Environmental Ethics in The Anthropocene Vis-A -Vis Swarga- A Posthuman Tale
https://doi.org /10.5281/zen od o.14973561
Author(s): Dr. Shivani Jha
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14973561
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The Criterion: An International Journal in English Vol. 16, Issue-I, February 2025 ISSN: 0976-8165
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https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10448030
Environmental Ethics in The Anthropocene Vis-A -Vis Swarga- A
Posthuman Tale
Dr. Shivani Jha
Assistant Professor,
Department of English,
Indraprastha College for Women,
University of Delhi.
Article History: Submitted‐12/12/2024, Revised‐05/01/2025, Accepted‐04/02/2025, Published‐28/02/2025.
Abstract:
This paper revolves around the aerial spraying of endosulfan in the Kasaragod region
of the state of Kerala, India vis- a- vis Ambikasutan Mangad’s Swarga- A Posthuman Tale,
written initially as Enmakaje in 2009 and translated in English in 2017. The spraying of the
pesticide, meant to promote cashew farming, led to heavy contamination of the natural water
bodies that impacted both human as well as nonhuman health grievously. This raised crucial
questions regarding the centrality and unbridled rights of some humans in the scheme of things
as compared to their marginalized human and nonhuman counterparts.
Keywords: Anthropocene, Ecopopulism, Toxic discourse, Riskscape.
Dasaputro samovapi/Dasavapi samohrata/Dasahrta samomata/Dasamatru Samadaaru (One
pond is equal to ten sons/Ten ponds are equal to one lake/ Ten lakes are equal to one mother/
Ten mothers are equal to one tree/One tree is equal to ten thousand sons)
Ambikasutan Mangad
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https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14973561
Environmental Ethics in The Anthropocene Vis-A -Vis Swarga- A Posthuman Tale
www.the-criterion.com
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10448030
The chemical weed killers are a bright new toy. They work in a spectacular way; they
give a giddy sense of power over nature to those who wield them.
Rachel Carson
The geological phase of the Anthropocene is characterized by anthropogenic interventions that
have brought about unexpected and undesired environmental changes; such a severely
compromised environment has impacted both humans as well as nonhumans raising concern
regarding the well- being of the denizens and components of our planet. The concept of
‘Anthropocene’ brings together the diverse ‘global nature and global humanity within a single
frame’ (Noel 2015). Geoscientists Paul Crutzen and others thus voiced the need for ‘an ethic
of planetary stewardship’ to replace the irresponsible practices that have come to mark the
present age. The central concern of this article is to bolster the urgent need for such stewardship
and the consideration of the rights of both the downtrodden humans and the marginalized
nonhumans simultaneously vis- a- vis Malyalam writer Ambikasutan Mangad’s novel
Enmakaje translated into English as Swarga- A Posthuman Tale1.
Posthumanism, a literary concept, is based on the intersection of the human, nonhuman and
technological worlds. This interconnected nature of elements, the basic premise of many
religions and cultures is opposed to the Eurocentric mode of thinking where the human is seen
as the center of the earth with a right to all the earthly bounties. Posthumanism challenges this
idea, decentering the human and demonstrating the interconnectedness and mutual co-
dependency of all disparate forms to be seen on Earth, ranging from animals to technology,
simultaneously demolishing the Nature/Culture binary. (Nayar 2023) Swarga itireates this
foundational idea of Posthumanism.
The plot of Swarga revolves around the village and forests of Enmakaje in Kasaragod district
of Kerala, lying between the Western Ghats and the Lakshadweep Sea. The village is extremely
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fertile and conducive to many crops, including the cash crop- cashew. The hilly eastern part of
the state has many small forest tracts facilitated with good transportation. Blessed with many
rivers, it is at an advantage with easy irrigation facilities resulting in successful large-scale
agriculture. In order to promote the farming of the cash crop cashew nuts, large tracts of forests
were cleared and mono farming was introduced with large evergreen plantations. Cashew
farming, soon, dominated the area promoted by the state government; the three prominent
cashew estates of Kasaragod, Cheemeni and Rajapuram estates occupied an area of 2190.00
hectares.
Given the vast areas and the size of the cashew trees being considerable, these plantations were
regularly sprayed with the pesticide endosulfan to control the tea mosquitoes that were
considered to affect the cashew yield. As compared to manual spraying, ariel spraying was
considered to be more cost effective to deal with the situation. However, the outfall of the
prolonged aerial spraying was the contamination of both the land and water bodies that would
have a long term impact on the human world.
After several abnormalities were found affecting the humans and the nonhumans of the area,
medical investigations were made in and around Kasaragod. There was a marked increase in
the death of fishes, honeybees, frogs, birds, chicken and cows along with a rise in calves born
with deformed limbs (Neetu et al.). What Rachel Carson had observed in Silent Spring (1962)
would be equally appurtenant in this case as both the human and the nonhuman worlds were
toxified due to the inconsiderate usage of the pesticide indiscriminately, irrespective of the
impact it would have on the humans and the environment. ‘It is cheaper than mowing is the
cry,’ Carson observes, ‘but were the true costs entered…the wholesale broadcasting of
chemicals would be seen to be more costly in dollars as well as infinitely damaging to the long
range health of the landscape and to all the varied interests that depend on it.’ (73-74). True to
the observation, in Kasaragod, the investigations pointed towards alarming percentage of
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residues of endosulfan in human blood samples, including soil and water. Studies suggest the
effects of endosulfan in humans leads to congenital physical disorders as well as mental
disabilities and deaths in farm workers and communities cutting across the globe. The same is
seen in animals ranging from ‘immunosuppression, neurological disorders’ and congenital
birth defects’ to ‘chromosomal abnormalities, mental retardation, impaired learning and
memory loss’ (Amizadeh &Saryazdi).
Swarga unfolds like an ecogothic2 novel which first introduces the central protagonists, their
life till the point when they reach the beautiful and edenic region of Kasaragod where they
stumble upon a dwindling population bearing the brunt of an unknown blight, falling prey to
debilitating diseases and suffering inexplicable congenital disabilities. The village of
Enmakaje, also includes the Jadadhari hill, along with other flourishing hills; the surrounding
landscape – once considered paradisal, earned it the nomenclature of Enmakaje or Swarga. The
landscape boasted of a rich source of life and a good water table that was easily accessible to
every household.
When the novel opens, the central protagonists of the novel, Neelakantan and Devayani, a
couple, are seen residing in the forests of the Jadadhari hill of Kasaragod leading a peaceful
existence far away from where they originally belonged. Their escape to the Jadadhari hill to
seek refuge from an exploitative social set up and corruption soon finds them embroiled in a
struggle for which they had not bargained but encountered. They realized that there was much
more to the unsolved mystery behind the large-scale abnormalities of the human and the
nonhuman worlds. As, empathetic people, connected with the land and others around them they
stumbled upon the realization that the people of the area have had to bear the brunt of the
indiscriminate use of endosulfan that had over time contaminated the water bodies of the area.
It was the brunt of the contamination which was felt by the human and the nonhuman
population of the area.
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Given its natural richness, what could have been a land of plenty metamorphosed into a village
with diseases as virulent skin cancers, body sores, physical and mental abnormality that
infested humans and animals. The village abounds in sick and malformed children born with
deformity. Mangad’s description of the teenage girl who could have been seen as beautiful
indicates the loss as the girl is unable to close her mouth and has her tongue hanging out to the
chin. He provides further examples of deformity as Neelkantan observes a child lying on the
floor with a head bigger than her body and disproportionate, tiny limbs; mentally ill children
kept chained by their families. The suffering is not confined to a few as it has taken hold of
almost all the families in the area. One family struggles with a twenty-six year old adult with a
stunted body, with ‘fingers strangely long and thin…like octopus arms, all curled up. His
eyes…all white…with no pupils.’ (74) Each family has its own story of suffering with
abnormal or mentally challenged children, members suffering from sores as in pox all over
their bodies, each with their individual story of abnormality.
The consequences of poisoning cut across class and profession, engulfing in its wake one and
all. The agricultural officer, Leela Kumari, also falls a prey to the same as she finds her eyesight
weakening along with her brother who catches a cough that was to stay with him till his sudden,
mysterious death. With many patients in the nearby houses Leela Kumari had wondered about
the cause for the same and had concluded that it could be the aerial spraying of the pesticide.
Her recollection of the dead fish in the wells and dead frogs ‘strewn all over the place’ on the
day of the spraying made her suspicion stronger, till scientific tests confirmed it (190).
The lost healing powers of the canal adjoining the village- where children would swim earlier-
also highlights the compromised natural world. Previously, a dip in the canal could cure
stomach aches and dips thrice a day would cure skin diseases, but the character of the canal
had changed over time; toxified by endosulfan spraying it was devoid of any marine life; ‘no
fish, no frog’ (70). The erasure of flora and fauna species is repeatedly highlighted by their
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absence in this region. The rotten Jackfruit fallen on the ground has ‘not a fly, not a single
creature,’ buzzing around it. (225). The protagonist, Neelkantan notices the absence of marine
life in the stream close to his house with horror as the area’s biodiversity is completely
destroyed.
Initially, these diseases and deformities are attributed to the wrath of the much wronged
Jadadhari Bhoota, a mythological deity who had cursed the land which had thus turned
poisonous. Little do the unsuspecting victims know that the prolonged aerial spraying of
endosulfan had contaminated the open water bodies. The adjoining land had thus become a
‘riskscape’3 (Deitering 200) with the silent woods of Enmakaje, bereft of wildlife- except
snakes, a rare butterfly or the lone monkey.
The mystery begins to unravel when Devayani brings to her home at the Jadadhari hill a
severely ill child. A series of incidents is unleashed as the couple realizes with disbelief that
the land and the people suffer not due to any curse as the people had long believed, but due to
the prolonged exposure to endosulfan as per the local hospital doctor. A disillusioned
agriculture officer, Jayarajan informs Neelkantan that the reason behind the decline in the
cashew yield over the years was not the infestation by pests as projected by vested interests
and believed by a large section of the populace of the region, but climate change,
mismanagement by PCK and wrong farming practices; all these factors were induced by greed
with the land ‘drowned in poison in the name of eliminating a non- existent pest!’ (153).
The paradisal land and simple people of Swarga had become a victim of the unbridled greed
of a few corrupt elements within the social system. The need for effective checks and balances
is established for when the socius goes unchecked malfunctioning and imbalance are a natural
outcome. Deleuze and Guattari observe ‘The social machine or socius’ … has its prime
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function ‘to codify the flows of desire, to inscribe them to record them, to see to it that no flow
exists that is not properly dammed up, channeled, regulated.’ (qtd. in Herzogenrath 246).
In his celebrated letter Chief Seattle had raised the need to realize that the earth does not belong
to humans, humans belong to the earth, and all actions would have repurcussions. ‘Man did not
weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to
himself.’ (Chief Seattle, Chief Seattle Letter to All). A similar concern is raised by Amitav
Ghosh in his novel The Hungry Tide where the character Piya defending the rights of the
nonhumans, the tigers of Sunderbans, says, ‘Just suppose we crossed that imaginary line that
prevents us from deciding that no other species matters except ourselves. What’ll be left then?
Aren’t we alone enough in the universe? And do you think it’ll stop at that? Once we decide to
kill off other species, it’ll be people next…people who’re poor and unnoticed.’(301)
The protest of the angry villagers of Kerala as reflected in the novel, took the form of ESPAC
as they organized themselves as – Endosulfan Spray Protest Action Committee (ESPAC) to
raise their voice against the Plantation Corporation of Kerala (PCK) responsible for the aerial
spraying of endosulfan. The fight for ecojustice as led by Devyani and Neelkantan provides a
parallel to the Love canal disaster4 in the U.S where innocent citizens had to bear the brunt of
unplanned development and toxic waste disposal. Their protest and that of ESPAC can also be
seen as an instance of ecopopulism. 5
Aravinda while heading a protest organized by a group of beekeepers to confront the aerial
pesticide sprayers voices his loss and that of his fellow villagers, when he says, ‘We are the
bee keepers of Swarga. We haven’t been able to collect any honey for some years now. That’s
because this poison is sprayed…the bees are destroyed…we won’t let you spray this here
again.’ (104).
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Neelkantan and Devayani- initially referred to only as Man and Woman, represent Everyman
and Everywoman ever exploited, marginalized and disillusioned. Devayani, a woman with one
breast, also becomes a potent metaphor for the ravished Gaia, beautiful, nurturing, fertile, albeit
raped and mutilated. Neelkantan personifies the protective, caring and sensitive human who is
exploited and marginalized for these very reasons. When hunted and defeated Devayani and
Neelkantan take refuge in the speaking Cave, the inanimate cave is imbued with life by Mangad
embellished with the power to provide refuge against disasters, both manmade and natural.
Like the Biblical Noah’s ark, the Cave provides sanctuary to the threatened animals and the
hunted humans of Swarga in their effort to escape from the goons after them.
Swarga can be seen as an extremely relevant instance of Toxic Discourse as outlined by
Lawrence Buell. Buell postulates the term as the neglected facet of ecocritical thought which
challenges the traditional understandings of environmentalist ethos. The discourse rests on the
interdependence of ecocentric and anthropocentric values with the objective of promoting both
human health and environmental concerns.
Mangad, employs the twin tropes of magic realism and toxic discourse to accentuate the need
for sustainable development and environmental justice where the binaries merge and the weak
and the marginalized, the rich and the poor, the human and the nonhuman all get an equal
chance to survive and thrive.
Kerala banned the sale and use of endosulfan within its boundary in 2003.
Notes:
1. Here onwards the novel shall be referred to only as Swarga.
2. In his essay “Introduction: the EcoGothic in the long nineteenth century “ David Del
Principe defines the EcoGothic approach as one that poses a challenge to a familiar
Gothic subject- nature. He does this by taking a non-anthropocentric position to
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reconsider the role that the environment, species, and nonhumans play in the
construction of monstrosity and fear. He elaborates that the EcoGothic examines the
construction of the Gothic body–unhuman, nonhuman, transhuman, posthuman, or
hybrid–through a more inclusive lens, as a site of articulation for environmental and
species identity.
3. Deitering points out that it was Susan Cutter, a Rutgers University geographer who
coined the term “riskscape” to describe landscapes at risk to acute airborne toxics.
4. This is about the toxification of land in the Niagra city, U.S when large amount of
hazardous chemical waste with toxic carcinogens were dumped by Hooker Chemical
into a deep ditch. Later the large metal barrels that lined the ditch were covered with
clay and the land was sold to Niagra Falls school board. Ignorant about the pollution,
the board built a school here and the surrounding land was sold for housing projects.
With time, the families living along the canal, fell victim to high rates of miscarriages,
chromosome damage and birth defects. Initially, the claim made by the protesters was
disputed by the New York state Health Department but in 1978 President Carter
declared a state of emergency. Amends were made as a federal program, a Superfund
was created in 1980 for the identification and damage control of the waste site. See
The Love Canal Disaster op. cit
5. Popularized by Andrew Szasz’s EcoPopulism (1999) the NIMBY, ‘Not In My
Backyard’ movements in the U.S, ‘against the privilege and power of dominant,
exploiting, selfish, and uncaring elites’ (81) was distinguished by ‘the activism of
nonelites,’ aimed towards ‘community, and the reconception of environmentalism as
an instrument of social justice.’(Buell 643). Both delineated features of ecopopulism
inform the protest of the ordinary people as represented in Swarga.
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Dr. Shivani Jha