Chennai Book Fair| Mother Nature’s bounty for a healthy life: Iyal Vaagai’s goal

CHENNAI: Out of the 900 stalls at the 48th edition of the Chennai Book Fair is stall no 449 – Iyal Vaagai publications that attracts visitors with colourful pictures and paintings on the wall. The stall is stocked with books on agricultural seeds – a rarity at a book fair.

Formed in 2011, the publication has been a regular participant in the book fair since 2013, and each year, they return with different artworks with the theme of nature.

Alageswari S, founder and proprietor of the publications, said that all books in the stall were related to nature, agriculture, healthy lifestyle and various cultivations. “Meeting the environmental activist G Nammalvar had a profound impact on me. As a crusader of Indian organic farming, his ideologies and thoughts inspired me to form Iyal Vaagai. This is an environmental movement to create awareness about nature. It’s also an earnest effort to urge the public to focus on a healthy lifestyle,” explained Alageswari.

The term Iyal Vaagai means natural substitute. As an embodiment of the term, the book stall is aesthetically designed with bamboo. “Photos in the stall are inspired from the art works of tribal groups from Maharashtra and are drawn by local artists. To make it feel more natural to visitors, instead of the steel almirah, bamboo is used,” she added.

For children, there are books on nature, including the real life story of Jadav Molai Payeng, who is called the ‘forest man of India’. Jadav single-handedly created 200 hectares of forest, and his story is available in both English and Tamil.