Dorje’s Stripes
by Anshumani Ruddra and illustrated by Gwangjo & Jung-A Park
Today (July 29) is International Tiger Day. “Dorje’s Stripes” by Anshumani Ruddra and illustrated by Gwangjo & Jung-A Park. Published by Karadi Tales. A poignant tale of conservation stressing the need to protect our tigers.
The story takes us to Tibet, Bengal and the heart of the Royal Bengal Tiger. Starting off in a small Buddhist monastery in Tibet surrounded by the Himalayas on one side and a vast forest on the other. The monks there had an unusual companion in the form of a Royal Bengal Tiger called Dorje. The most striking thing about him was the lack of stripes on his body. He had just two dark spots above his eyes which looked like brush strokes against his orange skin.
When Dorje first arrived at the monastery a few years ago, there were several stripes scattered across his body. But they all disappeared one by one in the next two years. One evening when the monks completed their prayers, they noticed that Master Wu and Dorje had come. What was surprising was that a black stripe was visible on Dorje’s back now. Everyone wanted to know what had caused the stripe to appear.
Master Wu had answers for all their questions. He narrated a story starting from the time Dorje had arrived to the monastery in a weak and tired condition. He had just completed an arduous journey all the way from Bengal. He was scared of humans and took a while to accept the monks as his friends. He had never seen compassionate humans before. He was in so much agony and pain. While he was tossing and turning in his sleep, Master Wu decided to enter his dreams and find out the reason of his trauma. The monks gasped as dream walking was sacred and done only in the direst and rarest of circumstances. What did he find in Dorje’s dreams? Why did Dorje leave Bengal? Where were his other friends and family? How did his stripes disappear? Answers to these questions are beautifully explained by Master Wu and tell us the hard hitting truth that Tigers need to be protected and why.
The beautiful illustrations showing the regality of the Tiger and the beautiful landscape of the regions that are in the story make a lasting impact. While the story narrates the tragedy of the tiger, there is a glimpse of hope that things will get better. Dorje must get his stripes back! All in all a must read for the children to bring about awareness about the need to stop poaching and importance of conservation of forests and wildlife. I have been reading this with my seven year old since he was four. The story has had quite an impact on him. Apt for 6/7+ year olds as it is quite text heavy.
A beautiful animation video made by the Karadi Tales team with excerpts from the book can be viewed below.
Where to buy from?
The publishers Karadi Tales here.
An independent indie bookstore, Funky Rainbow, from where I buy many of my books.