Teesta Review: A Journal of Poetry, Volume 5, Number 1. May 2022. ISSN: 2581-7094
Interview with Ranjit Lal – Nature writer for children
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| Photo:
Ranjit Lal Courtesy: Speaking Tiger YA |
“Ranjit Lal is the author of over
forty-five books—fiction and non-fiction—for children and adults who are
children. His abiding interest in natural history, birds, animals and insects
is reflected in many of his books: The Little Ninja Sparrows, The
Crow Chronicles, The Life and Times of Altu Faltu, The
Small Tigers of Shergarh, The Birds of Delhi, The
Tigers of Taboo Valley and others. His other books with social themes
include The Hidden Palace Adventure, Faces in the Water, Our
Nana Was a Nutcase, Owlet, Not Out and The Battle
for No. 19. He enjoys photography, reading and cooking. He lives in Delhi”
(Publisher: Speaking Tiger YA, while announcing the launch of Ranjit Lal’s What Lies Between Two Hearts? | Fiction for Children/Young Adults | Mar 2022).
About Atreya Sarma U
Atreya Sarma U, Editor of the Special Feature “Animal Poetics is Chief Editor of Muse India, an online English literary journal.
ATREYA
SARMA U (ATREYA): It’s said that you have written a number of books on the
animal welfare? Can you enumerate them and brief us about the thematic
distinctions of those books? And how have such books of yours been received?
RANJIT
LAL (RANJIT): I don't quite know what you mean
by 'animal welfare', but I write about animals/birds/insects a lot in,
especially about their quirky habits/lifestyles, to get readers (of all ages
but especially children aged 10 to 100 year) interested. Most of my books (45
so far) have animals/birds/insects in them, even those devoted to 'social
themes'.
ATREYA:
How have you got interested in animals and animal welfare?
RANJIT:
Got interested simply by being allowed to roam free in large gardens when I was
a child. (There were no electronic gadgets to distract you then)
ATREYA:
How many forests you have visited in India or abroad? What are your
impressions?
RANJIT:
Haven't counted them, but certainly not enough!
ATREYA:
How exactly are you contributing to animal welfare? Either through any NGO or
as an individual? Can you elaborate on such activities?
RANJIT:
Was a member of an NGO a while back, but no longer. I 'contribute' by
continuing to write about these creatures.
ATREYA:
There appears to be an increased public awareness on the need to protect the
natural resources and the flora and the fauna which are an inseparable part of
them. How far is that awareness concretising into action?
RANJIT:
It's good that more people are becoming interested - because that ensures more
protection - but there are too many idiots out there who want to take selfies
with tigers and are not interested in seeing anything but megafauna.
ATREYA:
What are the factors that are depleting the habitats and the population of the
animals in our country? And how to counter them?
RANJIT:
Population pressure and government policies and dilution of environment
protection laws. National parks and sanctuaries should be treated as sacrosanct
areas, and remain untouched: No mining, tunnelling, expressways etc running
through them or near them. A road in a national park spells disaster for the
animals. Apart from this there is increasing fragmentation of forests, and
illegal poaching of flora and fauna and the illegal wildlife trade.
ATREYA:
What adverse effects will depletion of animals have on human life?
RANJIT:
Life wouldn't really be worth living. Apart from the fact that it is all the
other animals/birds/insects/flora that are running Earth's systems - not us.
They collapse, the whole system goes down (as we are beginning to see with
climate change).
ATREYA:
There is a snowballing fad of having foreign breeds as pets, dismissing our
indigenous ones as pariahs? How do you view this?
RANJIT:
I think the fad is moving in the opposite direction now: 'Indies' (Pariahs) are
becoming the dogs to have - especially amongst high society (a kind of reverse
snobbery)! There is nothing wrong with keeping 'highly pedigreed' pets, which
have been bred for a purpose (Labradors are family dogs, German shepherds are
guards etc) provided the breeder's credentials are impeccable. Too often, these
pedigreed pups come from awful 'puppy farms' and are horribly inbred leading to
all sorts of issues. Also, the breed must be able to adjust to the conditions
in the country: keeping huskies or St Bernards in Delhi is stupid and cruel, as
is keeping a Great Dane in a flat in Mumbai! Among too many, their pedigreed
pet is just a status symbol: this has become a rage in the west, with teacup
sized poodles and hand-bag pugs etc...
ATREYA:
What would be the animal scenario in a century from now in our country, in your
view?
RANJIT:
I have no idea.
ATREYA: Anything else on this subject, would you like to speak?
RANJIT: Children need to get out more - to run around outdoors more, to climb trees, to go on hikes and treks, nature walks – and spend less time with their smartphones and laptops.