Workshop for a new breed of photographers

Last weekend, we were part of the Photography workshop at Nagarhole National Park conducted by Lokesh Mosale. It was the fourth since the past two years. The earlier ones were at Hotel Mayura River view and at Ranganatittu.  There is one more to go in the mid April at Bandipur, the Tiger heaven of Karnataka.

A doe in Hadlu

Giving up mainstream journalism he took to wildlife photography full time and has explored all possible ways to earn a living out of it. Ever since he had his first solo exhibition at the Lankesh Gallery in Rangayana, Mysore he has lived on wildlife photography. Wildlife photography as a profession he feels is like getting back to school as a kid. Every day is important in the field; as every child on the right track in school feels about his class. He craves for unique wildlife experiences more than good pictures and that makes him a different shutter bug.

After the harvest...

These workshops are of intimate mode with just about a dozen participants in each of them. The participants are of diverse background and range from techies to teachers to scribes.

People with high end SLR cameras to the ones with a basic aim and shoot models would be on roll.  The typical routine would be a session on the basics of photography and the choice of equipment followed by the operations of the equipment.  Then you have as much outdoor shooting as possible for which there would be critical analysys case by case. The final session is about theethics and  responsibilities of a wildlife photographers. Of cource this is where our involvement come in the whole workshop; to tell the participants that wildlife photography is just not about taking beautiful pictures of animals.

Fire aftermath....

Photography done purely for personal fulfilment and joy with no intentions of contributing to a cause is equally valid. However, there is a need to stress the ethics of wildlife photography and possibly redefine responsible wildlife photography because some get so carried away by the urge to take a perfect picture that they end up doing more harm than good to wildlife. It is not being said to demean ethical wildlife photographers since photographers and, more generally, anyone who enjoys nature are likely to be strong allies in conservation. But many of them turn a blind eye for something ghastly happening in front of them.

Meal time!

We have seen many of the photographers deneying to see a dead animal through their camera. let alone the idea of they inspecting the animal or the cause of death. "Of what use is that picture? Let's move on we may find a tiger." LOkesh who is in circuit of many wildlife photographers recalls their attitude. On the other end there are amateurs who simply photographed dead wildlife on the road in Bandipur for four years. Today those pictures are a testimony in the supreme court to stop the night trafic through the park.

Banded??

At the same time thre is seen such stiff competition among photographers about accumulating pictures of species and flaunting them on the social media.However, we do mean to raise the alarm about irresponsible and unethical photography. Irresponsible wildlife photography runs counter to conservation. Over gardening  habitats to take clear pictures, destroying a nest after their photography is done, blindly stamppeing on flowers that are not so important to him and so on. Litterning and loitering the habitat is a serious threat. some times revealing the site to any body frevilous is also equaly disasterous to wildlife.

Knowing your camera

We make clear that photography itself is not so much a bane as it is a boon. As wildlife photographer, Morkel Erasmus puts it, qualifying traits for being a wildlife photographer include unwavering passion and dedication to the craft, intimate knowledge of animal behaviour, loads of patience and an equal passion for the conservation and preservation of that which one photographs.

Participants on shoot

The Royal Society for Protection of Birds sums it up well: “Together, we can make sure the bad apples don’t spoil things for everyone else”.

The concerned photographers

An open letter to the teachers of my daughter

My dear teachers, 

It appears you had difficulty understanding my daughter, and being her responsible father, who may clearly see her flaws and weaknesses, I am trying to reply to some of the direct and indirect questions you posed to my daughter during the last one year. Before I begin, I would like to remind you that maybe my child is having some problems related to carelessness and she may be less focused compared with your favourite children, but each child is unique and has their own aptitude to bring to the world. Our duty is to help the child bring out those talents and encourage them to develop their own individuality. All the time we don't have to agree with them but making them understand the same with a little care and support may give them more confidence to explore ideas on their own.

You had a problem why my daughter laughs a lot. Please permit me to mention here that now her unfortunate father is searching for her lost smile for the last few months. I am sorry for the inconvenience (which you may have considered trouble), if any, you had because of my daughter, but it should be understood how much she means to me. I taught her to laugh when she is happy, I taught her to laugh when she is sad, I taught her to laugh when things do not happen as she wanted and I taught her to laugh at herself every time she made a mistake. You made a strange discovery that my little girl is having giraffe legs. As she is growing so fast, I sometimes wonder where my little girl is. I taught her that she should stand tall and be confident and proud and never feel any fear; she still has to walk a million miles to achieve all her dreams and goals. You told her that the entire staffroom knows that she would walk up to the Principal if you scold her. A fact you must know is that with God's love in her heart and parents' courage in her soul, and your school's Principal as her ideal, she feels comfortable to open her mind. In fact, I see her as one of millions of kids who will build a strong and happy India. Today we need our young people to speak their mind, not just listen to the leaders, but ask questions, tough questions, so tomorrow they become a source of courage and happiness to others. 

It seems you always find her a happy-go-lucky girl student with a bad handwriting who also keeps her bag and books carelessly in the classroom. I may agree with you here but cracking jokes about her and asking her best friend how she could tolerate my little child is unbecoming of you as a teacher and such behaviour is unwarranted and uncalled for. 

During the last PTA, you had a complaint that my child is always interested in taking part in the school's extracurricular activities and annual day functions. To the best of my knowledge, students should always be advised to participate in extracurricular activities such as sports, debates and discussions, because these activities would help in all-round personality development. I am also surprised that in this 21st century you still follow the age-old formula as they say in Hindi: "Kheloge kudoge hoge kharab". 

Just a few days ago, during her final exams, you asked the classroom whether anyone had any query regarding the question paper and when my daughter raised her hand, it appears you told her that she herself is a problem thus belittling her in the class and giving the classroom a chance to laugh at her cost, and this was not the first time she faced this humiliation. I am deeply sad to say your unwarranted behaviour shattered her confidence and now she hesitates to ask even basic questions. I am still wondering if the school authorities have bestowed upon you any right to belittle my child in front of her class. All children are God's gift and as a teacher you should have the patience to treat them all alike and to instill in them loads and loads of confidence, but not to shatter it. 

The mental abuse of a child is as bad and dangerous as physical punishment. Because it could put a comma, maybe even a full stop, to her mental growth and development. 

Don't you understand that by your unkind and unreasonable behaviour you are stalling the mental development of a child through your misunderstanding of a corrigible deficiency in a child? I hope you agree that making fun of a student repeatedly in front of her classmates is as bad as mental torture. Such behaviour on the part of a teacher is deplorable and such a person does not deserve to be called a teacher. By such behaviour, you are in fact stalling their growth instead of allowing them to blossom. Perhaps the school and the society can do better without such teachers if they do not mend their ways. 

In conclusion, I would like to say that the teacher instead of insulting and rebuking children in front of their class (and thereby stalling their mental growth) should work for the development of the children. Instead of belittling them, help them understand about the wonderful gift of human life, build strong roots in them about the social, ethical and moral values of life, about their positive participation in the inclusive growth of school life, family, society and the nation. Teachers who cannot participate in building the life of the students have no place in society. The society is in need of teachers who treat their student with an equal eye, love, compassion, understanding and consideration, and not teachers who belittle them in front of their class and thereby destroy their confidence and future. 

A teacher has to be full of love and compassion towards his/her students and treat them as his/her own children and work for their all round personality development. For your relief, I would like to inform you that I am withdrawing my daughter from your school and for my little happiness, my daughter, is responding well to the counsellor and now she has agreed to leave this school with the condition that she will visit all her friends once a month. I am sad to say your sarcasm won once again and another poor child lost, but hopefully after reading this letter you may consider putting a full stop, and not a comma, to incidents like this. 

(Courtesy: Times of India, written by Rahul Verma who is the founder of a grassroots non-profit Uday Foundation fully dedicated to children, health and human rights.)

Summer holidays are back! Let's go camping

The summer holidays are back and children of formative age are in a relaxing mood. Their hectic schedule of the year end will have drained their energies and make them eagerly wait for some change in their routine. The parents if they are both working the issue at home becomes even more serious. Uncles and aunts,  in-laws of every possible relation, and above all the grand parents come into the memory lane. Which of these destinations and company of whom would keep the child engaged and happy? Where is the place where you could leave the youngsters without any worries?

Learning to care for Nature

To be part of such a social shortfall there are many agencies volunteering to conduct Summer camps for children. The subject they address would vary from key board to Karate. Most of them are day camps and comprise of group activities without individual attention. Many a times activities such as singing , dancing and even trekking may inculcate group dynamics but wouldn't make the individual realize his own strength or weakness. For children to identify their abilities and interest, he needs to have an opportunity to isolate himself and start thinking for himself. 

Taking out some time for bird watching

As Part of the Summer Nature Study and rejuvenation program for children we are conducting a six days residential Nature camp at Melkote. The aim of the camp is to bring in a deep cultural change, connecting children to Nature, so that they can be more confident, healthier and happier as citizens of tomorrow. The laid back routine in the camp, unlike their conventional class room has lots of hands on activities in the outdoors. They are with the best of hands and can explore and realize the mysteries of Nature first hand.

In pursuit of  some artistic collaboration

 As children grow up their routines are designed to give them less time in Nature than before and the biggest victim may be Mother Nature. We share our concern through exposing children to the joys of nature and keep them in company of eminent persons in the field who have lived their lives with different approaches to care for Nature. With a battery of resource persons who have worked with children of every nature for more than two decades this annual camp of ours has become a Social movement to unite Children with Nature and with various needs.

What a way to vent out that extra energy!

This camp-- will help children realize that school should not be a polite form of imprisonment, but a portal to the wider world with numerous possibilities and lesser competition. That reduces the stress upon our children and energizes them for the coming year in school.

The Camp That was....

The camp site called Hosa Jeevana Dari at Melkote is a serene, eco- friendly and off the main stream life and provides an excellent atmosphere to immerse oneself in nature and devote for self exploration. Natural farming, traditional buildings, thriving khadi industry and chemical free food offer children a perfect recipe of simple living in harmony with nature.  

The camp begins on 6^th morning and ends on the 11th evening, April 2014. The camp costs would be Rs 3000/- excluding travel to the camp site. To book your seats contact 9886383793, 8762357003.

The spring turns Grey at Bandipura this year

Butea in bloom at Bandipura

For over three weeks in the past month we were stationed in Bandipur National Park, conducting a National level Nature Camp for high school students. The Nilgiri Biosphere project of the CPR Environment Education Center of Ooty had organized over a dozen camps at Bandipura and Mudumalai. Each camp was for fifty students from two different schools and lasted for three days. The students chosen were part of the National Green Corps (NGC) from the adjoining area of the Nilgiri Biosphere reserve. NGC is a project envisaged by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, is known to have a lakh and seventy five thousand schools involved in it; yet it is surprising unpopular unlike the National Cadet Corps or the National Social Service scheme. Most of the programs it talks of must have been carried out within the school campus and many a time unceremoniously carried out without any mention of them.

A project work in progress

Chamarajanagara district alone had about 132 schools under the scheme. State run Adarsha Schools which had a unit in their schools, were chosen for this National programmes, as the students are known to be more receptive than the other Govt. Schools in the locality.

What an innovative classroom!

The three days programme was packed with activities from 6 in the morning to 9 in the evening. The day would start with a Nature walk. The telltale signs of various animals that were active by night, in their abundance open up a wide opportunity for learning about nature. To handle beginners the droppings of various animals lend a wonderful opportunity. Putting the kids to explore the excreta gives a different yet befitting entry point to natural history. The morning walk on two occasion’s yielded carcass of spotted deer’s; obviously kills of the previous night. On another occasion a whole family of wild pigs was feasting on the remains of a spotted deer. Along with such exciting experiences there were power point presentations and film shows.

Valedictory of series of camps

The long winter had cast a dry spell upon the forest and the trees stood naked and bare. Not a blade of grass was green. The defoliated scrubs of lantana covered the entire forest floor.  The silver grey tree trunks and the dead clumps of bamboo stood out in the golden light of the setting sun. Except for the burnt patches of undercover everything looked natural. The controlled burning is done by the forest staff as a measure to control the outbreak of forest fire. Safari rides were promising most of the days. Elephants, herbivores and peafowl were common but two batches of students had a glimpse of the elusive tiger and leopard making the others envious.

 

Flame of the forest

The flora on the other hand did not disappoint anybody.  While the whole forest stood colorless some trees were screaming with colors. Dark orange of the flame of the forest, the bright crimson of the Erythrina and Bombax, subtle pink of the Gliricedia found along the hedges of the forest staff quarters invited the participants for long halts around them. Botany was discussed at its best all through the camp just because of these trees in bloom. One fine evening there was an unexpected hail storm giving the entire department staff a breath of relief. ‘No more fire hazards’ exclaimed a lady watcher in delight. She, like as many as two hundred fire watchers had non-stop work in the hot sun for over a month.

All fall down!

While the Caccia siamia threw out its bloom in response to the untimely rains the flame of the forest lost many. Most of the trees developed fresh leaves on them and the called back all of the marauding Langurs back into the forest. These mischief mongers had camped in the tourist zone for long and for one rain they were gone. All these transformations are still fresh on our mind. Kids from Yelandur and Kollegala call up to enquire how much of the flowers of a tree have turned into pods. The color of Bandipur must have mesmerized the kids too. 

Forest Fire

 But following week we hear all ill about the dear forests of Bandipur. Over a thousand acres of forests are burnt due to the outbreak of forest fires in Bandipur. Sadly, it is a tough fight for the personnel in the forest department as there are more speculations about the cause of the fire.