Abhayraj Naik, Visiting Associate Professor of Practice, Environmental Studies, SIAS has co-authored an essay titled Infinite Reservoir of Agency in the recently-released Higher Studies Toolkit for Critical Ocean Literacy (OCEAN / UNI 2026).
Abstract
Amidst the lush rice fields of Andhra Pradesh, Abhayraj Naik reflects in an experiential essay on the interconnectedness between humans and the land, slipping through the cracks of urbanization, climate change, and agrarian crises. Naik observes a resilient “knowing” among farming communities: a deep, spiritual bond with the earth, expressed in their rituals, festivals, and resistance against ecological destruction. His visit to his ancestral home near Udupi rekindles this connection, revealing both the beauty of interspecies kinship and the shadows of historical injustices. The re-discovery of this rootedness unlocks an “infinite reservoir of agency” with the potential to reclaim environmental justice and rebuild a regenerative world.
Read the essay, here
The critical ocean literacy educator toolkit is available here
