Pachyderm Tales, an organisation that has encouraged countless writers from children to adults, achieving many milestones in the literary field and carving a special identity for itself; under the leadership of its Special Honorary Representative, recipient of the Jamalian Award, philanthropist, supporter of these books, benefactor for the education of many children, and Advisor Mahalakshmi Group of Institutions, Chennai & Trichy, Rotarian AKS Dr. K. Srinivasan — jointly with Mahalakshmi Vidya Mandir, on September 3rd, conducted the pre-release of the first three books of the series “Abdul Encounters Endangered Animals”, written by Professor Abdul Mohamed Ali Jinnah of Jamal Mohamed College.
Pachyderm Tales stands as a support to new writers, helping turn their dream of “writing and publishing a book” into reality. So far, through its workshops, it has supported 1 million children in expressing literature, art, and creativity. Children from countries such as Argentina, Nigeria, and Indonesia have contributed their writings. It had conducted workshop for more than 3,000 children aged 6 to 15 in the aspects of Indian knowledge system.
The “Abdul Encounters Endangered Animals” series aims to reach children in a simple way about how deforestation is causing many animal species to become endangered. Out of the planned thirty-book series, the first three books — Abdul Spies a Langur, Abdul Meets a Gharial, and Abdul Stumbles Upon a King Cobra — were introduced. The illustrator of these books is Samyuktha Sundaram, a student of the English Department, Vellalar College, who drew beautiful illustrations. Dr. R. Lakshmi Priya, founder of Pachyderm Tales, shared in her introductory speech about her journey with children and about the creation of these stories.
Jamal Mohamed College Professor Dr. Abdul Mohamed Ali Jinnah, who always shared his passion for wildlife with his students, spoke in his special address about his thoughts behind writing for children aged 5 to 10, featuring animals like the gharial, king cobra, langur, peacock, and Nilgiri tahr. He also spoke about his experience of writing about ten different animals in the Anandh series. He shared how, from Kaziranga to BBC documentaries, his deep fascination with wildlife inspired him to write these books.
The children of Mahalakshmi Vidya Mandir read out passages from the book. The interaction between the students, teachers, and author Abdul was lively and memorable. In her speech, the school’s Principal, Rama Prabha, stressed that reading and such good books are essential for children.
