This talk invites listeners to think about corals beyond the definitions of modern biology. Based on ethnographic stories from the Lakshadweep Islands of India, I explore how to take account of the multiple natures of corals and their relationships with humans, as well as how they exceed conservation-centered approaches. I will unpack how corals, as mythical objects, and growing rocks, transgress the biological definitions of life and death. I will describe the myth of “Kunhi Bi para” (Beekunji rock) and other coral caves that has been influential and consequential throughout the archipelago’s history and present. The coral rock formations of the Lakshadweep Islands offered protection from both invaders and cyclones; they became sites of wonder and sometimes, of fear. With reference to a set of lexical terms in the island language (such as bara, kulachil, mulakknda para, and phar), I will discuss how corals are integrally connected to social life in the Lakshadweep archipelago. Influenced by the literature on non-human anthropology, the talk will dive into the discussions on indigeneity, environment, and the politics of dwelling on these coral islands, thus contributing to the emerging discussions on human and non-human relations in Asian archipelagos during the climate crisis.

Lakshmi Pradeep Rajeswary is a postdoctoral fellow at the International Institute for Asian Studies at Leiden University with specializations in the fields of environmental anthropology, science and technology studies, and island studies. She received her PhD in South Asian studies from the National University of Singapore in 2023, with a dissertation on “Coral Worlds: An Anthropological Study of Island Protection and Conservation in Lakshadweep in the Indian Ocean.” She also holds an MPhil in sociology from Jawaharlal Nehru University and an integrated master’s degree in sociology from the University of Hyderabad, India. In addition to this, she is a project partner in cocreating a Sea Lexicon for the Southern Collective (an outcome of the Transregional Collaboratory on the Indian Ocean, previously funded by the SSRC).