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| From Alok Sud |
In March of 2004, I chanced to meet Capt. Suresh Sharma and his lovely wife, Dr Rajbir Kaur, in The Reliance A1 Plaza at Shahpura, on the Delhi-Jaipur highway, where we had stopped for a cup of tea. They were returning from an assignment in Gujarat, in their caravan named `Kingcobra’, which has become a kind of second home to them. It has been over four years now and we have remained in touch. It is his passion for the cause of wildlife and it's conservation, notably snakes, which has led him to do what many of us can never dare to think of, denounce the comfort of a secure job and chase his passion and make a career out of it. This separates Capt. Suresh Sharma from countless others and makes him stand head and shoulder above the rest.
Today I am going to tell his life story. Capt. Suresh Sharma is one of the lucky few to get introduced to the charms of nature while still a toddler. His father used to take him for daily morning walks to a wild patch near their home. Suresh has kept in touch with nature to this day and is now highly passionate about it. His love of nature, photography and travel got him to join Indian Army, which took him to all corners of India.
Capt Suresh served in the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka in 1988 where he came in contact with Satish Bhaskar at Chennai. Satish is well known for his work on marine life, especially sea turtles. This became the turning point in Suresh's life; Satish introduced Suresh to Dr Indraneil Das at The Madras Crocodile Bank, Mammallapuram.
Suresh expressed his curiosity to Satish to get a firsthand look at how wildlife films are produced. At the time, Rom Whitaker, the world famous herpetologist and Shekar Dattatri were filming ‘Silent Valley - An Indian Rainforest'. Suresh met Rom and Shekar and expressed his desire to work as a volunteer on the film’s production to which they readily consented. He applied for ‘leave without pay' from the army and got to work on the film production for three months. He fell in love with filming – ‘love at first sight' as he puts it. He decided to bid farewell to the Indian Army, which he loved the most till his exposure to nature films. It was all for his love of Nature and Photography that he hung his uniform. He worked with Shekar Dattatri on three films, two of which were produced for The National Geographic.
For some personal reasons and unforeseen circumstances, he had to abandon filming career abruptly at its early stages and moved back to Chandigarh. With no job in hand, he faced serious financial hardship for a couple of years but decided not to go back to a ‘Nine to Five’ job. At this point, he decided to remain in touch with nature by starting Nature Conservation through Education, which needed no money to begin and would be his contribution to nature conservation effort. He offered free lectures at schools and colleges. While pursuing his dream of educating people about nature conservation, Suresh felt that people would not come forward till they harbor apprehensions, myths, misconceptions and fears about animals. He saw every individual contribution as vital for conservation. At that time he offered his skill of handling snakes to rescue those snakes that had strayed into houses. He discovered that it was the best way; use snakes to dispel misconceptions about animals; to convey the message of nature conservation through educating people.
Suresh requested his old friend Dr Indraneil Das to be scientific advisor to Snake Cell. In 1999, Suresh met Dr Rajbir Kaur who is a qualified homeopath. He was requested to conduct a program that was coordinated by Rajbir, to educate rural women about snakes and snakebite.
After this program, Suresh suggested that Rajbir work as a volunteer with Snake Cell. Their association grew and soon they were married. With Suresh, Rajbir aims to accomplish their mission to educate people about snakes and save `Ignorant people & Innocent snakes’.
Rajbir handles fund-raising activities and administration. She is an active field member and coordinates all programs of Snake Cell. They devote most of their time in educating and motivating people about nature conservation.
They vie to understand the problems of snakes in human habitations and design better means to educate people and design suitable programmes to train snake handlers. It has been an uphill task and they had to negotiate many obstacles to bring Snake Cell to its present level. They pursue their passion with a missionary zeal. Both have worked tirelessly to raise funds for Snake Cell and have been supported by their friends and well-wishers. They have been producing wildlife T-shirts by hand. These are rated the best in India. They also organize quality nature tours to raise funds. Their baby ‘Snake Cell’ has been successful as is evident by the program being sought after by schools, colleges and other public institutions.
People seek help from Suresh & Rajbir to remove snakes from their houses, offices, factories etc. Since they first met both have been rescuing snakes in and around Chandigarh. So far, they have rescued about 950 snakes from houses, including Common Krait, which is 15 times more poisonous than a cobra and is the deadliest Indian snake. They have so far attended over 1250 emergencies till now. It’s a Free Service 24 Hours a day.
Suresh has also been associated with wildlife film projects including two for the National Geographic Society, USA. This multi skilled army veteran designs and fabricates natural history sets & props for wildlife film shootings under controlled conditions. He also designs cine equipment for wildlife filming.
They have the able support of a highly eminent team of advisors:
Advisor Natural History, Dr Indraneil Das who received his doctorate from the University of Oxford, UK for his work in Ecology. He has conducted fieldwork in many countries in south and south East Asia and is the Chairman of International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) South Asian Reptile and Amphibian Specialist Group. Dr Das has written several books and numerous research papers on wildlife and has described several new species of snakes and lizards. He has also taught at Harvard. Currently, he is conducting scientific research and teaching at the Malaysian University.
Advisor Snakebite, Dr. Ranjan Maheshwari has been working for the rescue of snakes and on snakebite cases for over a decade in Kota in Rajasthan. Kota being surrounded by forests is a good habitat for four of the most lethally venomous snakes found in India. He has been helping in the management of snakebite cases. His pioneering work on "Physiological manifestations under venom interactions" has led to the award of Doctoral degree to him from IIT Roorkee. He has developed an objective method to identify the snake species by studying the bite marks and has published many research papers and delivered many lectures on the subject. He is a referee to many scientific journals. His mission is to reduce the cost of medical management of snakebite, which is vital in saving human lives in the Indian subcontinent. Currently he is the Associate Professor and Deputy Director in Rajasthan Technical University, Kota.
Advisor Environmental Education, D.N. Mazumdar who is a professional manager and director of several companies. He spent his early years hunting, when big game was plentiful throughout India. Long before hunting was outlawed, he gave it up and became an ardent conservationist and served for several years on various committees of World Wildlife Fund (WWF), in Calcutta and Madras. After retiring from a well-known industrial group, he continued his passionate affair with environmental issues by working with an NGO. He authored ‘The Endangered Valley’ for the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 and is fighting to save the Rajaji National Park from further degradation. He resides at Dehradun where, as the Environmental Advisor to the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), he works to bring about awareness for the need of water management.
Advisor Film and Media, Piers Warren is well known throughout the wildlife filmmaking industry as the editor of Wildlife Film News and producer of www.wildlife-film.com - the industry’s information website. Though experienced in various aspects of filmmaking, he has specialized in multimedia productions through his company, Wildeye. He is regularly called upon as an Internet and communication consultant for wildlife film and conservation projects. In 2001 Piers was a final judge at the International Film Festival in Montana, USA and in 2002 at Nature Vision Wildlife Film Festival in Bavaria. In 2002 he produced the book “Careers in Wildlife Film-making”, the only careers guide of its kind. This book is essential reading for those who yearn to get into this pursuit. With a background in biology, education and conservation, he has had a passion for wildlife films and has a wide knowledge of natural history. He is the Vice President and one of the founders of the international organization, Filmmakers for Conservation (FFC), Norfolk UK.
The image of Capt. Suresh Sharma is © Gurbir Singh Brar. To see more images by him visit :
Flickr: gurbir singh brar's Photostream
All other images are © Capt. Suresh Sharma. To see some excellent and highly acclaimed wildlife photographs by Capt. Suresh Sharma and to know more about him and his work please you may visit :
http://www.snakecell.org/
http://www.snakecell.org/blog/
http://www.captsuresh.com/
Today I am going to tell his life story. Capt. Suresh Sharma is one of the lucky few to get introduced to the charms of nature while still a toddler. His father used to take him for daily morning walks to a wild patch near their home. Suresh has kept in touch with nature to this day and is now highly passionate about it. His love of nature, photography and travel got him to join Indian Army, which took him to all corners of India.
Capt Suresh served in the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka in 1988 where he came in contact with Satish Bhaskar at Chennai. Satish is well known for his work on marine life, especially sea turtles. This became the turning point in Suresh's life; Satish introduced Suresh to Dr Indraneil Das at The Madras Crocodile Bank, Mammallapuram.
Suresh expressed his curiosity to Satish to get a firsthand look at how wildlife films are produced. At the time, Rom Whitaker, the world famous herpetologist and Shekar Dattatri were filming ‘Silent Valley - An Indian Rainforest'. Suresh met Rom and Shekar and expressed his desire to work as a volunteer on the film’s production to which they readily consented. He applied for ‘leave without pay' from the army and got to work on the film production for three months. He fell in love with filming – ‘love at first sight' as he puts it. He decided to bid farewell to the Indian Army, which he loved the most till his exposure to nature films. It was all for his love of Nature and Photography that he hung his uniform. He worked with Shekar Dattatri on three films, two of which were produced for The National Geographic.
For some personal reasons and unforeseen circumstances, he had to abandon filming career abruptly at its early stages and moved back to Chandigarh. With no job in hand, he faced serious financial hardship for a couple of years but decided not to go back to a ‘Nine to Five’ job. At this point, he decided to remain in touch with nature by starting Nature Conservation through Education, which needed no money to begin and would be his contribution to nature conservation effort. He offered free lectures at schools and colleges. While pursuing his dream of educating people about nature conservation, Suresh felt that people would not come forward till they harbor apprehensions, myths, misconceptions and fears about animals. He saw every individual contribution as vital for conservation. At that time he offered his skill of handling snakes to rescue those snakes that had strayed into houses. He discovered that it was the best way; use snakes to dispel misconceptions about animals; to convey the message of nature conservation through educating people.
Suresh requested his old friend Dr Indraneil Das to be scientific advisor to Snake Cell. In 1999, Suresh met Dr Rajbir Kaur who is a qualified homeopath. He was requested to conduct a program that was coordinated by Rajbir, to educate rural women about snakes and snakebite.
After this program, Suresh suggested that Rajbir work as a volunteer with Snake Cell. Their association grew and soon they were married. With Suresh, Rajbir aims to accomplish their mission to educate people about snakes and save `Ignorant people & Innocent snakes’.
Rajbir handles fund-raising activities and administration. She is an active field member and coordinates all programs of Snake Cell. They devote most of their time in educating and motivating people about nature conservation.
They vie to understand the problems of snakes in human habitations and design better means to educate people and design suitable programmes to train snake handlers. It has been an uphill task and they had to negotiate many obstacles to bring Snake Cell to its present level. They pursue their passion with a missionary zeal. Both have worked tirelessly to raise funds for Snake Cell and have been supported by their friends and well-wishers. They have been producing wildlife T-shirts by hand. These are rated the best in India. They also organize quality nature tours to raise funds. Their baby ‘Snake Cell’ has been successful as is evident by the program being sought after by schools, colleges and other public institutions.
People seek help from Suresh & Rajbir to remove snakes from their houses, offices, factories etc. Since they first met both have been rescuing snakes in and around Chandigarh. So far, they have rescued about 950 snakes from houses, including Common Krait, which is 15 times more poisonous than a cobra and is the deadliest Indian snake. They have so far attended over 1250 emergencies till now. It’s a Free Service 24 Hours a day.
Suresh has also been associated with wildlife film projects including two for the National Geographic Society, USA. This multi skilled army veteran designs and fabricates natural history sets & props for wildlife film shootings under controlled conditions. He also designs cine equipment for wildlife filming.
They have the able support of a highly eminent team of advisors:
Advisor Natural History, Dr Indraneil Das who received his doctorate from the University of Oxford, UK for his work in Ecology. He has conducted fieldwork in many countries in south and south East Asia and is the Chairman of International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) South Asian Reptile and Amphibian Specialist Group. Dr Das has written several books and numerous research papers on wildlife and has described several new species of snakes and lizards. He has also taught at Harvard. Currently, he is conducting scientific research and teaching at the Malaysian University.
Advisor Snakebite, Dr. Ranjan Maheshwari has been working for the rescue of snakes and on snakebite cases for over a decade in Kota in Rajasthan. Kota being surrounded by forests is a good habitat for four of the most lethally venomous snakes found in India. He has been helping in the management of snakebite cases. His pioneering work on "Physiological manifestations under venom interactions" has led to the award of Doctoral degree to him from IIT Roorkee. He has developed an objective method to identify the snake species by studying the bite marks and has published many research papers and delivered many lectures on the subject. He is a referee to many scientific journals. His mission is to reduce the cost of medical management of snakebite, which is vital in saving human lives in the Indian subcontinent. Currently he is the Associate Professor and Deputy Director in Rajasthan Technical University, Kota.
Advisor Environmental Education, D.N. Mazumdar who is a professional manager and director of several companies. He spent his early years hunting, when big game was plentiful throughout India. Long before hunting was outlawed, he gave it up and became an ardent conservationist and served for several years on various committees of World Wildlife Fund (WWF), in Calcutta and Madras. After retiring from a well-known industrial group, he continued his passionate affair with environmental issues by working with an NGO. He authored ‘The Endangered Valley’ for the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 and is fighting to save the Rajaji National Park from further degradation. He resides at Dehradun where, as the Environmental Advisor to the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), he works to bring about awareness for the need of water management.
Advisor Film and Media, Piers Warren is well known throughout the wildlife filmmaking industry as the editor of Wildlife Film News and producer of www.wildlife-film.com - the industry’s information website. Though experienced in various aspects of filmmaking, he has specialized in multimedia productions through his company, Wildeye. He is regularly called upon as an Internet and communication consultant for wildlife film and conservation projects. In 2001 Piers was a final judge at the International Film Festival in Montana, USA and in 2002 at Nature Vision Wildlife Film Festival in Bavaria. In 2002 he produced the book “Careers in Wildlife Film-making”, the only careers guide of its kind. This book is essential reading for those who yearn to get into this pursuit. With a background in biology, education and conservation, he has had a passion for wildlife films and has a wide knowledge of natural history. He is the Vice President and one of the founders of the international organization, Filmmakers for Conservation (FFC), Norfolk UK.
The image of Capt. Suresh Sharma is © Gurbir Singh Brar. To see more images by him visit :
Flickr: gurbir singh brar's Photostream
All other images are © Capt. Suresh Sharma. To see some excellent and highly acclaimed wildlife photographs by Capt. Suresh Sharma and to know more about him and his work please you may visit :
http://www.snakecell.org/
http://www.snakecell.org/blog/
http://www.captsuresh.com/
http://www.captsuresh.comhttp//www.flickr.com/photos/wildhiss/
5 comments:
Nice story...
This story shows that if you have Desire & Dream of something even that is unusual or unrealistic but you can achieve that if you have Passion and Determination for achieving it and that too with great success & satisfaction.
Inspirational and shows transformation driven by passion.Excellent narration...
'Conservation of snakes' - a highly unusual topic even in generic day to day conversations.
To sacrifice and move out of one's comfort zone and stand for what u believe in , does require lots of conviction and guts.
Kudos to capt suresh sharma. Success is after all a STATE of MIND.
1. It is commendable that you chose a couple working on snakes / wildlife, as your lead story.
2. There are many such people who are contributing to nature in their own small / unique ways.
3. Mrs Sen of CR Park, New Delhi. Her neighbours think she is zara khiski hui. Mrs Sen tirelessly works for Delhi stray animals and runs a shelter in Najafgarh, New delhi.
4. Snehal Bhatt has been working for snakes at Baroda over past 2 decades. Standing at just abover 5 feet, she has shown me how mind is bigger than matter. She has rescued not only snakes but also crocodiles, cows, dogs, donkeys... A few years back when she only had funds to buy a 2-wheeler, she would rescue crocs and take release them in the river 40 kms away, on her 2-wheeler !
Hope that your blog opens windows to many more such examples of courage and vision. Regards.
Nice to see this article today after 13 years ...thanks
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