Iora's venture into troubled land to save father

"Iora and the Quest of Five", published by Fingerprint, is set in a hidden rainforest and is a pacy story of quest, adventure, determination, spirit and magic, not just of the enchanted, but also of finding friendship and following dreams. It has strong elements of fantasy, magic, intrigue and mystery.

"Although it is a fantasy, the book is true to the real rainforests. The subtle underlying theme is that by saving the jungles, we're saving ourselves," says Tehsin, honorary wildlife warden of Udaipur in Rajasthan.

She says an idea of a hidden rainforest civilization came to her mind and she began scribbling the story on rough pages.

"Once I started writing, the story and characters took me forward and not the other way round. I completed the book in two months."

She didn't have an audience in mind when I wrote Iora.

"I just had a story with a young protagonist which turned out to be suitable for young adults. And I'm glad it did. There are Indian writers writing for this age group but still there is a dearth of young adult literate in India. We have to largely depend on the West for books from this segment," Tehsin told PTI. (MORE)