Tiger conservation and environmental wellbeing. Not many of us think of these two very important ecological conversation. Author journalist Gargi Rawat book brings her attention to these topics with a debut book, Tiger season and that's what we will be discussing in this hello bookworms, I'm Siddhi aka book Cobbler and welcome to my swellcast. Gargi Ravat is a senior news anchor and environment reporter who has worked with tv 24/7 for the last two decades and Tiger season is her first book to give you a glimpse of the story
Siddhi Palande
@Book_gobbler · 1:27
I'd like to know and as aspiring author wanting to publish, their books often go for genres that are much popular, like romance or thriller. However, tiger season, amalgams, ecology and bollywood. So why did you decide to pick this genre
gargi rawat
@GargiRawat27 · 3:05
It is the villagers who are living next to the tiger parks who have to bear a lot of the brunt of our love for the animal. And there's conflict there. Their livestock gets picked up, sometimes they're attacked, their women go to cut grass and sometimes they're attacked. So there are all sorts of things that happen and one wants to ensure that holistically, conservation, everybody is happy with and supporting it
Swell Team
@Swell · 0:15
Siddhi Palande
@Book_gobbler · 0:13
So, Sunayana, the main character of your book, and you both are journalists. So is the story of Tiger season inspired by your personal experiences? When did you decide to pen this book and what was the motivation behind it?
gargi rawat
@GargiRawat27 · 2:30
Pothole stories, school schedule stories, the usual sort of city, water shortage, traffic, et cetera, et cetera. But then occasionally also get to report something that is a part of your passion. And like Sunena, I guess I also got into journalism because I was also very interested in environment, in wildlife. That was really what motivated me. I was actually an economics student in college. I was at St. Stephen's
Siddhi Palande
@Book_gobbler · 0:12
Since you've worked on several documentaries and wildlife related programs, did you already have ample research ready for the book? What was the research process like and how much time and research has gone into the book?
gargi rawat
@GargiRawat27 · 4:21
And there's a b incident in my book which actually did happen with Manish Paul when we were on the shoot. So I did have various experiences. I didn't have to research so much because a lot of the research we used to do in the course of our reporting, in the course of our campaigns. So it was fun actually putting all that down and wondering how people will receive it and whether it'll make it more interesting, whether they'd enjoy that
Siddhi Palande
@Book_gobbler · 0:15
During the writing and research process, you might have come across things that seem challenging and surprised you too. Could you share the facts with us visa vis Tiger conservation, which not many of us know about, that are surprising as well as challenging?
gargi rawat
@GargiRawat27 · 5:00
So, during the research for my book and when I was writing it, it's about this park called Chambalgarh, which is loosely based on Ranthambor Bandhavgarh. And it has the tigers. And especially in Ranthambor and Bandhavgarh, a lot of the tigers have become very famous. They have names and they have lore. Right now, in Tadoba, also, there are tigers who are very famous. And so there are all these stories around them
Siddhi Palande
@Book_gobbler · 0:14
So I recently read a news that we have fairly succeeded in saving tigers, but it gets quite challenging ahead. What do you think are major measures that ought to be taken in order to maintain ecological semblance and conserve tigers?
gargi rawat
@GargiRawat27 · 3:29
If they do move to an area where they're killing cows or goats, then the forest department or the local conservationist activists must make sure they move in fast and help the local population with that loss of livestock. Because it may not mean so much to us to lose a goat or a cow or whatever it is, but it means a huge deal for these people. They're very poor, many of them who live in these parks and around these parks who live in the villages
Siddhi Palande
@Book_gobbler · 0:16
You have helmed several environmental campaigns for NDTV. During the making of these campaigns and documentaries, what are the general thoughts of the citizens? How do they look at bringing environmental semblance in both rural as well as urban area? What's the mentality of public
gargi rawat
@GargiRawat27 · 1:39
So, yes, we did do several campaigns at NDTV, be it save our tigers. We did save India's coastline, where we try to highlight the dangers to the coast and how beaches are disappearing if you do too much construction near the coastline. We did the greenathon, which was to generally talk about climate change and saving energy and methods that we could go green. So, yes, at NDTV, I've had a great time doing all these campaigns. And then citizens have been very positive
Siddhi Palande
@Book_gobbler · 0:13
With Tiger season, you've surely set out with an objective in mind, which is to create more awareness about the cause of tiger conservation. So I'd like to know if you've heard from your readers, and how has the feedback been so far?
gargi rawat
@GargiRawat27 · 2:15
You. So, yes, I did write this book to create more awareness. As I said, I wrote it. I wanted people to understand from the perspective of a reporter, from the perspective of the forest department and villagers. So while many people love tigers going to parks, they don't think of it from the other side, what the other person is going through. And I wanted to bring that out
Siddhi Palande
@Book_gobbler · 0:17
So this is my last question for the session. With a book like tiger season, we hope people understand the importance of wildlife and the need for going ecofriendly. However, what are your expectations from your readers, and what is it that you'd want your readers to take away from the book?
gargi rawat
@GargiRawat27 · 3:38
If the media knows but the public doesn't care, they're not going to report so much on it, sadly. And that's as news channels or news platforms, that's how it is. If you're going to be clicking more on news items that are on frivolous issues, rather than also seeing what matters, seeing the news items that talk about very important things, that's the responsibility you also have as viewers, as readers, as those who consume news online
