The God in the Mirror by Sugato Mukherjee

The images were atmospheric, and it was clear Sugato had gone to great lengths to capture them. But there was an important question in those photographs: Why? In a time when sulfur mines around the world had been mechanized, why was this the last holdout? Sugato was driven by the same curiosity. His story, “Out of the Smoky Abyss,” which is contained in this volume, would come to illuminate the surprising answer to our questions, and would introduce us to a harrowing world and the people who inhabit it. Sugato is a storyteller in all the best senses of the word. Whether he is taking us to Kerala to witness ancient Theyyam traditions (“The God in the Mirror,” Hidden Compass 2021), or journeying to Paris to explore an extraordinary bookstore (“House of Shakespeare and tumbleweeds,” The Hindu BusinessLine 2020), his inquisitiveness allows him to uncover stories that matter — stories that help us see the world just a little bit differently. Those are the stories you’ll find in this book.