About sangeetadhanuka
I am an amateur nature photographer and my particular interest has been bird photography. But this foray into wildlife photography came much later. When I recall our childhood vacations, I remember several visits to various forts and palaces. My father's love for historical places took us to many of these, especially in Rajasthan and north India which are particularly known for their royal past and his love for such monuments rubbed off heavily on me too. I especially fell in love with the intricate carvings and I remember feeling the strong gooseflesh during both my visits to Taj Mahal. I was never satisfied with the typical vacation pictures my father clicked and everytime we visited these ancient monuments, I would insist on clicking some shots myself. Those were the days of the film camera where one didn’t have the luxury of experimenting with too many compositions and shots unlike in today’s digital times. I was always left unsatisfied, with just about 2 film rolls we spent on for a vacation, of which I would get to click probably 15-20 shots. Other than these historical places where we went for vacations, I was always a huge fan of a TV series called ‘Planet Earth’, by Marty Stouffers. I would never miss a single episode and thought people who lived outside India were so lucky. Yes, our childhood was naive unlike today’s generation, and I thought the awe inspiring wildlife that Marty showed, existed only in foreign lands. India had only forts and palaces. Then one day, when I was about 15, I saw an article in a magazine about the Keoladeo Bird Sanctuary in Bharatpur, Rajasthan, along with some lovely pictures. My joy knew no bounds when I found that what Marty had been showing on TV all these years, existed in India too, at least at one place. I carefully stored away that issue and decided this was a place I’d definitely visit some day.
Life went on. I joined medical college but Marty and his series, as well as my Bharatpur dream, persisted. While in medical college, on Saturdays, I often sought permission from a professor (who was also my mentor at that time, in a way), to leave class early so that I could catch Marty’s series. Interestingly, the professor never stopped me. We had often seen him stop suddenly in the midst of his lectures, as if to listen to something. Most of us laughed. I was also curious — why did he do this? But it remained a mystery.
I got my medical degree, started my practice and life seemed good. Two years later, I fell ill and had to be operated upon. 15 days later, the surgery had to be redone because of negligence during the first surgery. But the damage had been done. I continued to fall ill very often and underwent three or four surgeries within two years. The repeated agony caused depression; the medicines killed my appetite and I became skinny. In a way, my illness affected my upcoming practice too. I became a nervous wreck and was frustrated in general.
All through these years, I had been in touch with my professor on and off. He was aware of my illness and consequent depression. One day he said, “Why don’t you come with me this Sunday?” “Where?” I asked. “Leave that to me,” he said. “Just come over.”
So I did. I accompanied him on a nature walk with the BNHS (Bombay Natural History Society), on their forest land. I then learnt the secret of his frequent pauses in the midst of lectures — he listened to the bird calls, trying to identify them. No wonder I was allowed to leave early for Marty Stouffer’s series too! Anyway, I enjoyed the walk, came back home feeling better. Soon, life was back to where it was.
Then, in August 1999, the newspaper carried a beautiful picture of the karvi flowers in bloom on the front page. The caption read: “These flower once in eight years and this is the flowering year. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has arranged a nature walk to watch these, in the Sanjay Gandhi national park.” – barely 5-7 km from my home. Something within me stirred. I called my professor to ask if he was going for the walk and sure enough, he was. I registered my name too. As we went deeper into the park, my heart leapt. This was what I was yearning to see all these years, unaware that it was right here, practically in my backyard. The forest was just like what I had seen in the series and so close to where I lived. Why hadn’t I found it earlier?
I felt a childish impulse to jump and laugh out loud in sheer joy — it was as if I had found a long-lost love, or a treasure that I had been searching for. I then started going on these walks more often, as much as my health allowed. Once in two months, once a month and then once every two weeks. My health improved. But more than that, over a period of time, from a quiet, timid, shy personality, I turned into an extrovert. I made friends; I turned confident; I became assertive. Was this the real me? Where had I been buried all this time? I also took to photography, and started visiting many sanctuaries and national parks over the years that followed. My entire photography portfolio can be seen at https://picasaweb.google.com/108359053909554531885. During this period I also wrote my first story on nature, on the nesting of coppersmith barbets near my home, which was published in the Panda bulletin of WWF. I reared 2 species of butterflies at home, documenting all stages right from egg laying to emerging of the adult butterfly. My write-up o the same was published in the nature section of Tehalka magazine, as also my story of how I got into nature and wildlife. I got involved in conservations and awareness activities.
Along with my friends, we formed a team called ‘Save Uran wetlands’ and took up the cause of destruction of Uran wetlands near Mumbai. We made representations to the state and Central govt as well as the media. Though we succeeded in slowing/stopping the construction, we could not succeed in getting the wetlands restored. We were honoured with the 'SPOTLIGHT' for our work at the annual Sanctuary Asia awards in 2010.
I have had some recent happy moments of glory in some photography contests as well as one on an international publication front.
