Ode to Nature

Chennai's eco-conscious dwellers come together every month to do their mite for the environment and to exchange notes on their common passion - Nature. MALATHI RANGARAJAN writes...

They are avid bird watchers in the strictly literal sense of the term. They are environmentalists and Nature lovers in every sense. And more importantly they are members of the Madras Naturalists' Society (MNS). "The society was formed with just 16 wildlife lovers in 1978 and the number has now gone up to nearly 300", says K.V. Sudhakar, a practising Chartered Accountant, a diehard Nature enthusiast and at present the secretary of MNS. He took over two years ago from V.J. Rajan who had been the secretary for a long time.

"We need not spend much money holidaying if we wish to observe and enjoy Nature. There is so much of beauty around us waiting to be witnessed", begins Sudhakar. "At the micro-level there are the beautiful butterflies and bats in our very own garden. Why think only of the macro... the huge mammals," he asks.

Wildlife and Nature naturally include the flora too. MNS, has always proved itself as an eco-conscious society. The members shoot animals... but only with the camera. They have voiced their protests about the Silent Valley project. In fact, they went all the way to see for themselves and assess first hand, the existing condition there.

"Again, our very own Velachery marshes are very sensitive areas," says Sudhakar. A haven, once upon a time, for thousands of migratory birds, urbanisation of the area has led to considerable decline in the number of birds visiting the marshes today.

The IIT campus is one of the enviable green zones of the city. Kumaran Sathasivam, another MNS member, feels that his innate love for animals and Nature was further nurtured during his student days at IIT.

These Nature lovers have been greatly inspired by Kenneth Anderson, who wrote about wildlife in South India. "It was more because he wrote about places I knew and could identify with, places that were accessible to me", says Sudhakar.

Gerald Durrell was another writer who inspired Sudhakar a lot. As a young man, when Sudhakar was craving to pursue his interest in wildlife, he came into contact with like-minded people who eventually formed MNS.

Till a few years ago the Guindy Park was the venue of the monthly meetings of MNS. "Now we have the meetings elsewhere. But for the past 20 years not one second Sunday has gone by without MNS coming together for its monthly discussion", adds Sudhakar.

Field trips and camps to sanctuaries and wildlife areas all over the country, form other exciting activities of the society, apart from slide-shows, lectures and seminars. And such hectic activities pose no problems at home, assures Kumaran. "That's because, in most cases including mine, the family members too begin to enjoy the trips and develop interest in wildlife", he explains.

Creating awareness about the importance of environment, wild-life and Nature among our youngsters has been an unrelenting endeavour of MNS members. "It is a significant part of our agenda", says Sudhakar. MNS, along with the British Council, held a photographic exhibition recently. Another such event was organised at the Lalit Kala Akademi too. "Since 1987, we have managed to make at least 20,000 students conscious of the endangered eco-balance, our environment and of flora and fauna as a whole", Sudhakar tells you.

Saving the Adyar estuary where many birds flock, writing about its importance and appealing to Governments to save it, have all been going on regularly. "In fact, V. Santharam of our society has prepared an exhaustive bird list to stress on the need to protect the estuary", explains Sudhakar. The perseverance, effort and the commitment to Nature that these people possess are absolutely remarkable.

Their annual trips are quite long. They go to far off places every year. Last year it was the Kanha Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh.

MNS members are spread all over Tamil Nadu and are even from places such as Hyderabad and Gwalior. "But there are beautiful creatures to spot, study and understand, like the civet, spotted deer, mongoose and ant-eaters, in our very own Guindy National Park", asserts Sudhakar.

MNS members, with M. Raghuraman as the co-ordinator, are also involved in the annual Asian Mid-winter water fowl count. An activity in which water fowls all over South and South East Asia are counted simultaneously for statistical purposes.

Mid-winter? In Chennai? "I understand", laughs Kumaran. "It is done in mid-January," he clarifies.

Young members of MNS have been so immensely influenced that some of them have taken ecology and wild-life as their field of specialisation. "Santharam undertook indepth study of woodpeckers for his doctorate and Ravi Chellam did radio collaring of Gir lions to study them in detail while another member, Kannan, diligently pursued ornithology", Sudhakar proceeds with enthusiasm.

"We would like more Nature lovers to join us to try and make this planet an eco-friendly one", says Sudhakar. He talks with concern and love about the Nilgiris Tahr, an endangered animal of the Western ghats, the fruit eating bat, Rousetteus, and the bar- headed geese that breed in Ladakh and come down all the way to Pulicat in winter. "On one of our trips to Cuddapah district, we saw Jerdon's coursers, birds that were believed to have become extinct. On hearing that the nocturnal birds do exist we started walking at 9-45 p.m. in the night and finally at 2-45 a.m. after walking with just one light and in single file, we came upon 20 of these exquisite creatures, which means that there are only 20 Jerdon's coursers in the whole world," exclaims Sudhakar, reliving the excitement. "We in Chennai are very lucky to have wonderful sanctuaries like Vedanthangal, the Pulicat lagoon, marine fauna on the coastline and wonderful creations such as the olive ridley turtles along the beach on the Chennai-Mahabalipuram stretch," he adds.

The fascinating fact is that none of the MNS members is a full- time naturalist. They are all amateurs - yet ones to whom spending time with Nature is not a mere pastime but a never- dwindling passion.

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