This month, the podcast universe has given us a chat with a billionaire on the run, a fresh Bollywood fall-out, and a crash course in how not to die young. For a breather, we turned to a new Hindi podcast series called Ecofiles by the Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT). Environmentalist Manda Chakole recalls how she would step into the thick forest adjoining the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve to collect firewood as a child. “Sometimes, we would hear a tiger maul its prey,” she recalls in the podcast.

Manda Chakole (left) demonstrates a Bumbb heater during an interaction. PICS COURTESY/WCT ON YOUTUBE

Hosted by conservation communicator and wildlife historian Raza Kazmi, the episode is the first of many more to come that deep-dive into conservation stories from India’s hinterlands. It chronicles Chakole’s inspiring journey beginning from a shopkeeper in Chandrapur’s Sindewahi taluka. “I always dreamed of becoming a police officer or joining the Armed Forces. When that didn’t pan out, I still felt the need to serve my people in some way,” she says.