Post written in collaboration with the team at the Nature Conservation Foundation

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On 21 May, Endangered Species Day, StoryWeaver, in association with the Nature Conservation Foundation, is proud to present a new book for children on the most elusive cat in the world: the snow leopard. 

Our Encounter With a Snow Leopard is based on a real-life story written by writer Lobzang Le, who grew up in a remote village in Ladakh. One day when she takes her family’s livestock for grazing, she and her little brother come face to face with the elusive mountain cat - the snow leopard. 
In this blogpost, we speak to Lobzang, the author, and Tanushree Roy Paul, the artist who brought the story  to life.

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Conversation with Sherab Lobzang, the author

Sherab Lobzang grew up in Kumdok village in eastern Ladakh. It is a remote hamlet in Rong valley, approximately 110 km away from Leh. She did her Masters in Political Science from Jammu University. Since  her childhood, she was attracted to wildlife owing to her agro-pastoral family. She joined the Nature Conservation Foundation in November 2016. She looks after education related activities in the landscape and fieldwork. Lobzang enjoys her work as she believes wildlife conservation is essential for the communities.

Tell us about why you chose to write about the mountains and the snow leopard? What has been your inspiration behind the same?

I like the trans-Himalayan landscape and I love to explore these regions during my fieldwork. This is the reason I choose to write about it. My childhood experience connects a lot with my present work in conservation, which inspired me to write this story. 

My friends in my team helped me and motivated me to write this story. Special thanks to Munib, Ajay and Dorjay because they motivated me to write this. The idea of having this story in StoryWeaver was suggested by my colleague Shweta and Jignasa who work with the communications team of NCF

What is the message that you hope to share through these stories?

I just want children to be aware and be amazed by a landscape that lies on the fringe of India. Not many people know about the way of life of the people of Ladakh.

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Conversation with the illustrator, Tanushree Roy Paul

Tanushree Roy Paul is a Masters of Design graduate in Animation and Visual Studies from IDC, IIT Bombay. As a young artist, she created Illustrations for poetry of social protests and revolution and worked on sequential stories. She continued her visual arts journey by serving as an illustrator, graphic storyteller, photographer and animator to clients like Eklavya Publications, Resha by Medhavini, Farzidarzi, Ekamkaaya, Leafbird Foundation, TBS planet and Pratilipi, to name a few. She had served as an avid academician for the past 4 years guiding the young creatives in the field of Animation and Design and is currently administering her multifaceted art and design studio: The Kairos Pictures.

What did you like most about doing artwork for this book?

I believe I am one of those foot soldiers whose work had been mostly on and about documenting through visual tools, the biodiversity, ecosystems, the life around us in general. Being an academician, it has always been on my radar to educate the young thinkers and creators on environmental issues. Hence, it was obvious for me to work on this book.

What is special about drawing snow leopards?

What wowed me about this project was an opportunity to highlight an endangered majestic being and the book being a part of its conservation drive. Personally, I got a chance to know about the hardships of life at an altitude where these Phantoms of the Himalayas survive and thrive. In simple terms, the research process while developing the book had been thrilling.

How connected are you with nature? Were you able to draw inspiration from your connection with nature into the book?

According to my observation, I have witnessed artists or creative folks in general have a propensity to love, admire, adapt and work towards the conservation of the environment, our nature. I have had an intense inclination towards our environment since my childhood, and believe that being an artist is a by-product of that inclination.

I certainly got an opportunity to out-pour what I stored for a few years now since my several visits to different regions of Himalaya, this is the first story that I am illustrating related to the Himalayan ecosystem.

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Read Our Encounter With a Snow Leopard - written by Lobzang Le, illustrated by Tanushree Roy Paul, and published by the Nature Conservation Foundation - for free on StoryWeaver. 

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Every year, the entire Pratham Books family (including our lovely community) gears up for the biggest celebration of the year – our ‘One Day, One Story' campaign. Celebrated on the occasion of International Literacy Day every year, the campaign aims to take stories to as many children possible on a single day throughout the country (and beyond!)

This initiative is part of the Pratham Books' Champions program where we encourage our community of volunteers to conduct reading sessions. These sessions are conducted free of cost and mostly with children from under-served communities. The Pratham Books' Champions program is a one-of its kind volunteer program that has scaled to a national & international level with more and more volunteers joining in each year. For this year’s edition of ‘One Day One Story’, volunteers from Oracle Bangalore joined us to take stories into classrooms, thanks to our partners Mantra4Change.

On the bright morning of September 10th, about eight volunteers from Oracle’s Bangalore facility reached the Nirmal Vidyalaya on Hosa Road.  The school had an ongoing Teacher’s Day celebration which included dances and skits put up by students, a friendly cricket match between students and teachers and of course our storytelling sessions ☺ The volunteers divided themselves in six groups and headed to groups of children from Grades 4th, 5th and 6th.  The story of 'The Elephant Bird'  by Arefa Tehsin, Sonal Goyal and Sumit Sakhuja enthralled children of Grade 5 as they wondered if brave Munia could save the giant bird! In the Grade 4 classroom, children were actively participating in identifying the different seeds they find in the fruits they eat as they went on a seed collecting journey with Tooka, Poi and Inji in 'Let's Go Seed Collecting' by Neha Sumitran and Archana Sreenivasan. In Grade 6, the children kept interrupting volunteer Senthil to confirm and re-confirm if Jadav ‘Mulai’ Payeng in 'Jadav and the Tree-Place' by Vinayak Varma is a real man who actually built an entire forest on his own. The story telling sessions were followed by impromptu singing sessions, chit-chat with the students and a lot of idea and noise exchange!

Here is a short video that captures the day that features

Hear Khushboo Awasthi, Co-Founder of our partner organisation Mantra4Change talking about the importance of such sessions for the children underlining the exposure the corporate volunteers bring into classrooms.

 

Meet Sandhya, a first time storytelling volunteer from Oracle and her experience with the One Day One Story event. –

Our sincere thanks to all the volunteers from Oracle, children and teachers of Nirmala Vidyalaya and the Mantra4Change team in making this session memorable!

Together we can take a story to every child in every corner of the country.

Here are a few pics from the event. 

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Kumarika Mohanty is an Electrical Engineer and an Infosys staffer. She loves writing about causes that are close to her heart. She is very passionate about her mother tongue Odia and believes in making good use of  Social Media channels to do her bit in propagating the use of Odia by the people who speak the language. 

Here, she writes about Indic language software and tools, and how they have helped her work as a translator. You can read this post in English, here. 

ମୁଁ ଓଡ଼ିଆ fonts ପ୍ରଥମ ଥର 1997  ରେ କମ୍ପ୍ୟୁଟର ସ୍କ୍ରିନ ରେ ଦେଖିବାକୁ ପାଇଥିଲି |ମୋ ବାପା ପୁନେ ରୁ ଶ୍ରୀଲିପି ଓଡ଼ିଆ ସଫ୍ଟୱେରକିଣି କି ଆଣି ଥିଲେ | ଯଦିଓ ସେ ଇଂରାଜୀ କିବୋର୍ଡ଼ ରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଅକ୍ଷର ଖୁବ ଦକ୍ଷତା ସହ ଆଜି ଯାଏଁ ଟାଇପ କରନ୍ତି, ଯେଉଁପ୍ରକାଶକ ମାନଙ୍କ ପାଖରେ ଏହି ସଫ୍ଟୱେର ନଥାଏ, ତାଙ୍କୁ ଲେଖା ଗୁଡିକ ଦେବାରେ ବହୁତ ଅସୁବିଧା ହୋଇ ଥାଏ | ଲେଖା ଗୁଡ଼ିକଆଗ ପ୍ରିଣ୍ଟ କରି ପୁଣି ଥରେ ଟାଇପ କର ଯାଇ ଥାଏ |

କିଛି ବର୍ଷ ପୂର୍ବେ ୟୁନିକୋଡ ଫଣ୍ଟ ରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଲେଖା ଟାଇପ କରିବାର ସୁବିଧା ଥିବାର ଜାଣି ଖୁବ ଭଲ ଲାଗିଲା | ୟୁନିକୋଡ ରେଭାରତୀୟ ଭାଷା ଲେଖା ଯିବାର ସୁବିଧା ଏକ ପ୍ରକାର ବରଦାନ ସ୍ୱରୂପ | ଏବେ ବିଶ୍ୱ ସାରା ଭାରତୀୟ ଲେଖା ଅତି ସହଜ ରେପଠା ଯାଇ ପାରିବ | ସୋସିଆଲ ନେଟୱର୍କିଙ୍ଗ ର ଚାହିଦା ଏବେ ବଢ଼ିଛି ଏବଂ ଭାରତୀୟ ଭାଷା କୁ ଏହା ମାଧ୍ୟମ ରେ ବହୁତପ୍ରୋତ୍ସାହନ ମିଳୁଛି | ମୁଁ ମୋ Windows ଫୋନ ରେ "Type Odia" ନାମକ ଏକ ଆପ ଇଂସ୍ଟଲ କରିଛି  | ଏହାକୁ ବ୍ୟବହାର କରି ମୁଁଟ୍ୱିଟର ଓ ଫେସବୁକ ଦ୍ୱାରା ଅଗଣିତ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ମାନଙ୍କ ସହ ମୁଁ ଯୋଗାଯୋଗ କରି ପାରୁଛି | @nidhi_budha, @wearebbsr, @BBSRBuzz, @akala_kushmanda ପରି କିଛି ଟ୍ୱିଟର handle ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଓ ଓଡ଼ିଶା ବିଷୟରେ ଭଲ ତଥ୍ୟ ଟୁଇଟ କରନ୍ତି| କେତେକ ବ୍ଲଗ ମଧ୍ୟ ଅଛି ଯାହା ମୁଁ ସମୟ ସମୟରେ ପଢ଼ି ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଓ ଓଡ଼ିଶା ବିଷୟରେ ବହୁତ କଥା ଜାଣିବାକୁ ପାଇଥାଏ, ଯେପରି-https://akalakushmaanda.wordpress.com/ , http://www.ameodia.com/ and http://www.bhubaneswarbuzz.com/ 

                                               

ଗତବର୍ଷ ମୁଁ Pratham Books ସହ କାମ କରିବାର ସୁଯୋଗ ପାଇଲି ଓ ଦୁଇଟି ଅନଲାଇନ ଏଡିଟର ସାହାଯ୍ୟ ରେ ପୁସ୍ତକଅନୁବାଦ ଓ Proof Reading କରୁଥିଲି - Branah (https://www.branah.com/oriya) ଓ  Tamilcube (http://tamilcube.com/oriya/). ଦୁଇଟି ଏଡିଟର ଏଥିପାଇଁ କାରଣ ମତେ ଯୁକ୍ତାକ୍ଷର ଗୁଡିକ ରେ ଅସୁବିଧା ହେଉ ଥିଲା| Pratham Books ର ମେନକା ରମଣ ଙ୍କୁ  ମୁଁ ଧନ୍ୟବାଦ ଜଣାଉଛି କାରଣ ସେ ମତେ Google Input Tools  ବିଷୟ ରେଅବଗତ କରାଇଲେ | ଏହା ଉପଯୋଗ କରି ଖୁବ ସରଳ ରୂପେ ସୁବିଧା ରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ୟୁନିକୋଡ ରେ ମୁଁ ଟାଇପ କରି ପାରୁଛି | ଏହାର ଉପଯୋଗ ରେ ବନାନ ରେ ତ୍ରୁଟି କରିବାର ସମ୍ଭାବନା ଖୁବ କମ ରହୁଛି |

କିଛି  ଦିନ ପୂର୍ବେ ମୁଁ ଏକ ଉଇକିପିଡିଆ ର ନିର୍ଦେଶ ପୁସ୍ତିକା କୁ ଇଂରାଜୀ ରୁ ଓଡ଼ିଆ କୁ ଅନୁବାଦ କରୁ ଥିଲି | ସେଥିରେ ମୁଁ ଜାଣିବାକୁପାଇଲି ଯେ MediaWiki ନାମରେ ଏକ ଅନଲାଇନ ଅନୁବାଦ କରିବା ଉପକରଣ ଅଛି | ମୁଁ ଏ ଯାଏଁ  ତାହା ବ୍ୟବହାର କରିନାହିଁମାତ୍ର ଏତିକି ଜାଣିବାକୁ ପାଇଲି ଯେ ସେଥିରେ ଛୋଟ ଛୋଟ ବାକ୍ୟ ଅନୁବାଦ କରାଯାଇ ପରେ |ଅନୁବାଦକ ମାନଙ୍କ ପାଇଁ ଏହିଅନଲାଇନ ଉପକରଣ ବହୁତ ଉପଯୋଗୀ ହେବ | 

ଓଡ଼ିଆ ୟୁନିକୋଡ ପାଇଁ ଆଜିକାଲି ବହୁତ ଗୁଡିଏ ସଫ୍ଟୱେର, ଅନଲାଇନ ଉପକରଣ ଓ ଆପ୍ପ ଆସିଲାଣି | ଏହି ଲିଙ୍କ ରେସେଗୁଡିକ ରୁ କିଛି କିଛି ଲେଖା ହୋଇଛି - http://odia.odisha.gov.in/it-tool-for-viewing-odia-in-browser.html

You can read some of Kumarika's translations to Odia on StoryWeaver here and you can follow her on Twitter @kumariika

Do you have a favourite software on online tool for translation? Tweet us @pbstoryweaver or write to us [email protected] and tell us what it is! 

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