We’re excited to be the official chocolate partner for the Hidden Kingdom book launch in Auroville! At the launch, illustrator & author, Nirupa Rao & Suniti Rao shall discuss various aspects of their book’s creative process, including the dynamics of cross-disciplinary collaboration between artists, scientists, writers and photographers.

Date: Saturday, 29th February
Time: 05:00 pm
Venue: Taboo Boutique, Auroville

Come spend an evening with us! We’ll be serving some of our delicious pralines & bon-bons along with Bread & Chocolate.

About the book:

Hidden Kingdom is a book of hand-painted botanical illustrations by Nirupa Rao featuring fascinating plants native to the Western Ghats—from carnivores to parasites to flowers that smell like rotting flesh. You’ll encounter familiar species (like pepper) as well as the more obscure (like the colourless ghost orchid), all certain to make you see the natural world with new eyes. The book is made for everyone—a family heirloom for the young and old alike—with ecological insights and crafty wordplay set to rhyme by Suniti Rao.

About the Illustrator:

A National Geographic Young Explorer, Nirupa received a grant to create her book Hidden Kingdom—Fantastical Plants of the Western Ghats (published in 2019). She has also published Pillars of Life—Magnificent Trees of the Western Ghats (2018). In 2019, she was named Plant Humanities Fellow by Harvard University’s Dumbarton Oaks Research Centre. She has also been named an INK Fellow, one to ‘watch out for’ in Forbes India’s annual 30 Under 30 issue, and one of Harper’s Bazaar India’s ‘Indian Women to be Proud Of’!