Credit: Special Arrangement
Twenty-two-year-old Ishan Shanavas, whose debut book has drawn praise from politician Shashi Tharoor and ecologist Harini Nagendra, will talk about his wildlife adventures at the Bangalore International Centre in Domlur today.
In May this year, the young naturalist from Bengaluru published a book documenting his encounters with wildlife between the ages of 14 and 21. It is titled ‘The Light of Wilder Things’. Tharoor called it a “blazingly honest account” that “ushers us to turn toward nature and learn from it”. The book has since sold over 5,000 copies.
Following its success, Ishan launched ‘EcoInspire’, an initiative aimed at connecting children with nature. Over the past four months, he has visited 100 schools across 19 cities, reaching 26,500 students.
Ishan’s earliest brush with nature began at home, when his mother asked him to count the squirrels and birds outside the window of their Indiranagar home. He identified the white-cheeked barbet by referring to encyclopaedias he had. He was five then, and it became his first documented encounter. But his turning point came at 14, when he spotted a tiger in Bandipur.
Soon after, Ishan joined Rishi Valley School in Andhra Pradesh. Nestled next to a jungle, the boarding school is recognised as a bird sanctuary. “The teachers introduced him to herpetology in a scientific way,” his father, Shanavas, told Metrolife.
In his first week at school, he spotted a thin brown snake — the bronzeback tree snake. Ishan recalls, “I began journalling every sighting and where each animal appeared, and mapping the campus.” These journals later became the foundation of his book, which he has illustrated himself.
Ishan would go on to train at the Kalinga Centre for Rainforest Ecology in Agumbe, where he encountered a king cobra up close. He began work on his manuscript at 19 after joining Ashoka University in Sonipat, where he studied environmental studies, sociology and entrepreneurship. There, he also worked part-time as a Residential Assistant (RA) to fund his research expeditions into the Himalayas, which was a seven-hour bus ride from his university.
His university, which he describes as a “featureless area filled with fields”, turned out to be a revelation. He documented a variety of wildlife there, ranging from migrating birds to the nilgai, Asia’s largest antelope.
Though his work often takes him into jungles and the Himalayas, Ishan remains deeply connected to the cause of local conservation. “There’s so much wildlife in and around Bengaluru,” he says.
‘Initiated into the wild’, on November 12, 6.30 pm, at Bangalore International Centre, Domlur. To RSVP, visit bangaloreinternationalcentre. org