Arjun Mehra

I grew up in Udaipur, in the foothills of the Aravallis. During monsoon season the hills turn green almost overnight, and if you know where to look, the forest floor comes alive with fungi. My grandfather called them different names in Mewari, most of which I have never found in any textbook. That gap between what local people know and what gets published in English is basically what drives all my work.

I studied botany at the University of Rajasthan in Jaipur, then did my masters in mycology at TERI in Delhi. My thesis was on ethnomycological knowledge among Bhil and Garasia tribal communities in southern Rajasthan. These communities have used specific fungi for generations, sometimes as food, sometimes in healing rituals, sometimes recreationally. Almost none of it is documented in Western literature.

After my masters I spent two years doing fieldwork in the Western Ghats, Meghalaya, and the Kumaon hills. The diversity is staggering. India has at least 80 recorded species of Psilocybe alone, though the real number is probably much higher. In Kodaikanal and parts of Meghalaya, psilocybin mushrooms grow wild in cattle pastures, and there is a long oral tradition around their use that predates any Western "discovery" of psychedelics.

I currently split my time between Udaipur and fieldwork across South and Southeast Asia. I consult for a couple of research groups studying psilocybin therapy, and I write about the intersection of traditional knowledge, psychoactive fungi, and conservation. The Aravallis are one of the oldest mountain ranges on Earth, and the fungal biodiversity here is under-studied and under threat from mining and deforestation. Documenting what grows here before it disappears feels urgent.

When I am not in the field I teach a short course on Indian ethnomycology at the Forest Research Institute in Dehradun. I also keep a small mushroom garden at my family home in Udaipur where I grow oysters, shiitake, and paddy straw mushrooms. My mother thinks I should have become a doctor. She is probably right.