Journalist turned author Gargi Rawat's book is a rom-com set in a Tiger reserve

After two decades in television news, journalist Gargi Rawat was keen to do something more. She always wanted to write, and one incident triggered her and pushed her to cross the Rubicon.

In 2015, a popular tiger, Ustad, or T24, was removed from Ranthambore National Park after it killed a forest guard. It was reportedly the second forest department personnel killed by the same tiger. But the whole matter became highly controversial after the tiger was shifted to a zoo, with a ‘Save Ustad’ movement taking off online and even on the ground, with candlelight vigils being held as far away as Bengaluru.

Rawat recalls, “While love for tigers is wonderful, there was an absolute lack of sympathy or understanding for the Forest Department that astounded me. People who lived in cities and spent a few days of the year watching tigers from jeeps were absolutely adamant that T-24 or Ustad should not be ‘punished’ and it was the Forest Guard’s fault.”

While people were passionate about a tiger and, at the same time, had no regard for the forest guards who walked the park armed with just a lathi, Rawat did a half-hour show on the issue at the time, with interviews with respected tiger conservationists and scientists who supported the removal of Ustad in the greater interest of conservation and for the welfare of the other tigers in the park.

After that show aired, Rawat found herself attacked on social media. It was a very contentious issue at the time, and the journalist was keen to highlight it in a book. The result is Tiger Season, her debut book, which is a rom-com set against the backdrop of Tiger conversation.

Rawat has done several documentaries and environment programs, including the first ever news show on wildlife in India, Born Wild, and has been in charge of several environment campaigns by NDTV. She dipped into her rich on-the-field experience, which is evident in the descriptive nature of the book.

A DREAM DEBUT

Rawat had a desire to write a book for years. She says, “There were so many experiences I’d had as a journalist, reporting on wildlife and conservation, that I wanted to convey to people who are not in that space and create some understanding. I had thought that a fiction book would be a good way to do it. But somehow, between work and family, the years went by, and I just could not get down to it.”

She finally started writing out a structure before COVID struck, and she did most of her writing during the COVID years, where she juggled work with writing. “The work did not stop for us in the news, and sometimes it felt like we were doing even more than normal. But somehow, I managed to find the time, and little by little, the novel took shape,” she smiles.

Through her characters, Sunaina Joshi, a wildlife and environment reporter; hotelier Devraj Singh Rathore; and Vikram Khanna, a Bollywood star, the author crafts a story that combines conservation, romance, and social media outrage. The writing is pacy, and the narrative chugs along easily, keeping the reader hooked. Most first books are touted widely as being autobiographical, but Rawat says that while some incidents definitely are, the broader story is fiction.

As a journalist with a rich history of reporting, Rawat used several experiences from her career in the story. She explains, “There is a bee attack incident in the book that actually happened with actor Maniesh Paul. There’s a tiger spotting competition in the book that we filmed during NDTV’s Save Our Tigers campaign, with Dia Mirza and Purab Kohli. I had interviewed a forest ranger who had been attacked by a tiger, and his account stayed with me. Much of the stress and joy of filming tigers is also very much from my experiences.”

REEL AND REAL

At the heart of the story is a tiger reserve and conservation. As someone who has inside knowledge of both, Rawat uses her experience as an asset.

“When NDTV 24X7 first launched in 2005, I got to work on the first purely wildlife news television show called Born Wild and anchored its Hindi version, Safari India. It was the best experience traveling across the country, documenting wildlife and sanctuaries. Then we had a very popular Save Our Tigers campaign for several years,” she reveals.

The only hindrance was that, after years of writing for television, where one tries to be as succinct as possible, suddenly writing expansively was challenging. Where she succeeds is that the book has a good hook that entices the reader to read on. It’s a simple story told well, which is its biggest draw. The fact that the book also deals with issues of the day — social media, hashtags, and sustainable conservation, too — strikes a chord.

The book was not without its challenges for the author. She nods and adds, “Second-guessing my work and dealing with writers block (at times) were very challenging. As I mentioned earlier, I only had experience in television writing. Writing a novel was a big change. But one I enjoyed greatly.”

Writing more is definitely on Rawat’s radar. “I’ve already been asked about Sunaina and Devraj’s next adventure. Also, maybe about my experiences in television news in the country,” she muses. After all, she’s had a ringside view of how it evolved over the last two decades!

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