weaving ancient Hindu myths into the fabric of a distant future where the idea of the ‘Earth’ is reborn in startling new ways. This is speculative fiction at its most ambitious, bridging the chasms between past and future. Rooted in the depths of Hindu mythology, it traverses the uncertainties of the present to reveal a future unfurling billions of years ahead.
The author’s mythopoeic vision recreates ancient Hindu legends for a ‘newer world’. The central theme in ‘Earthrise’ is symbolic of renewal, resilience, awakening, ecological consciousness, or a cosmic shift. In tone and shift, the book is deeply meditative, lyrical and teeming with poetic prose. It reimagines tradition and assesses how it bridges ancient wisdom and contemporary and future concerns.
The novel opens in the cosmic dawn of Menka’s delicate seduction of sage Vishwakarma, goes on to describe the story of Urvasi and Pururavas (although the text takes words from D.D. Kosambi’s ‘Myth and Reality’ (1983 reprint, Popular Prakashan), they are seamlessly woven into Chabria’s own narrative. The story moves to Ravana’s abduction of Sita (The Ramayana), sliding deftly to the brave and brilliant consciousness of Hanuman, zipping over to the next ‘Yuga’and the unforgettable adventures of Abhimanyu to land in contemporary times titled ‘Now’ viewed through the lens of ‘Capitalocene’. While the imagery in the chapters of the Past is mesmerising and vivid, the standout chapters are those that spiral into billion of years in the future where matter and consciousness emerge entangled, clubbed under the title ‘In The Far Future.’
The Grand-Scale Hook
What happens when ancient gods, heroes, and cosmic principles encoded in Indian mythology awaken in a world hurtling towards an uncertain future? Chabria answers this with breathtaking ambition in ‘EarthRise Stories’. Here, millennia-old texts from the Hindu tradition are not just referenced but re-forged, becoming the foundational myths for a planet on the cusp of either destruction or an unimaginable rebirth – the titular 'Earth Rising'.
Chabria crafts narratives that are less about escape and more about awakening to a vast, interconnected timescale where past wisdom illuminates future survival. The narration is laser focused. Every myth reimagined, every prophetic glimpse, every moment of deep meditation within its pages serves one ultimate, monumental goal: ‘the rising of the Earth’. This focus, combined with Chabria's reach across billions of years and her deep roots in Indian and Hindu cosmology, creates a reading experience of rare power and cohesion.
The blending of past, present and future, engage with the prophecy and potential of the narrative. Chabria skillfully makes such vastness tangible, such leaps, negotiable. ‘Earthrise Stories’ is a triumph of speculative vision—a bridge between the Vedas and singularity. It challenges readers to see mythology not as folklore, but as a prophetic language for time itself. Fans of Circe’s intimacy, Hyperion’s ambition, and ‘The Three-Body Problem’s’ physics will find this book an unforgettable read.
‘Earthrise Stories’ inspires awe, a sense of urgency to set things right with planet Earth, and urges a deep reflection on what has occurred and what is yet to occur within the cycles of time. Some parts of the book seem slightly inaccessible because they demand that readers unshackle their minds from existing tropes and free flow where the writer is leading them. But that is the joy of reading a book like this. The future segment’s abstract scale may disorient readers craving closure but the truth is, Chabria doesn’t just retell ancient stories; she reimagines them as living, breathing forces that shape humanity’s destiny across billions of years.
