Radhavallabh Tripathi's novel compels us to look in a different direction-towards our selves, the way we live and think. Raghu, the child hero of Manavi, learns this truth the hard way: By going through heartrending dilemmas over his role in Manavi's distress and survival. Through her existential struggle, we face a terrifying lesson in guilt.

Manavi goes to the heart of the matter-the breakdown of the moral bond between nature and mankind. This bond has now been deftly replaced by a new one-between dispensers of comfort and reminders of concern. The young with their education crippled, have no chance to make sense of what is going on. The depth of Tripathi's indignation has given him a creative grip on the crisis. His stature as a scholar of Sanskrit permits him a level of confidence that few contemporary writers can afford. Radhavallabh Tripathi's Manavi could help shape young minds, change the conversation on climate change.