Opinions are subject to change. This is what is likely to happen when you read Birds, Beasts and Bandits: 14 Days With Veerappan . This book is a compilation of articles written by wildlife filmmakers and conservationists Krupakar and Senani that was published in a Kannada weekly in 1998 and translated by journalist S.R. Ramakrishna.
Everyone knows Veerappan as the cruel big-moustachioed bandit who hid in the forests of Southern India, terrorised the governments and the people of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, killed elephants for their ivory, smuggled sandal wood and kidnapped people for ransom. So what makes this book different? This is an account of the two people who were mistakenly kidnapped by Veerapan and his men, who believed Kripakar and Senani to be important government officials. Their ransom? — clemency for Veerappan. What is supposed to be a tormenting experience for the two and the others kidnapped by the dreaded bandit, turns out to be a revelation of sorts about the life and ways of Veerappan.
The duo learn that Veerappan is a pious man, polite and warm at times too, who had given up killing elephants some 10 years ago but still gets blamed for any animal poached in the forest.
In fact, Veerappan himself tells them how poachers, who know he is in a certain area, hunt for animals in that particular area so that the officials blame it on Veerappan and don't do anything about it. “I always get blamed for someone else's crime. You too believe all that?” Veerappan asks Senani.
The duo does not learn just about the bandits, but also get to learn about the flora and fauna of the forest of Bandipur, Karnataka, where they are held captive. They realise how living in the wild has made Veerappan and his men as instinctive as the animals themselves. “Sethukuli's (Veerappan's right-hand man) stalking of the stage could have shamed any leopard.”
The book also offers insights into how the once biodiversity-rich village of Gopinatham, at the foot of Male Mahadeswara Hills, was laid to waste by the “whites” during the pre-independence era. In a land where animals and people co- existed, albeit in fear of each other, the “whites” hunted rouge elephants – chopped off their legs and tusks, killed crocodiles that lay by the banks of the Cauvery river, for their skin and even preached to the illiterate villagers about how “animals existed to be hunted and there was nothing wrong in killing and eating them”. Veerappan also tells them about how the “short people from Japan” blasted rocks for their granite business. “This is the story of how a golden land became a graveyard,” Veerappan poignantly ends his narration of his
Krupakar and Senani are eventually released after 14 days. They return with a recording of Veerappan meant for the Chief Minister who is convinced by the duo to speak in a tone “appropriate to seek pardon”. Unfortunately it is misinterpreted as Veerappan becoming weaker.
The book does not try to put Veerappan in a positive light and earn the readers' sympathy but does highlight the kind of misunderstanding that the “dreaded dacoit” was subject to throughout his life. “That was the moment we realised that this man, who strutted about as if he could conquer the universe just by pointing the barrel of his gun at it, could shed tears,” observes Krupakar.
For those who love a real life tale of adventure laced with humour and coupled with snippets from the wild and insights into the mind of one of India's most ruthless bandits, this is the book for you.
BIRDS, BEASTS AND BANDITS , 14 days with Veerappan, Krupakar and Senani, Translated by S.R. Ramakrishna, Puffin, Rs. 250
