More epic than the Odyssey (at least for me!), The Great Indian Safari takes us across India on a journey that’s anything but boring. Forget buses, guides, or maps—our leader is a sarcastic crow called Charred the Bard, who cracks jokes, rhymes, and poems while showing us the wild side of India. The poems are short but funny, and they leave you with a tiny picture in your head at the end of each chapter.
The first stop? Ranthambore National Park, where the tiger—India’s prince of stripes—rules. Sleek, quiet, and terrifyingly cool, these cats can weigh more than two-hundred kilos and live up to twenty years. Next, Charred takes us to Keoladeo National Park, home of the peacock: India’s ‘winged sweetheart’. Imagine a bird that can grow almost as tall as you (seven feet!) and still look glamorous in all those colours.
In Jim Corbett National Park, we meet the giant Asian elephant—gentle and wise; weighing up to four tons. But right behind him slithers danger: the King Cobra from Agumbe, a massive reptile that is eighteen-feet long and actually not true cobra (surprise!). Things get darker at the National Chambal Sanctuary, where the endangered gharial, with its long snout and sharp teeth, lurks in the water, threatened by ‘whoo-mans’ (as Charred likes to say).
From there we climb to the Himalayas and spot the shaggy brown bear, a seven-feet-tall hibernator who is cute from far away but not someone you would want as a neighbour. Then come the speedy hares, the gymnasts of the forest. In Kaziranga, we bump into the legendary one-horned rhinoceros—giant, tough, but oddly adorable. From tiny architects (termites in Mudumalai) to the enormous whale shark in Lakshadweep that can live for a hundred and thirty years and weigh twenty tons (!), the book introduces us to the smallest creatures and the biggest. Finally, in the Rann of Kutch, the Indian wild ass makes a dramatic dust-stormy exit before Charred the Bard leaves us with a farewell poem.
What I loved the most is that the book is easy to read yet never boring. The illustrations are bright and detailed, making the animals pop out like they’re alive. Fun facts and safari rules are sprinkled everywhere, and Charred’s jokes keep things light even when the facts are serious. For me, The Great Indian Safari is part comedy, part guidebook, and part adventure. Whether you’re an animal lover or just someone who likes stories that feel alive, this book is worth the ride.