Book Review: ‘Uprooted’ by Ita Mehrotra

Book Title: Uprooted: A Graphic Account of the Struggle for Forest Struggle
Author: Ita Mehrotra
Publisher: Context
Number of Pages: 144
ISBN: 978-9360455545
Date Published: Jul. 14, 2025
Price: INR 375

Book Review

“Uprooted: A Graphic Account of the Struggle for Forest Struggle” is not just a book—it’s a powerful act of witnessing. Through tender linework and deeply personal storytelling, author Ita Mehrotra draws us into the lives of the Van Gujjars and Taungyas, communities who have lived in and with the forests of Uttarakhand Terai for generations. With immense sensitivity, Mehrotra offers an unflinching look at how these forest dwellers have been displaced, disenfranchised, and pushed to the margins in the name of “development.” But within these pages lies something even more enduring than grief: resistance. Through shared laughter, rituals, memory, and struggle, “Uprooted” reveals a fierce, rooted love for land, identity, and community.

This graphic narrative doesn’t just recount events—it makes the political deeply personal. As the Van Gujjars and Taungyas confront the long shadows of colonial forest laws and navigate the slow hope of the Forest Rights Act, Mehrotra’s drawings capture not only the weight of history, but also the defiant spark in the eyes of the young. From the forest trails to resettlement colonies, the book weaves a rich tapestry of collective resilience, showing how stories—whether spoken or drawn—can become tools of survival, memory, and transformation. In doing so, “Uprooted” reminds us that resistance is not only an act of protest but also of presence, of staying rooted when everything is designed to push you out.

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More than a chronicle, “Uprooted” is a beautifully rendered moral reckoning. It compels us to ask: who truly belongs to the land, and who gets to decide? Ita Mehrotra gives voice and visibility to those whose hands have built this country and whose histories are so often erased. With emotional clarity and artistic brilliance, she crafts a visual archive of environmental justice, cultural endurance, and the fierce, unwavering spirit of forest communities. This is a book to be read slowly, reflected upon deeply, and shared widely.

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