Animals and friends
PAROMITA PAIN
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Stories about animals as they want to be and naturally are.
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If someone told you "there's a cobra in my kitchen" what would you do? For all those who screech, run away, Zai Whitaker's Cobra in my Kitchen: Stories, poems and prose pieces is a must read.
Like books written by people who love animals and understand them and continue to love and understand them after skirmishes, nasty or otherwise, this doesn't preach that nature is good, so love it.
Instead through telling examples conveyed through interesting instances it explains why certain ecosystems must be protected and tribes left alone. Rich in anecdotal evidence, most of the book is set in the Madras Croc Bank.
A most engaging read since the animals are an active part of the stories in the book, the author is careful never to humanise them.
Rather in the tradition of Gerald Durrell, the animals are as they are — angry or dangerous, frightened or disturbed, exactly as they want to be and naturally are.
Clearing misconceptions about snakes, the book also aims to create an interest in the natural history of the country, which is, as we know "fascinating, strange, and fast disappearing".
Cobra in my Kitchen: Stories, poems and prose pieces, by Zai Whitaker, Rupa & Co
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