Journalism of Courage
It is often said that environmental awareness is best instilled in ones formative years. Eminent ecologist Dr Madhav Gadgil seeks to do just the same with his book and Pratham Books newest title Muchkund and His Sweet Tooth,a work in which Gadgil simplifies his field of expertise,ecology,into a simple tale based on mythology and folklore to sensitise children. The book was launched on Saturday at Balgandharv Rang Mandir. Gadgil read excerpts from his book.
Let me give you a background: my grand-daughters always ask me to come up with new bed-time stories and what I know thoroughly is animals and plants, says Gadgil,adding further So,I thought I must create a character who could be the protagonist of all my stories.
It was then that Gadgil conceptualised Muchkund. I wanted a character rooted in mythology,perhaps a spirit or a ghost,which could assume the form of any animal and consequently speak their language, says Gadgil,elucidating And once the character was set,I embarked on weaving stories based around it.
And thats how Muchkund and His Sweet Tooth was invoked and at the same time met by Pratham Books request for a childrens book. In our mythology,Lord Shiva is the lord of all ghosts and vetalas.
And in Marathi tradition you have different kind of ghosts,one of which ismunja,a ghost which is fond of travel; and Muchkund is a munja, said Gadgil.
It is in such a setting that the story unfolds. Muchkund enters the forest as a bear and obviously what bears enjoy the most is honey. And the bears plunder several beehives,which eventually leads to the near extinction of bees, reveals Gadgil,adding
That is when Muchkund,now a bear,mobilises all bears and points out the importance of the conservation of bees. The story later on tackles issues of man-made hazards to bees like coarse,harmful techniques of honey harvest which causes fatal harm to bee communities. And as we all know,several plants rely on bees for pollination. Muchkund and His Sweet Tooth is available in five languages including English,Marathi and Hindi.
