"Raanmitra (रानमित्र)", a Marathi book by Padmashree Dr. Prakash Amte (डॉ. प्रकाश आमटे). This book is published by Samakalin Prakashan (समकालीन प्रकाशन) in 2013 and has 117 pages.
Dr. Prakash Amte, based in Hemalkasa (हेमलकसा), is well known for his social work for the upliftment of Aadivasis (आदिवासी) of eastern Maharashtra. His work for improving the hygiene, quality of life and education of the of native tribes is unparalleled. However he is also known for his love of wild animals. He runs an orphanage for younglings of wild animals. This book is about his experiences with these animals, how it started and his observations. The book also contains lot of photos of these animals.
Author has very tender feelings towards these animals. Most of them were either brought to Hemalkasa as baby orphans or were born in the orphanage. He and his colleagues have raised them with great love and affection and the animals have reciprocated. He talks about his first guests -monkeys (माकड) and has dedicated a chapter each for leopards (बिबट्या), lion (सिंह), bears(अस्वल), snakes (सर्प) and a chapter for crocodiles (मगर), foxes (कोल्हे), wolves (लांडगे), hyenas (तरस) etc.
All these animals were raised like their own children rather than pets. Sometimes they have even injured him, but not with the intention to harm but as their way of demonstrating their love. The only feeling that author has for the animals is empathy and love. The book is sprinkled with photographs of animals. The paper quality used for this book is also superior, probably with the intention of making it a collectors item.
Author has also busted a number of myths in the book. Bears like rice with milk. They are possessive. A lion and a leopard share a female leopard for mating. Swallowing tobacco kills snakes (poisonous as well as non poisonous) within minutes. Python never swallows any animal alive, it swallows after killing. Crocodile is not cruel and does not drag man in water and swallow. Fox never eats animal killed by someone else. The book is informative and entertaining at the same time. Success of the book is that, readers feel urge of visiting Hemalkasa.
What could have been better? Photo quality. It is not professional quality. It should have been better. The photos should have been annotated or atleast titled. It would have been easier to correlate to relevant text easily.
The length of book is just right. Shorter and it would have looked like pamphlet or booklet. Any longer and it would have appeared stretched.
A good book. Recommend reading.
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