Port Blair, Oct. 15: On the occasion of the Wildlife Week, on Oct 2, 2020, SPROUTS launched an 80 min, 8-Episode Audiobook titled 'My Friend Dugong' - which will open out a magical underwater world to listeners of all age groups. It is a heart-warming story of a young boy (Lingaraju) and his new mysterious friend (Dugong). This is a humble offering to commemorate the State Animal of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The lockdown has been deeply challenging on parents, educators and children, who are engaged in classical forms of learning, via classrooms and outdoor experiences, most costing a fortune. But the innovative team of busybodies at SPROUTS understood the various economic and technological challenges of urban and rural children and began looking for associates and collaborators to create something magical for kids who couldn't go to school, for parents who couldn't create materials to engage their children, for authors who were from remote locations and looking for a voice to carry their stories to distant lands, narrators who wanted to lend their voices to stories of distant lands, endangered species and unvisited landscapes.
This quick, out-of-the-box approach and happy alliance between SPROUTS, the author and narrator, has resulted in an 8 episode Audiobook, which was remotely produced (Kadamtala -Middle Andamans; Mulund, Jogeshwari, Malad and Andheri - Mumbai), recorded and edited in less than 4-5months, at absolutely zero budget. What’s even better, it's also available absolutely for free!
You can hear the Episodes of the Audiobook - My Friend Dugong! by clicking on this Spotify link https://open.spotify.com/show/4vC4xpj9sqZ5e8HE3HZzWm . New episodes are being uploaded Every Thursday!
SPROUTS calls upon children to listen to it and share it with all friends and family members and all the kids (of all ages) that you know. Drawing/sketches, poems or write-ups and feedback can be mailed on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
About the Team:
Author & Publisher: Chanchal Singha Roy - a National Award-winning Teacher, who guided students of his current school (GSSS Kadamtala, Middle Andamans) to win the Wipro Earthian National Award in 2018.
Scientific Information (Episode): Elrika D'souza
English Translation (from Bengali): Sumita Sengupta
Illustrator: Bidisha Chakraborty
Narrator: Jayshree Murali - A passionate Educator, an avid writer and poet, who combines multiple sensibilities in her immersive learning exercises. She has been associated with the Development Sector for nearly two decades.
Editor: Rahul Palekar - An Engineer, he is a Volunteer with SPROUTS and an upcoming Nature Educator.
Director & Producer: SPROUTS (Est. 1995) is an ethical Ecotourism and Environment Consulting Company. (Anand
Pendharkar - is a famous Wildlife Biologist, Founder & CEO of SPROUTS, Author, Motivational Speaker, Himalayan trekker
and an alumnus of the reputed Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun and Amruta Padgaonkar - Co-educator at SPROUTS, she is a Post-Graduate in Life Sciences, traveller and ardent Wildlife Documentor).