Ananta Press proudly congratulates Dr Rakesh PS on the official nomination of his remarkable literary memoir, Echoes from the Atoll: Inside India’s First TB-Free Islands, for the prestigious Ananta Press Sahitya Ratna Award.
This nomination recognises a work that succeeds in doing something rare: it transforms an extraordinary public health achievement into a deeply human story of place, people, memory, belonging and change.
Set against the breathtaking yet geographically challenging landscape of Lakshadweep, Echoes from the Atoll emerges from Dr Rakesh PS’s years of experience as a public health professional during the islands’ journey towards TB-Free certification under India’s sub-national certification initiative. Yet the book moves far beyond the boundaries of a conventional public health account.
Instead of presenting tuberculosis elimination primarily through statistics, targets, charts or programme frameworks, Dr Rakesh brings readers into the lives of the people who made change possible. Through journeys across the sea, encounters with health workers, ASHAs, families and community leaders, and reflections on everyday island life, the author reveals how an ambitious health mission gradually became a shared community aspiration.
The Ananta Press Sahitya Ratna Award seeks to recognise literary works that demonstrate originality, meaningful contribution, intellectual depth, social relevance and the ability to leave a lasting impression on readers. The nomination of Echoes from the Atoll reflects precisely these qualities.
A Book Where Place Becomes a Character
One of the strongest reasons behind the award committee’s selection of Echoes from the Atoll is the distinctive way in which Lakshadweep itself becomes a living presence within the narrative.
The islands are not treated merely as a scenic backdrop. The sea, changing weather, distance between communities and geographical isolation directly influence relationships, livelihoods, movement and healthcare delivery. Readers begin to understand that public health solutions cannot simply be transferred from one region to another without understanding the people and places they are intended to serve.
This gives the book an important literary and social dimension. It allows the reader to experience remoteness rather than merely read about it.
Public Health Made Human
Dr Rakesh’s greatest achievement in this memoir lies in making public health accessible to readers far beyond the medical and scientific community.
Tuberculosis elimination is an important thread running through the book, but it never overwhelms the human narrative. Instead, the achievement is presented through the dedication of ordinary people who transformed policy into action: frontline health workers who entered homes, families who participated in change, community leaders who encouraged collective responsibility and individuals who believed that TB did not have to remain part of the islands’ future.
The book reminds us that behind every successful health indicator is a human relationship, and behind every public health milestone are people whose contributions may never appear in official statistics.
This human-centred approach was a particularly important consideration in the award committee’s decision to nominate the book.
A Powerful Exploration of Belonging and Change
Echoes from the Atoll also distinguishes itself through its deeper reflections on tradition and modernity.
Lakshadweep, like many communities across the world, is negotiating change. New aspirations coexist with inherited traditions. Development creates opportunities while simultaneously raising questions about what may be lost. Dr Rakesh captures this tension with sensitivity rather than judgement.
At its deepest level, the memoir asks universal questions: What makes a place home? How does a community preserve its identity while embracing change? What happens when the place to which we feel we belong begins transforming around us?
These questions elevate the book beyond its geographical and professional context. Although rooted in Lakshadweep, its reflections on identity, memory, transition and belonging can resonate with readers anywhere.
Recognising an Author Who Connects Evidence with Empathy
The nomination also recognises the distinguished body of experience that Dr Rakesh PS brings to his writing.
A public health physician, researcher, educator and author with MD and PhD qualifications, Dr Rakesh has spent more than fifteen years working in community-driven healthcare, disease prevention and health systems strengthening across India and South-East Asia.
His journey of public service began remarkably early when, at the age of fifteen, he received the Rashtrapati Scout Award from the President of India. His later academic journey took him through Christian Medical College, Vellore, and to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health as a Bernard Lown Scholar in Cardiovascular Health.
Through his work with organisations including the World Health Organization and The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, he has contributed to important public health initiatives, including Lakshadweep’s TB elimination journey, STEPS, local government-led disease elimination strategies, women-led hypertension control initiatives, outbreak investigations and Kerala’s COVID-19 response.
With more than 150 scientific publications and several health education initiatives to his credit, Dr Rakesh has consistently worked to connect scientific knowledge with the everyday realities of communities.
In Echoes from the Atoll, that philosophy becomes literature.
His transition from public health professional to literary memoirist gives the book its distinctive voice. The reader encounters not only an expert observing a health system, but also a person gradually transformed by the islands, their people and their stories.
The international relevance of the work was further underscored when the book was released globally on July 29, 2026, by Dr Lucica Ditiu, Executive Director of the Stop TB Partnership hosted by the United Nations Office for Project Services in Geneva, in the presence of global health leaders.
A Deserving Nomination
The Ananta Press Sahitya Ratna Award Committee is pleased to recognise Echoes from the Atoll: Inside India’s First TB-Free Islands as a work of unusual literary and social significance.
It is original in form, meaningful in message and memorable in execution. It brings together travel memoir, social chronicle, personal reflection and public health narrative without allowing any one element to overshadow the others.
Most importantly, it gives dignity and visibility to communities whose collective effort created an extraordinary public health achievement.
As the book so powerfully demonstrates, TB may be the backdrop and Lakshadweep the setting, but the people are the story.
Ananta Press extends its heartfelt congratulations to Dr Rakesh PS on his official nomination for the Ananta Press Sahitya Ratna Award. We wish him every success in the award journey ahead and commend his contribution to literature, public health storytelling and the larger effort to ensure that the human stories behind transformative achievements are remembered, respected and shared with the world.
