Deep in western Odisha, upon a magic mountain named Niyamgiri, a colourful ‘primitive’ tribe is locked in a fairy-tale battle against a giant mining company – to save their god, their homeland and its unique biodiversity. Enchanted by the tale, the author journeyed there to find that this is part of a larger story of struggle and resistance, of age-old ways of life being crushed under the juggernaut of ‘development’. The path of this juggernaut leads to a blind wall. The writing on the wall is: HAVE WE REACHED THE END OF A CIVILIZATION?