Professor Desmond Kharmawphlang - Tales that Trees Tell: A Khasi Ecocritical Perspective

IAS Guest Speaker Professor Desmond Kharmawphlang delivers a seminar on their research - The slopes of the Khasi and Jaintia hills in the state of Meghalaya in India are home to swaths of rainforests. The forests are dominated by ficus elastica, such as banyan, Indian rubber and ficus Khasiana named after the Khasi tribe of Meghalaya. While these trees with aerial roots grow profusely in the wild, they are also grown and nurtured by the people for multiple reasons. A tree is planted to mark the naming ceremony of a child. The trees are also believed to protect villages from the plague, from storms and flash floods, a frequent occurrence in the area which experiences the heaviest rainfall on earth. These trees also serve as bridges. The talk will centre around the trees as part of the community of flora and fauna and the stories they engender and embody. For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias