Vision of Life; by Sanjay: Wild Fest for Kids, Season 3; Tadoba Buffer Magic!

It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men… Frederick Douglass

Out of the best wealth we can hope to give our children, one is, roots to stay grounded, & the other is, wings to fly high…. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Only if we can make our kids understand the importance of a tiger in our life, then there is hope for the entire forest… Me

Don’t get confused by the quotes & the subject of them as child psychology is definitely not my subject, though the subject is something which kids like or has started to like is my subject & that is wildlife & yet there is Tadoba in it but the sharing is not about Tadoba (thankfully, lol)! Ok, enough of tongue twisting, the sharing is about “Wild Fest for Kids; Season 3” which was initiative by Jungle Belles & Nature Walk (plz google) & more than that it’s about the response which it received & is a big hope for wildlife, especially on the background of our Hon Govt (read as entire system) is rampantly against wildlife though no one will admit it openly! Today you open any newspaper & may it be Western Ghat or Arwalis (plz google) or even our dear Tadoba, everywhere wildlife is under threat & its only because of us, the humans. Our greed which we call need or development or growth is swallowing (sorry that’s the only term I can think of) every sq inch of land which is home to wild life of every form. And if this is less then we don’t care for the lives of any wild animal, bird, or fish as we drive cars on our built roads through the forest which kills thousands of animals of every kind every year. Our boats & sewage pollutes rivers & water bodies which kills millions of fish & aqua lives of every form, we even pollute air & we cut trees for our homes which makes lakhs of birds, butterflies homeless, & outcome of all these our actions is only one i.e. death of some wildlife! This is the reason we have decided to at least make young minds aware about what we are doing to their future because even as per our country’s Law which deals with wealth & land like assets, there are two types of assets, one is self-earned & other is ancestral! And the second type assets have the right of even minor children in the family & you can’t dispose of them at your will but need to indemnify the children who have equal rights in such assets. This provision is because the asset has been earned by your forefathers; the next generation has right over it & some single generation should not alone benefit with it & throw it away or enjoy it. In the same way, wildlife which today we have, it isn’t wealth owned by any single generation but it’s conserved by the nature itself & is like our ancestral asset & we must protect or save it for next generations & if we are not following this Law & wasting this asset the next generation must made aware about our actions as well the asset, they possess or have right, which was the sole purpose of Wild Fest for Kids (WFFK)!

And what better than the theme of Tadoba (sori, I am not the only tadoba crazy person) that too buffers of it to make the kids understand the importance of wealth we have been gifted & it’s decided that we will dedicate this season of WFFK to tadoba buffers & coexistence! Once the theme is decided then the second step was, what we should showcase to kids so that they will understand the subject in the best possible way & this is trickiest part as today’s kids, well, we all know their patience is wafer thin! Yet we were sure not to just showcase some tiger photos or films, as that anybody can watch on OTT channels & Insta pages are full with exotic wildlife images from the best of the photographers! So, there must be something (and someone) who can talk with these kids & share what is wildlife in reality at Tadoba without boring the kids! And fortunately we could think and actually got more than one as Tadoba is the outcome of not just the tigers but of the people who understand tigers as well wildlife! As we wanted to show the hidden side of Tadoba as well the people behind the success of tadoba’s coexistence with wildlife, we zeroed down on Mr Kushagra Pathak, IFS & a Lieutenant in Indian Territorial Army & is Dy Director of Buffer areas of tadoba. Then there is man who has helped to treat & rescue more than hundred tigers i.e. Dr Ravikant Khobragade who is Vet at Tadoba & is specialized in capturing & treating tigers. As well we have Mr Anant Sonavane who wrote one of the best books on one individual tigress Maya, the Queen of Tadoba & who is editor of Tadoba’s very own magazine Tadoba Diaries. As well we had Mr Sumesh Lekhi, Cinematographer who shoots wildlife in the film format & has many interesting stories about filming in & around Tadoba. We also had a Puppet show about tigers by Ms Mrudula Kelkar & her team & lastly, we had Mr Sumedh Waghmare, Guide of Tadoba who is famous by the nickname Birdman as he can mimic nearly hundred plus birds in the wild! So, the script was done & to our surprise when we called all the above people, they all accepted & promised to be in Pune travelling thousand of kilometers just for this event!

The major problem was (and still is), raising funds because as an individual company we have limitations yet as Sanjeevani we do give our best possible support & thankfully there are friends who cares, respects & helps for the cause, Mr Jhala (Mayuk), Mr Kiran Nehte & Mr Anil Agarwal of Tathastu Group were few such & most importantly Mr.Sidharth Gokhale of Bouganvilla Farm, as in city like Pune the venue matters most on financial as well space front! I am personally thankful to all these & sure their sponsorship was a win win situation for both, bit more about this aspect of wild fest in concluding remark. So, the D-Day came on 10^th January 26, which again was strategically thought, as it's Saturday after New Year’s weekend & most people are back from holidays as well as school exams yet to kick-off, so the kids would be relatively free. We chose Saturday instead of Sunday & Sunday most people have their own plans & the event was only for kids, but parents accompanied by kids were welcome, lol! And then there was the time factor because to accommodate all these people’s sharing, we must give them proper time but we shouldn’t forget the patience aspect of the kids, that’s really tricky. Even after squeezing time yet the entire event was going to stretch for nearly five hours! Keeping in this time thing in mind we planned food stalls also as well as a few fun stalls such as Tattoo (temporary) & face painting, so that the kids can have some fun as well break!

And right from 4 pm itself the rush started, the most heartening sight was kids accompanied by their parents, grandparents queuing to register for the event & they came from all segments of the society, once again confirming the fact, wildlife doesn’t have any boundaries such as caste, religion, or financial status! And the event kick-started with a puppet show about tigers & their importance, since then the next five hours were of pure wildlife for the kids & they enjoyed thoroughly cheering up, clapping but with intent concentration! As I mentioned the topics by Dr. Khobragade was a bit technical about rescuing tigers yet the kids listened, they were eager to ask questions about the work, challenges in work & things like that to him! Lt. Kushagra Pathak, explained how forest dept is making efforts to make the people around forests to accommodate wildlife as well what is core & what is buffer. Writer Anant Sonavane in candid interview by Anuj Khare shared stories about Maya tigress who is probably the most popular & photographed tigress of tadoba. Interestingly, life-size cutouts of Maya & Mataram (tigress from Pench MP) were put at entrance of the venue & I was observing, eight out of ten kids entering at the event were clicking selfies with Maya & Mataram, this is sheer display of affection & bonding of the next genre with the wildlife! Hemangi Vartak of JB took an interview of Sumesh Lekhi & he explained about filming wildlife as well tadoba landscape & making a career in wildlife, to which the kids responded cheeringly. The last event was of Sumedh Waghmare, in his native tadoba accent & language thrilled not just the kids but even the parents by sharing his exposure with wildlife & stated importance of other species also in the forest along with the tiger! Such was the response that at 9.30 pm we had to request with folding hands to the audience for closing the event as it was more than six hours & for our teams it was whole day work & all were tired but happily! Rather the feel was of full day safari in the forest for which we wake up at 5 am & come back from the forest by even with spending fourteen hours in the forest yet we never feel tiredness as that’s what wildlife can do to us & this wild fest was like a safari only! And all this success of Wild Fest was without any celebrity involved or a so-called big names in the wildlife in the list of speakers or performance, because the biggest celebrity was Tadoba itself & committed people working for it the wildlife Tadoba has!

Before concluding I will share some (bitter) facts, we wanted this for kids & we did it free of cost with no charge of a single rupee for any of the even to any kid or parents! Yet the whole thing costs a lot & even with sponsors help yet the shortfall is big, & JB as well nature Walk team has approached many wealthy persons, companies who never replied or turned them away! I agree, you can’t force anybody for charity but the people, the companies who shell lakhs of rupees for many causes where celebrities are involved or to please some powerful people (read as politicians or bureaucrats) why can’t they help cause of wildlife on their own & trust me this can be best branding also with your brand getting exposed to huge footfall of kids, parents in reality, not virtual! Sustainability is where both sides get benefitted & Wild Fest is a very powerful tool to achieve it for wildlife conservation as well commercially for the brands associated with it! But looking at the attitude of our riches’(moneyed people) towards supporting wildlife events, we are not just fool enough to understand power of wildlife but we are foolishly ignorant also, about our responsibility towards wildlife & our next generation, Jago People Jago, adios with this note & a promise to be back with next season of wild fest for kids with bigger bang!

Check more moments of the Wild Fest Season 3 at the links below…

https://www.flickr.com/photos/coexistance_is_the_key/albums/72177720331545469

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTpX-NkEfy-/?igsh=dWwzd2xqY3BxeHAw

(do follow us on Insta to keep in touch)

Sanjay Deshpande

smd156812@gmail.com

Sanjeevani Dev.

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https://youtu.be/27j3I3rwGPQ?si=-ODYBxVI2Dl_C345

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https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2025/12/pune-real-estate-in-2026.html

https://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2024/12/2025.html