Rivers Remember is Krupa’s narrative non fiction debut on the Chennai floods of 2015. It was published by Context, an imprint of Westland, in July 2019. Ask for the book at a bookstore near you, or buy online at Champaca or Amazon
Praise for the Book
Krupa Ge’s… ‘Rivers Remember’ (on the Chennai floods 2015) is an absolute must read. Well written and carefully researched, it brings home the full horror of the catastrophe. This is what the future holds for many cities around the world – Amitav Ghosh
A powerful book that speaks truth to power, and such important reading in a city where life is wedded to its water history – Meena Kandasamy
Reviews
…It is this job of contributing to the cultural memory of the disastrous Chennai floods of December 2015 that Krupa Ge’s book does with deceptive simplicity and barely suppressed rage – Nisha Susan Firstpost.
I was more struck yet by how simply and movingly it documents something that’s very little written about – our own ordinary, shifting, inadequate but real emotional battle to come to terms with what is happening to us – read full piece in – Supriya Nair Mumbai Mirror
Ge’s work is that rare slow reportage that could be instructive to multiple stakeholders in present-day India if they allowed it to be. It’s one of the strongest works of narrative non-fiction to come out of India recently—elevating reportage with nuanced, even-keeled writing that tells the story of a place as much as of an event – Urvashi Bahuguna Open Magazine
In a powerful, poetic narrative that moves between individual stories and the story of a city’s drowning, Ge describes the unspeakable hollowing out of lives – Uma Mahadevan Dasgupta, The Indian Express
A touching story about the people who suffered, rendered, at times lyrically, poetic as a gently flowing river, and then, with cold facts, cold as the waters that swirled the muck into homes – Ramya Kannan, The Hindu
Piecing together the collective failure of the authorities to protect its inhabitants from an avoidable tragedy in Chennai, Krupa Ge brings to life the agony of the trapped in a touching account of those unforgiving waters of the city rivers, relentless in reclaiming their rights over their course in Rivers Remember – Sudhirender Sharma, Hindustan Times.
…Elegantly blends reflections, reportage, slices from history and moving personal accounts of several of those who suffered the tragedy – M.R. Venkatesh Asian Age.
…For the sake of creating awareness of ground realities among the people, may the tribe of those nameless auditors who studied the Chennai Floods 2015 under the CAG of India and wrote an eminently valuable stand-alone report, as well as of authors like Krupa Ge grow – Himanshu Upadhyaya, Citizen Matters
This book holds valuable lessons for people everywhere – B.R.P. Bhaskar, The Tribune
Amartya Sen has asserted in his writings that famines cannot occur in countries with a free press. After reading Ms Ge’s book, we can also assert that floods cannot occur in a country with a free press — and the absence of one makes us vulnerable – Uttaran Das Gupta, Business Standard
‘Rivers Remember’ is a book that every Chennai vaasi must read – Krupa’s fierce love for the city shines through its pages. It leaves one feeling uneasy, with the author’s meticulous, data-backed research warning us that the root causes of the flood still hang over our heads like the Sword of Damocles – Varsha Venugopal, Madras Musings
Krupa Ge 