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Doon Library hosts discussion on Abhishek Ray’s book ‘Baagh Tiger- The Inside Story’
By Arun Pratap Singh
my uttarakhand news Bureau
Dehradun, 5 Dec: Doon Library and Research Centre today hosted a very engaging discussion on author Abhishek Ray’s book ‘Baagh Tiger- The Inside Story’. Journalist, environmentalist and social activist Ira Chauhan moderated the discussion. Apart from the author Abhishek Ray, Director Wildlife Institute of India (WII) Dr Gobind Sagar Bhardwaj, IFS and former PCCF, Uttarakhand Dr Dhananjay Mohan also participated in the discussion. On behalf of the Doon Library, Chandarshekhar Tewari introduced the participants to the audience.
The book was described as a gripping wildlife-crime thriller rooted in real stakes by Ira Chauhan and Dr Bhardwaj. The book’s central storyline centres around a traditional tribal poacher Jaggu Bawaria who does not like being a poacher and then is coaxed by his lover Jahanvi to transform into a protector of tigers. The book is set against the dark, realistic backdrop of illegal wildlife trafficking and poaching. The narrative takes readers from the Deccan plains, through sal forests, to Himalayan passes and even Kathmandu, making it a broad, adventurous journey.
Author Abhishek Ray is a multifaceted person, who is a successful music composer, singer and filmmaker from Bollywood and has to his credit composing for well known films like Paan Singh Tomar, I am Kalam, Sahib Biwi and Gangster and Welcome Back. In addition, he has released several music albus like Udaas Paani. However, his keen love and interest in nature and wildlife transcends every other passion of his and his love for wildlife began very early in his life as a volunteer for tiger counts and wildlife censuses in Ranthambore Tiger Reserve. Abhishek Ray has not written from pure imagination only. He’s a certified tiger-tracker and conservationist, and is responsible for creating the Sitabani Wildlife Reserve (a rewilded habitat), his real-life experiences and deep familiarity with forest life inform his writing. Dr Dhananjay Mohan and Dr Bhardwaj described his book as very well researched one.
Speaking about his diverse passions today, he said that he inhales nature and exhales music. Citing examples of the Western countries and Africa, he generously praised India, and the successive governments for making wildlife conservation a huge success. Reminding that India has just 2.1 percent of land but roughly 18 percent of the world’s population, India has achieved a great success in managing to conserve its diverse fauna and flora and keep its protected forests intact to a great extent despite the huge challenges of rapidly growing human population. He credited this to the traditional Sanatan culture and the value system in the country, adding, “Bharat Ki Mitti Mein Jadoo Hai”.
Further reminding the audience that India is the only country where five species of big cats are found namely, the tiger, the lion, the leopard, the snow leopard and now the cheetah again. He asserted that Prime Minister Modi’s plan to bring back the Cheetah to Indian forests is a great idea and a sincere effort to correct the mistake of having extincted the Cheetah from Indian forests in the past. He said that the efforts to rehome cheetah are proving successful with 22 out of 32 cheetahs in India being born here itself. He added that Project Cheetah will also lead to conservation of other grassland species including the caracal, smaller antelopes, grey wolf and other smaller animals as there would be sincere effort to conserve them.
In response to a question by Ira Chauhan, Ray recounted his experience of setting up probably India’s only privately owned wildlife sanctuary called Sitabani in Kumaon area where he developed a barren land into a forest and water bodies through rainwater conservation and over a period of years, it is now frequented by tigers, antelopes and a wide range of wildlife. However, in response to a question, he said that he does not expect the example of Sitabani to be replicated across the country because the government itself has been doing great work in wildlife conservation. From just a handful of tiger reserves in the past, the total number of tiger reserves has gone up to more than 50 now.
On the request of Chauhan and the audience Ray also sang a song from the film Paan Singh Tomar (Directed by well known director Tigmanshu Dhulia) composed by him and described the song as the soul of the film.
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