ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

There are two men who fall into the “without whom” (this essay couldn’t have been written) category:

Himanshu Thakker, who first revealed to me—brilliantly, meticulously, almost shyly—the horrors of the Narmada Valley Development Projects. To him I owe my first (belated) conspectus of this intricate method of pulverizing a people.

Patrick McCully, whom I’ve never met, but whose book Silenced Rivers is the rock on which this work stands. If you want to read a truly dazzling book on Big Dams, drop mine and read his.

Jharana Jhaveri, most tenacious of fighters and gentlest of friends, thank you for traveling with me. All the way.

Shripad, Nandini, Silvie, Alok, Medha, Baba Amte, and their colleagues at NBA. Extraordinary people, fighting an extraordinary war.

Deepak Sarkar and Anurag Singh, for friendship and cool, organized wisdom and advice.

N. Ram and Vinod Mehta, editors of Outlook and Frontline, who first published The Greater Common Good. There aren’t many like you around.

Jojo Van Gruisen, Golak Khandual, Arjun Raina, Sanjay Kak. Old soul friends. Fellow-travelers on this path.

Finally, Pradip Krishen, without whom my life would not be fully lived.

Thank you.