Two women in traditional Indian attire, rural setting.

Evolve Back presents a series of expressive stories from our destinations. We hope that these stories encapsulating the lore of the land help foster a deeper understanding and connection between our guests and the places we call home.

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RECENT STORIES

A Meditation on the Yalis of Hampe

Published on: 18/05/2026 |Contributors: Sourabha Rao & Alok Ranjan

There are creatures you never encounter in the wild, and yet you feel you have seen them more intimately than any fleeting glimpse of fur or feather in a forest. You meet them in stone, sculpted into perplexing proportions that challenge our perceptions of anatomical possibilities and taxonomies. In Hampe, you find them emerging from pillars, caught as if in mid-motion, forever about to leap or bite or coil or unfurl. The Yalis. Or Vyalas or Shardulas as they are also referred to as. That is what we call them, but we seem to know so little about them.

The Small Faunal Sovereigns of Coorg

Published on: 08/05/2026 |Contributors: Sourabha Rao & Santosh Saligram

There is a way of looking at little things in a forest when one is carrying the weight of life’s big questions in one’s heart. A breaking twig, a shadow with its reptilian hiss, a little breathing thing other than big muscles with stripes or tusks or antlers. And then there is another way of looking. It begins at the end of the human’s sense of entitlement, when one stops expecting the forest to perform.

Predators of the Central Kalahari: More Than Just Lions

Published on: 04/05/2026 |Contributors: Sarah Kingdom

The Central Kalahari is not defined by a single predator. It is shaped by a highly adaptive carnivore community, with each species playing a role in an environment where food is scarce, water is unpredictable, and survival demands efficiency.