‘Rather than assets, we should pass on clean air, water to next generations’

“We think that making assets and passing them on to our next generation is a pursuit. But actually, we need to pass on fresh air and pure water to our next generations,” said B S Krupakar, one among the Krupakar-Senani duo, wildlife photographers and conservationists.

He was speaking during the hybrid session on ‘A Walk on the Wild Side’ held as part of the fifth edition of Mysuru Literature Festival.

Disconnect

Expressing desperation over destruction of forests under the excuse of development, Krupakar said, “Recently, I found Mahatma Gandhi’s picture on a magazine cover in France. His principle of simple lifestyle is relevant even now and is discussed more in foreign countries. If the Western Ghats are mined, they will stop absorbing rainwater and the rivers of the whole of Deccan Plateau will go dry. The world is a spherical web, where every single entity is interconnected. We keep cutting off connections and we do not realise that we have nowhere else to go.”

Recalling why they researched so much on wild dogs or doles and wrote the book ‘Kennaayigala Jaadinalli’, Senani Hegde said, “Some 30-odd years ago, one misty early morning, we saw a pack of wild dogs and followed them. Soon, we saw some local people too running after the pack. When wild dogs hunt and kill, they go away to bring their pups from a hiding place, to eat together. But, generally people steal the kill and the pack goes hungry. The pups often die. That day, after the people stole the meat, the dogs returned. We could see the eyes of the desperate pups. It seemed as though the pups were accusing us, for all the atrocities done by the people. we decided to trail the wild dogs.”

Tribal people

Senani said all the characters in the book were an integral part of their lives. “Those people were shy of meeting strangers. But, they were full of knowledge of the jungle. They could identify different species of quails, just by looking at their tracks in the soil. The tribal people live for the day and do not hoard any assets. They just teach skills to their children, to survive and heal themselves in the forest,” he said.

“The British had kept a bounty on wild dogs because they would hinder their sport hunting being excellent hunters. Thus, their numbers dwindled enormously. Slowly, over the years, their numbers are getting better,” Senani said.

The fifth edition of Mysuru Literature Festival, 2021, second in the virtual format, in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis was held from October 16 to 31, mainly on Saturdays and Sundays. Mysuru Literary Forum and Charitable Trust and Mysuru Book Clubs - 2015 hosted the ‘virtual and hybrid’ series.

Chairperson and director of the festival Shubha Sanjay Urs and Rashmi Ravindra were present.

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