New Delhi, March 29 -- For most students of a certain vintage from Chennai, 'turtle walks' were a fixture on the calendar. Between November and February, we'd follow volunteers of the Students' Sea Turtle Conservation Network (SSTCN) along the beach at night hoping to spot nests of endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles. I continued as a half-hearted volunteer well into my 20s, tagging along with friends who were deeply committed to relocating the nests to a hatchery and then releasing hatchlings into the sea so that they wouldn't be eaten or crushed by traffic. As I said, I had little devotion to the turtles, but there's no doubt there's something magical and transformative about sitting on a moonlit beach, listening to tides crashing on sa...