Jungles can never run out of magic and awe for the so-called urban mind. The word “Jungle” itself gives most of us a tinkling sensation. Nonetheless, every tale of the Jungle we come across makes us yearn to know more about the mystic land and its dwellers. In India, the tiger, the national animal, rules as the King of the Jungle. Many authors have portrayed this beautiful animal relentlessly. Though a possible contender to the top seat, the Lion, occupies the Gir forest, it is the tiger that is popular among the writers. It could be the magnificent beauty of the animal or the noble behaviour of the majestic beast or even the beautiful locations where it is found that spurs the creativity of the authors. Whatever be the reason, it is the tiger that mostly inspires the jungle lore. Not to be left behind are the panthers, elephants, birds and snakes of the Indian forests. They have had their share of glory in the world of words. (I have not come across any book on the Indian or the Asiatic Lion or on other animals than the ones above listed. MS members are welcome to enlighten me on this.) Some well-known authors on Indian jungles and its animals are Jim Corbett, Kailash Sankhala, Kenneth Anderson, Ramesh Bedi, Salim Ali, Valmik Thapar and more. Their writings do not limit to just animals, adventure and actions, but cover a wider spectrum of issues. They deal with the beauty of the jungles, people living in the jungles, their lives, the visitors, conservation issues and much more. The book titled “Among Tigers and Tuskers” by Ramesh Bedi portrays the tigers and tuskers of the Himalayan Foothills, to be precise, the Jim Corbett Park. Ramesh Bedi is one of the pioneers of the wildlife conservation movement in India as well as a first generation writer on conservation in India. He has published some books in Hindi mainly for children. Well-known wildlife photographers and filmmakers, Rajesh and Naresh Bedi, are sons of Ramesh Bedi. Published under the Young India Library series of the National Book Trust or the NBT, the book is a slim volume. The series is targeted at the young readers of 18 plus age group to provide awareness on social, cultural, economic and political issues, choices and concepts. The book is very informative and throws light on the lifestyle and behaviour of the tigers and tuskers. The book also enlightens on how these two animals react when they come face to face in the jungle. But let me warn you in the beginning itself. If you are some one who has grown up on writings of Jim Corbett, you will find this book a bit too bumpy to read. The narration doesn’t flow well and the language sounds broken too. The lacklustre language is revealed in the titles given in the contents page. You wont find Corbett’s majestic titles like The Law of the Jungles, Life at Mokameh Ghat, Tree Tops, Jungle Lore, etc. Titles figuring in the book like The Frustrated Tigress, The Tiger land, Some Unnatural Deaths sound drab. The preface too disappoints. However, considering the fact that the book is intended generally to spread awareness on forests and animals, I guess we can ignore the shortcomings in the language. The plus points of the book are the photographs by Rajesh Bedi and Naresh Bedi as well as a much needed Glossary towards the end. Out of the nearly 116 pages, photographs take up a neat 16 pages and the glossary with illustrations runs 12 pages. Most of the chapters feature illustrations too. An excerpt, “The law of the jungle lays down that the deer and the tiger shall drink water from the same pool, but we humans, for all our culture and civilisation, have a different code, which make us baser and intrinsically less civilised human beings than the so-called savage animals of the jungle.” The book is heavy on knowledge side, though a bit light on the language side. So this should be reason enough to consider the book, especially if you haven’t read others on jungles. Other titles of Ramesh Bedi · Elephant Lord of the Jungle · India’s Wild Wonders (on photography co-authored with Rajesh Bedi) · Ashanfarosh Sherni (Hindi) · Tendve Ne Insaan Se Bacche Ko Pal Liya (Hindi) · Tendua or Cheetah (Hindi)