The rich in India, for long, have taken to chasing wildlife. Sepia-tinted shots of the man of the house resting a foot on a dead tiger, his father or grandfather or great grandfather holding a king-size, lifeless mahseer by its neck, or bits of a sprawling house showcasing horns of hunted deer, tiger skin, elephants' tusks are some typical photographic corroboration on this count. However, the difference today is, while the rich once used the gun to shoot wildlife and frame them on their walls, today's moneyed do so with their state-of-the-art cameras, catching them live in their natural habitats. The recently published “On Safari — The Tiger and the Boabab Tree” (Om Books) fits pretty well in this category.
Its authors, Babi and Tina Nobis, have put between the covers their camera work, spanning close to 30 years, on the wild in Africa and India. The Kolkata-based couple, as much in news for their love for new Ferraris as for their enthusiasm for wildlife, have given an interesting peep into the animals inhabiting both Indian and African game reserves. Be it Kanha or Bandhavgarh, Serengeti or Masai Mara and more, the duo have weaved into the coffee-table book some really fascinating shots. In an email interview, a well-known tea exporter, Babi, along and wife Tina have taken up questions on the book. Edited excerpts:
First, the obvious question, why the book? How old are the photographs?
Tina: Babi and I are wildlife enthusiasts and we have been going on safari to Africa and also visiting the national parks in India for the last 30 years. Babi has been photographing wildlife since then. Then he was only shooting slide films. We would come home from a safari, process the photographs and share them with our close friends. It is only recently that we began cataloguing the photos and I wanted to share them with a much larger audience. I think that was the hardest part, to be discerning when every photograph holds a memory. Some of the photographs were taken more than 20 years ago. A large number of them are from the last six years or so.
Why does wildlife pull you? You are also attracted to hot wheels, is it the thrill of adventure?
Babi: Photographing dangerous wildlife gets my adrenalin going, just like driving Ferraris gets my adrenalin going!
How different are African safaris from the Indian ones in terms of photographic opportunities?
Babi: The dynamics of being on safari in Africa and India are completely different. Respect for wildlife and the surrounding environment is far more inculcated in the local people as well as in park visitors, in the different areas of wildlife in Africa. One gets the opportunity to view and photograph the animals far more easily and closely than in India. Also there are many more species in any one place offering photographing opportunities than in any one place in India.
Another option in Africa is to go on a walking safari with an armed escort and approach fairly close to even dangerous wildlife.
News reports on man-animal conflict for space have been common today. What should be the approach?
Babi and Tina: Our Government actually has a very attractive scheme in place to help the people living within and close to the park boundaries to relocate. Many villages in some of our national parks have already been relocated. If this project continues to be implemented sincerely, both the people and the wildlife will benefit. After all, it is also not easy for these people who constantly live under hardships and in constant danger of coming in conflict with the tiger.
How hopeful are you about protecting our tiger habitats?
Babi: Tigers are prolific breeders but need enough territory with a healthy prey base to do so. There is a tremendous pressure on our national parks because of the dependence of the large number of people that live within and close to the national park boundaries. Illegal hunting in these areas depletes tigers' natural prey base. Tigers wander into human settlements and thereby the problem arises. Many people feel that tribes and villages have lived for decades within the national park boundaries and coexistence is possible. The forests were far more extensive then and the population in these villages were far less than what they are now. Today, it is imminent that tigers be allowed to live in an environment free from any kind of human exploitation.
