The Evolution Underground

Book Review : The Evolution Underground

Author : Anthony J. Martin

My Rating : 4 out of 5 stars

The complete title of the book is “The Evolution Underground : Burrows, bunkers, and the marvelous subterranean world beneath our feet”.

I was instantly attracted to the curious title. Of all the popular science books that I have read so far, none had discussed anything about animals that choose to spend most of their time underground. This book guaranteed new information, so I had to read it.

I am quite ignorant of the field, but it clearly seems that the author has impressive achievements, one of them being a co-discoverer of the first known burrowing dinosaur. He has a passion for the field, and it shines through.

The book covers a very wide variety of burrowing creatures. From turtles, alligators, dinosaurs, birds, many mammals, insects, sea animals and so on. The author argues, and demonstrates that the burrowing had a distinct evolutionary advantage. Especially when it came to mass extinction events. It’s recurring theme throughout the book. Consider for example, the mass extinction caused by the hellish conditions resulting from by a meteor strike. This event killed almost every living thing on the surface. Some creatures survived these unimaginable conditions, because they could hibernate and/or live comfortably underground. The explanation by author is very lucid, and understandable to a layman like me.

There is more to the story of creatures living underground. The author also explains very successfully, the impact these creatures have on the entire ecosystem. All this information is fascinating, and kind of an eye opener.

It seems to me that that author is writing for two types of audiences, for both laymen and the scientific community. This didn’t quite work for me. At times, the witty narration made me chuckle at multiple place. The speculative stories explained a lot to me and held my interest. But at other times, the information overload was simply too much to handle. I cannot even pronounce the names of most of these species, and digesting this amount of scientific detail is beyond me. It’s meticulous, detailed with 100+ pages of references, but I am afraid, other readers may feel lost like me.

With that caveat, I will recommend the book. It’s an interesting topic. You will end up being amazed by the knowledge about how life can survive, and how vital the underground world is for our ecosystem. 

Song number 6 : Haakewari Aahe Gaav

With great excitement, on behalf of the entire team, I present to you our latest song. This has been a superb team effort. 

For me, the song always starts with the words, and this is a great poem by a very prominent Marathi poet, Indira Sant. In my interpretation, it describes the restlessness one might feel in the evening stages of life. It’s not sad, but solemn.

That’s the mood we have tried to convey. Most of the team is repeat names. The fantastic music arrangement is thanks to Aniket Damale. For the melody, it fits perfectly like a glove. Rhythm is arranged by Amey Thakurdesai and Hanumant Rawade. Flute accompaniment is by Pranav Haridas.

To top it all, the singing by Neha Kale is just perfectly on the mark. Her voice and emotive singing has taken this song to an even higher level.

The stunning sketches for the video have been provided by my multi-talented friend, Anita Limaye.

Considering the words, I thought Pooriya Dhanashree would be the perfect raag to carry the emotions and hence I have used it for the melody.

I hope you enjoy the song as much as we all enjoyed making it. Please listen and share! 

हाकेवरी आहे गाव, ह्याच आशेने चालले

गेले दिवस महिने, वाटे युगचि संपले

दूर दूर तेवणारा दिवा कसा तो दिसेना

डोंगराच्या पायथ्याशी रेघ धुराची वोळेना

ऐकू येईना पावरी आणि घुंगुरांचा नाद

राउळींच्या घंटेचाहि उमटेना पडसाद

कुठे असेल ते गाव, जिथे आहे पोचायाचे

कुठे असेल ते घर, जिथे आहे थांबायाचे

कुठे असेल तो स्वामी त्याही वास्तूचा महान

ज्याच्या पायापाशी आहे टाकायाचे तनमन

-- इंदिरा संत

Following translation is courtesy Archana Gupta

इस उम्मीद में चलती जाऊँ बस अब दूर नहीं वो गाँव
कितने सालों, नहीं युगों से, मेरे थमे नहीं हैं पाँव

दूर तलक रौशनी का कोई ज़र्रा भी क्यूँ अयाँ नहीं
क्यूँ दूर वादियों से उठता घुंधला सा भी धुआँ नहीं

घुंघरुओं की आवाज़ कहाँ है, बोल कहाँ हैं बंसियों के
साफ़ सुनाई दें न कहीं भी शब्द मठों की घंटियों के

है किस सिम्त वो गाँव जहाँ जा अपना धर्म निभाना है
कौन सा है वो घर जो मेरा अंतिम एक ठिकाना है

कौन महात्मा मालिक घर का किस का ताना बाना है
तन मन कर के अर्पण जिस के दर पर सीस नवाना है