Story of Panna should go back to children of Panna: Writer at GLF

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Green Literature Festival 2022 was held at Bengaluru International Centre. It heralds the finest of Green Literature in India that glorifies environmental literature.

The event featured conferences with some of the proficient in India's environmental literature and filmmaking, workshops on nature writing and cartooning, and release of books on environment carefully chosen for all ages. Amidst multiple events taking place at the GLF one of the events was Peeyush Sekhsaria’s book for children ‘Our Tiger Returns’.

The session included Peeyush Sekhsaria speaking about its inception and how he wrote the book. Peeyush Sekhsaria began by giving a brief introduction of Panna Tiger Reserve to the gathering, as he went on elucidating on how incredible the landscapes of Panna are. Later, he shared an anecdote of his visit to the Reserve where he saw the celebration of tigers' birthday.

Speaking of his Panna Nature Camp experience he went on to narrate that there he met a very curious young girl he decided would be the main character of his book. Later at the same camp, he met Moorthy who again inspired a character with the same name in the book. This led to the book’s main idea, which is a conversation between the young Megha and the path director (Moorthy).

His journey of Our Tiger Returns began on a sad note as Panna Tiger Reserve was left with only one male tiger. They brought two tigresses from other places to Panna, naming them T1 and T2. Further, they got to know that the male tiger had left the reserve.

Another male tiger was brought to the Reserve, which they named T3. The wild cat began reorienting its new habitat. After assisting T3 meet up with one of the female tigers, and they mated. The tiger population in Panna has grown since. June 2022 National Tiger Congruent Authority census states that there are about 84-86 tigers today in Panna Tiger Reserve.

Peeyush concluded by saying, “Do look for the people's stories, as they are the true guardians of our heritage.” Peeyush idea of writing a book for children on tigers isn’t just incredible rather it is one of a kind that inspires millions to go further. Not only was the session interesting, it also furthered GLF’s aim to educate people of all ages and stand up for causes.