Nagarjuna Sagar Srisailam Tiger Reserve (NSTR) is a protected forest in southern India where I studied tiger ecology from 1998-1999. It is a place rich in life, history, and stories. The people with whom I lived and worked, the Chenchu tribal community, had a profound impact on me that still resonates today. When I left, I hoped to one day give back to a place that had given me so much clarity on who I was and what moves me. In 2017, nearly two decades later, I returned to Srisailam: to re-connect with the people and places I once knew and to engage, as honestly as I can, this complex and compelling corner of our world.
