“You realise how isolated you have been when a pandemic happens and you have to make almost zero changes to your lifestyle,” says Ehraz Ahmed, a 30-year-old wildlife photographer who lives at the edge of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve in the Nilgiris.
Ehraz, who also owns a resort in the Reserve, has been used to the company of just the hills and his two horses — Adrian and Chris — for a decade now. So living in the current lockdown is no different.
“When you live in the wild you get used to planning ahead and are always prepped for unpredictable situations. Night-time travel restrictions have been in place here in the jungle for a long time now. I’m always stocked up with essential supplies for a month.”
“So when the lockdown was announced, I didn’t really have much to do much except wait out the period. Of course my work interests have been suspended temporarily, but the priority is to safeguard ourselves and society from the contagion,” he says.
It took years for him to build a life that could stay this untouched. “When I took the abrupt decision to quit city life and move to the jungle 10 years ago, I knew it was going to be a struggle, I knew it was going to change my life. I was only 20 years old then. My first home in the jungle was a tiny cottage deep in the woods with no electricity or water supply or even a road. I faced many hardships initially but I had exchanged the life of convenience and socialising for solitude, thrill and adventure.”
“It was the best decision of my life,” he says.
Wildlife photographer Ehraz Ahmed
Like Ehraz’s relationship with the forest, sailor Aravindram’s bond with the sea has been a decade in the making. In his 11th year, the 32-year-old is the captain of a cargo ship that is scheduled to reach Australia’s Port Walcott on April 14.
Week after week at sea is par for the course, for him: “My first voyage lasted 55 days, from Canada to South Korea via the Cape of Good Hope,” he says via WhatsApp chat.
Yes, he has WhatsApp on board, despite being at a point in the ocean days away from the Australian coast. Satellite Internet aboard cargo ships is a fairly new phenomenon, he says, just about three years old. “It is limited access, but at least people are aware of shore news and in touch with their families.”
Shore news includes updates about the COVID-19 outbreak, which is why the crew was not surprised when they were not allowed to disembark at their previous port, Port Dalian in China. The port before that, in Singapore, where they were scheduled to just refuel, is also where they stocked up on provisions this time. “We are stocking for about two to three months of provisions... fresh provisions we can take only for 15 to 20 days, and we take plenty of frozen foods,” says Aravindram. The ship contains everything from basic medical necessities, to pulses, rice, dal , flour, frozen meat and fish, frozen vegetables and fruit.
A view from a cargo ship at sea
“Maintenance equipment, spare parts, paint, engine spares, safety equipment spares, detergent... everything is on board,” says the captain who has a crew of 23 under his care and command. “I see some of them during the day and at mealtimes, not all,” he says. At other times, he has the sea and sky stretching out till the horizon for company.
Back in Mudumalai, Ehraz has company of a different sort. “My horses keep me company along with the numerous wildlife that visit my land regularly. Elephants, sloth bears, leopards.... Last month I captured a tiger on the trail cam I had set up on my land. My cameras and night vision equipment are always on standby,” he says, adding, “Over the years my social circle has grown smaller and smaller. I have a very small set of friends who visit occasionally. The only people I’m constantly in touch with are my parents who live in Bangalore.”
Life in the ghats
Wildlife is also par for the course in Coorg’s coffee plantations, many of which, though not active at the moment, still manage to sustain multiple lives at a stretch. One of them is the Old Kent estate, home to about a dozen workers who live on the estate all year round. “Larger estates like ours have onsite labour quarters for workers and we also provide their families with healthcare and education support,” says the estate owner Sadat Sathak.
“Coffee is intercropped with other diversified crops and vegetation. There is ample year round supply of fruits such as bananas, papaya and seasonal fruits such as orange, avacado, mango and guava are available for foraging. The fertile soil is very conducive for vegetables’ cultivation. The water bodies provide opportunity for fishing as well. All in all, the rich and varied vegetation on the Western Ghats is very much self-sufficient providing year-round food, with the need to venture outside seldom arising.” .
Plantation workers are not the only one working far from urban environments: forest guards at many reserves stay on duty in their cabins in the woods for weeks on end as well, largely by themselves.
In contrast are the sailors’ days on the cargo ship. “On short voyages, we have less free time and more hectic schedules. All equipment on board has to be maintained, like overhauling of machinery, main engine, then deck chipping and painting, greasing of all moving parts...” says Aravindram. On the longer voyages, however, there is leisure: “We play table tennis, carrom and other indoor games. On some ships we have swimming pools, we spend some time there, too.”
After all, everyone needs some company and some fun, even Ehraaz. “I’m not a hermit really,” he says. “I’m as dependent on the outside world as anyone else living in the city. The little village of Masinagudi three miles away with its handful of shops caters to most of my requirements. Self sustenance for me is not sensible because I’m completely against the practice of agriculture in the jungles..”
For Ehraz, the forest has its own appeal. “It’s a beautiful place to live in. Clean air, no traffic and lots of welcoming people. My daily schedule is a mixed bag. In the jungle every day is different. One day I’m out on business, the next day I’m out on a safari or a hike in the woods and on other days I’m doing nothing except spending time with my horses and reading and making future travel plans,” he says.
