By Moushmi Krishnan

BIRLA
OPEN MINDS

Designed & Conceptualised By

BIRLA OPEN MINDS LIMITED

st
1 Floor, Dalamal House, J. B. Marg, Nariman Point, Mumbai 400021
www.birlaopenminds.com

Illustrations (excluding cover page) courtesy: Instagram page - mymollem.goa

Cover Page Painting by – Moushmi Krishnan

The need to include a novel was felt when we realised that sustained reading
habits are declining amongst today’s students. Building literacy skills
through sustained reading is the first step to raising lifelong readers. To
catch them young was the motto and hence the inclusion of the reader -
‘Rumi to the rescue’.

As an effort to raise awareness around environmental issues, a good place to

start is by including lessons about the environment in day-to-day teaching -
learning, and what better way to learn than from stories! ‘Rumi to the
rescue’ is an endeavor to encourage young people to engage with their
environment and protect it.

Human–wildlife conflict is the main theme of this story. The reason for
inculcating an ‘environmental fiction’ was the need of the hour and we
wanted our little readers to be aware that animals and the natural
environment are struggling due to human actions. We feel that more than
ever, now’s the time that everyone needs to become aware, change their
habits and take action to save Mother Earth.

A unique wildlife and nature conservation story, told from the animals’ point
of view, ‘Rumi to the rescue!’ is a cry to awaken people to the various issues
that environmental heroes are fighting right now.

Hopefully, readers will want to take further steps by studying these

important issues more and then choosing positive actions based on their new
knowledge. The story's main characters honour young environmental
activists, campaigns and indigenous tribes.

Well, can one story save the Earth? It is up to you after all!
Little Billu was always running around flashing his stripes and

his canines, trying to terrify little animals. He particularly

enjoyed playing pranks and startling squirrels and pangolins

who would be stopped in the way by Billu, threatening to eat

them. But soon they realised that Billu was harmless and so

started enjoying the game where he chased them around and

they ran acting scared.

The forest was home to so many of his friends and the one

Billu loved most was Rumi. Rumi lived in the little house at the

edge of the hill with her parents in a small little hut which

looked like an upside-down hat.

Billu and Rumi would spend hours together in each other’s

company. They romped the forest and knew every nook and

corner, every bird and beast, every little stream and shrub in

‘Rainbow Land’, the forest which they called home! Rumi and

Billu had endless adventures in Rainbow Land.

Rainbow land was home to a wide variety of flora and fauna.

Insects, birds, animals on land, those in water, you name it and

there they were. All living together in harmony.

Rumi grew up with her animal friends and was especially fond

of Billu as they were of the same age and both loved having

adventures and enjoyed running around the forest all day long.

One day on one such adventure, Billu and Rumi wandered to

the edge of the forest. They had never strayed so far off and

were thrilled and excited. The air here was different. It had

a distinct smell of smoke and dust. Also, there were fewer

trees!

Billu announced, “I don’t like this place! It is not as beautiful

as in Rainbow Land. Don’t you agree Rumi?”

But something had caught Rumi’s attention and suddenly she

felt a wave of fear rise in her spine.

Rumi knew exactly what was happening!

When she was a little baby, the same kind of men had

destroyed their home and cleared off a huge part of the

forest. Rumi and her parents had to leave the place and come

live deeper into Rainbow Land.

Billu, who till then was just wonder stuck looking at the huge

machines and so many humans, ran back to Rumi and asked,

“Why Rumi, what happened? Why do you look so worried?”

Rumi could not control her emotions; she burst out sobbing

and told Billu, “Billu, we need to save our Rainbow Land before

these buffoons destroy it.”

Hearing her sobs Willi the woodpecker tumbled from a branch
up above and asked, “Well hello dear Rumi, why are you
sobbing?”

A few ants who were going about their business also stopped
in their path and joined in.

Up on the peepal tree were a family of grey langurs watching

intently. Golu the little grey langur clung on to a branch and
seemed very disturbed.

A bear came tumbling by and stopped on his way to check out

what was going on.

Wanda the wild boar stopped digging dirt with her tusks and
came trudging by.

Far down the valley, the tractors and the cranes and
bulldozers kept humming and digging and chopping.

Rumi decided she had to do something before it was too late.

That night, Rumi could not sleep. She kept thinking about how
she will stop those monstrous machines and those careless
humans from entering Rainbow Land.

She twisted and turned in her bed and felt helpless and small.
She wondered what a little girl like herself could do to stop
this calamity. That is when she saw a pair of eyes staring at
her from under the logs in her yard.
She jumped out of her bed and ran out.

Peeping at her from below the log was Porky the porcupine.

Porky too had seen the yellow giants at the edge of the forest
and wanted to do something to help.

Porky squeaked, “Rumi, last night I had gone down to the

village in search of food and accidentally heard these humans
talk about chopping down our home and flattening it to make
buildings.”

Porky was trembling with fear and Rumi tried to calm him by
petting his back and getting poked in return.

“Rumi, Rumi, Rumi” a voice echoed from the forest and soon
she could see Billu and his gang of friends walking down to her
house.
Now there were quite a few of them assembled around Rumi,
looking eagerly at her as if she had a solution and would
announce right away and save each one of them. Rumi felt
under pressure and all the longing eyes fixed on her made her
feel like she was the hero they needed.
The animals, after a while, started chatting and sharing their
fears and hopes with each other.

Rontu the rat said, “Like it was not enough that these humans

keep feeding poison to my fellow rats living in villages, now

they want to take over our forest and kill us too!”

Machhli the fish hollered from the pond nearby, “Don’t even

get me started. These humans have been poisoning the lakes

and rivers near their homes and we had to run for our lives.

Just when we thought we were safe, they come here too?”

Montu the buffalo did not stay silent either. He quipped, “Yes

these humans are heartless. They did not let me eat bananas

once when I had ventured down to their village. They shooed

me away like I was some monster. Look at my cute face. Do I

even look like a monster?”

That is when Jaggu the leopard said, “Last night I strayed

into the village to see what these humans were up to and you

should have seen the scene that followed.”

“The humans ran helter-skelter on seeing me. One fellow

jumped up a wall and fell right into a ditch. And one woman

screamed so hard that she woke the entire village and then

there was mayhem.”

Jaggu could not control his laughter. He laughed and laughed

till tears rolled down his eyes. He said, “I was just passing by

meaning to do no harm to anyone.”

Rumi heard this and a bright idea popped up in her head.

She ran and stood on a rock and announced, “Hey friends, I

have a plan.”
She said, “These humans may act like they are strong when
they meet us forest animals individually. But friends, there is
strength in numbers. If they face all of us together, they
won’t stand a chance. I have a plan.”

Every animal present was suddenly quiet and waited patiently

for Rumi to announce her plan.

Rumi whispered, “See, these humans are destroying our homes

and we have no option but to go down to where they live and
take over. If they clear our forest and make room for their
buildings, then there is no other option but to go live where
they live. So tomorrow all of us, right from all the spiders, the
wasps, the snakes, the bees, the birds, the tiger, the
leopards, the bears and every one of our animal friends shall
march towards the village.”

Rontu the rhino squealed, “But what if they kill us?”

Rumi said, “How many of us can they kill? When all of us go in

together, they will run for their lives.”

So, it was decided. Everyone agreed to go tell all the forest

dwellers to assemble near the river under the peepal tree and
from there, it was decided they will march towards the village
in unison.

The next morning, everyone got up real early and assembled

under the peepal tree. There was a sense of excitement in the
air. Every animal was going to defend their home, their
‘Rainbow Land’ and come back victorious.

Rumi led the way and off they marched.

The big ones, the little ones, the fat ones, the squeaky ones,

the bold ones, the scared ones, the angry ones, the mellow

ones, the four legged ones, the many legged ones, the ones

with trunks and the one with snouts, the ones with sharp

teeth and one with small mouths, the ones who could climb

trees and ones who crawled…you name them and they were

there.

The humans saw this sight and could not believe their eyes! At

first they thought they were dreaming. But as the animals

came nearer, they realised that this was a nightmare and they

had to run or they will all be dead soon.

Off they ran leaving their bulldozers and their axes and their

yellow monsters behind. They ran for their lives and did not

even turn back to see if they were being followed.

The animals meanwhile kept marching and reached the village.

They started entering the farms and the homes and this is

when the humans ran out like ants.

There was one wise old woman who immediately realised why

this was happening. She said, “My fellow villagers, this is

exactly what I feared. If we keep snatching away the homes

of these wonderful animals, they will have no other way but to

take ours.”

We need to learn to co-exist with them and not destroy the

lovely forests which not only give shelter to them but are the

only reason we humans survive. They are like our lifeline. So,

immediately stop all the construction and cutting down of the

forest and see how these beautiful animals go back home.”

Rumi heard this and stopped everyone. She said, “Friends, not

all humans are bad. There are quite a few like me and this

gives us hope. I think they have learnt their lesson, and at

least for a while they will not think of coming for our homes.”

The animals stopped and turned around, skipping and crawling

back to their Rainbow land, happy in the knowledge that this

was the day they came together to save their home and also
save the silly humans from extinction, if not forever, at least

for now!