India, June 26 -- Were one to search for a genre that could be labelled as 'the literature of attention', one wouldn't have to venture much beyond what has loosely come to be known as 'nature writing.' While all good literature is an expression of attentiveness - not only to language but also to the world around, real or imagined - nature writing consciously deploys the act of 'perceiving with care' as its underlying framework and philosophy. Such writing, however, rests on a curious paradox: instead of drawing upon a hidden or mysterious reserve of concentration and awareness, it enacts its own formation in synchronization with the unfolding natural environment. Despite the human observer-writer occupying the obvious central position, it...