She was a global star: Teen bikes 700 miles carrying injured dad. Where is she now?
A return to Jyoti Kumari, six years after the journey that made her famous.
Read the storyIndependent journalist · Madurai, India
Science, Health, Environment
Stories rooted in people.
Hi and welcome to my website!
I’m Kamala Thiagarajan, an award-winning journalist based in southern India. I report on science, global health, climate, human rights and culture for international publications.
My work has taken me on many an intriguing journey-- to wild desolate caves that Jain monks once made their homes in, the blazing heat of salt mines on the throes of climate change, and ancient excavation sites in the heart of rural India.
No matter how grim the situation, I believe in the power of bitter coffee and bright sunshine. And for me, the most gripping stories are always the ones that are true to life.
Select bylines
The BMJ
Inside India’s health systems.
Reporting on access to care, medicine safety, infectious disease and public health policy.
From the field
Reporting · 2025 & 2026
These stunning photos capture the hard yet fulfilling lives of fisherfolk
Lives and livelihoods at Chennai’s Kasimedu Fishing Harbour.
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Will even one of the U.N.'s 17 'sustainable development goals' be met by 2030?
Assessing progress on the UN’s goals for poverty, health, equality and the environment—and what could bring them within reach.
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Hong Kong’s guqin revival bridges ancient philosophy and modern passions
The people keeping an ancient musical tradition alive.
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Whatever happened to the U.S. campaign to ban child marriage?
A look at legislation, advocacy and the challenge of ending child marriage.
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No One Knows How to Handle Nurdle Spills
What happens after a plastic pellet spill—and why responding remains so difficult.
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Why nearly every farmer who grows these chile peppers is a woman
Reporting from Tamil Nadu’s mundu chile fields.
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‘Invisible Suffering’: Deadly Risks in India’s Fireworks Factories
Reporting on workplace safety and the human cost of fireworks production in Sivakasi.
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The women fighting India’s worm poachers
Communities defending wetlands and the livelihoods that depend on them.
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Court rebuffs plea from domestic workers for better pay and respect
Domestic workers in India demand fair wages, legal protections and dignity.
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PHOTOS: Your car has a lot to say about who you are
An interview with photographer Martin Roemers on vehicles, identity and inequality.
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Photos: These bold women stand up for justice, rights ... and freedom
Portraits and stories celebrating women standing up for rights and freedom.
Read the storyBrowse more reporting
The threat underfoot
Snakebite prevention, access to antivenom and community awareness.
Read the storyA renewed fight against leprosy
Reporting on early diagnosis, treatment and the stigma faced by people affected by leprosy.
Read the storyNanotechnology brings safer water to the Ganges Delta
Community filtration projects address contaminated drinking water in eastern India.
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Drone photo winners will amaze your eyeballs: From a high-up horseman to a holy river
The photographers and perspectives behind the Siena Drone Photo Awards.
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Don’t let a selfie be the end of you
The public health risks of dangerous selfies and efforts to prevent them.
Read the storyCan India fix its flagship universal health insurance programme?
How delayed payments affect patients and hospitals.
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Fireworks and Heartbreak in a Hard-Hit Indian Village
The lasting human cost of industrial accidents in Sivakasi.
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A new survey on dads found that 9 out of 10 had a surprising reaction to fatherhood
Fathers on care, work and the support families need.
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World Press Photo Contest winners cast a lens on resilience, pain and bliss
The stories behind a year’s award-winning photographs.
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In a year of conflict, global science cooperation has shown the way
How scientific collaboration crosses borders in a divided world.
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How China went from generic drug factory to biomedicine innovator
China’s transformation into a hub for pharmaceutical innovation.
Read the storyIf you’re going to be kind to another human, today is the day to do it!
What acts of kindness can change—for people and communities.
Read the storyEarlier selected reporting
The AI program that can tell whether you may go blind
Technology in diabetic eye screening.
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Dangerous spices: why India's cooking powders pose a risk of lead poisoning
Investigating sources of lead exposure.
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In India, a Need for New Antidotes to Curb Deadly Snakebites
The Irula snake catchers, gaps in antivenom treatment and the search for better antidotes.
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India Isn’t Ready for a Deadly Combination of Heat and Humidity
The health risks of extreme heat and humidity for outdoor workers.
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Inside the Race to Stop a Deadly Viral Outbreak in India
Medical sleuthing and the public health response to Kerala’s Nipah outbreak.
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The story of India’s intrepid women seaweed divers
The lives and livelihoods of women harvesting seaweed in the Gulf of Mannar.
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The Radio Station at the Heart of a Fishing Community
A community radio station serving fishers on India’s coast.
Read the storyA Fight to Save Baby Girls in India
Reporting on efforts to protect girls in southern India.
Read the storyAbout Kamala
Reporting from India.
Reaching readers worldwide.
I’m a freelance journalist based in Madurai, South India, with more than twenty years of reporting experience. My work explores science, climate change, environmental policy, health, human rights and culture.
My reporting has appeared in The New York Times, NPR, BBC, The Guardian, BMJ, bioGraphic, Hakai Magazine, Al Jazeera, Bloomberg and the South China Morning Post, among others.
I have contributed to Lonely Planet’s You Only Live Once and Atlas Obscura: Wild Life, and mentored early-career science journalists through The Open Notebook’s Sharon Dunwoody Mentoring Program.
Recognition & fellowships
June L. Biedler Prize for Cancer Journalism
2025 · American Association for Cancer Research
Award announcementSolutions Journalism Network Awards
General Excellence and News Article (Large Outlet)
Winners announcementPulitzer Center grantee
2023 · Reporting on seaweed harvesters in India’s Gulf of Mannar
Explore the projectIn conversation
Audio & appearances
How far are we from the world’s 2030 goals?
A conversation with Steve Inskeep about the Sustainable Development Goals.
A life in freelance science journalism
Reporting, craft and the stories behind the work.
How blind women in India are detecting early breast cancer
A conversation about the Discovering Hands programme.
A closer look at leprosy
With Claudia Hammond, on the global burden of leprosy.
Superbugs & you
A discussion of neonatal sepsis and antibiotic resistance.
Air pollution in India—and an unusual solution
The interview begins at approximately 24 minutes.
India’s deadly heat and humidity
In conversation with Chuck Mertz about wet-bulb temperatures.
Why India’s fossil wealth remains hidden
With Amanda Vanstone. The interview begins at approximately 26 minutes.
Books & anthologies
Books & anthologies
The Best Science Stories and How They Work
A Collection with Commentary · Edited by Siri Carpenter
University of Chicago Press · July 2026
“Seeing the River for the Fish”
My bioGraphic feature is chapter 8 in The Open Notebook’s anthology, annotated by Ben Goldfarb. The chapter includes a conversation about the reporting and writing behind the story.
Atlas Obscura: Wild Life
An Explorer’s Guide to the World’s Living Wonders · 2024
Contributor to Atlas Obscura’s anthology exploring the extraordinary diversity of the living world.
View the bookLonely Planet’s You Only Live Once
Lonely Planet · 2023
Contributor to this collection of travel experiences and adventures from around the world.
View the bookGet in touch
Let’s talk.
For reporting commissions, speaking invitations and mentoring enquiries.
Madurai · Tamil Nadu · India
kamala.thiagarajan@gmail.com