Let me tell you of an erstwhile pot-hunter who lived in memory of a world where shooting was allowed, where Pintails and Red-crested Pochards abounded the lakes and marshes, and the forests were full of Green Pigeons and Kaleej. He spent the greater part of his life in Indo-Nepal terai of north-western Bihar – the region around Valmiki National Park and Saraiya Man – a wetland which is now an IBA site. Though he occasionally shot one for the table, I have no doubt that he loved the birds and the forest and the marshes. Even after he had to give up shooting he made sure that he passed on his love. He was never a birdwatcher – but I started learning of birds and forests and nature with him.
He had the misfortune of having to spend the last few years of his life in Kolkata where the lack of wide open spaces disturbed him. His confinement made him somewhat apathetical to life. But he liked seeing my pictures, and hearing stories – of how I saw the Kaleej run and the Pochards fly and the Sambar stand still in evening light. He warned me of Leopards.
A couple of years back I took him to an awareness camp that we hold every year at Santragachi. He liked seeing the ducks again, but expressed frustration about the disorganized state of affairs – about the abundance of telescopes and the complete lack of .22 shotguns. But that was said in jest and he liked what we were doing. He sat there for long, watching the ducks.
My father died on 30th January - last Sunday. It was a sudden, unexpected, quiet and peaceful death. He did not believe in afterlife and neither do I, but I know of the kind of world he would like to find himself in – similar to the one in which he lived for most of his life.
This is one of the last pictures that I showed him. He liked it and mentioned that the males seem to be around a kilogram and a quarter each.
Red-crested Pochards, Gajoldoba, 9th Jan, 2011.
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Cheers,
Arka S
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