Animalia Indica is a collection of animal stories from Indian literature, compiled by Sumana Roy. These are some of the finest animal stories from Indian literature, with stories translated from various regional languages and some in English. The stories are by Rudyard Kipling, Premchand, Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, Ruskin Bond, to name a few Indian literary giants.
This collection includes stories such as mongoose and snake, the one with crocodile and monkey which we enjoyed as children and which are just as entertaining to read as an adult. After the first familiar story of mongoose and snake the next tale is by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay about a bull called Mahesh and this story comes across as a tragic shock after the fun story of mongoose and snake. Each of the stories in this collection features a gamut of animals as protagonists ranging from the humble bullocks, to snakes, tiger, hyenas, goats, bulbuls, elephant and crows. My favorite story was The Last Tiger by Ruskin Bond, which talks about the effects of deforestation, but still ends in hope and makes you feel good. The other story that touched me was about a pregnant herd animal called Putali who gets separated from her herd and goes into labor alone during a stormy rainy evening. These stories touch a chord inside you, showing you the vulnerability of being an animal. They also remind you that as a human you are guilty of hurting these animals on so many levels.
Lastly I have to mention that the introduction is superb and the notes in the end are a nice touch because it always helps to know a little more about the story, the authors and the translators. As Sumana Roy reminds us in the introduction – these stories remind us the joy of being human – for the pleasure of reading these stories is a uniquely human delight.
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