A bird's-eye view
KRIPAKAR AND SENANI
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Tejaswi pursued his interests single-mindedly. He was easily one of the country's best photographer
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COMMITTED One of Tejaswi's pictures; the author with his twin lens camera
Krupakar and Senani, wildlife enthusiasts and photographers, have had great inspiration in Poornachandra Tejaswi. The two have spent a lot of time together with the withdrawn writer, absorbing his way with the birds, fishes and the camera. The duo relive some of the moments they spent with the man and what they made of him.
"Usually passion is not an end in itself. But with Tejaswi it was the be all and end all. The man had such an amazing understanding of birds. He knew the forest around him so well, he could tell all the bird species that lived in them. Tejaswi was an authority on the birds of Malnad. He would wait for hours and hours for the right picture. Andthere was never any monotony in them.
What to us was truly surprising was that he could capture expressions in those birds. According to us, nobody in India has been able to achieve what he has been able to. So much so that, if you talk to them about "expressions" in a bird, they may even scoff at you. He was a photographer of international standards and his pictures were as diverse as his persona.
In 1968, he did a photo essay for Tushara, titled "Megha Malhara". We still think it is one of the finest essays on natural history in the country. He had taken pictures of coffee plantation workers walking home n the incessant rain with areca covers pulled over their heads. They wereso shrouded that it was hard to tell one from the other. Tejaswi talked about this as "identity loss" and how all the Marwari moneylenders in Mudigere went berserk looking for their debtors. The other outstanding photo feature is "Mudirembeya Kadeya Gaana".
Tejaswi wasn't much of a hunter, though he did try to be one in the beginning. On one of his early expeditions he misfired and the bullet brushed past his dear friend. He gave it up completely that very day.
We have tagged along with him on his fishing trips. It was never for the meat. He would sit on the banks of the river from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and would get back without a catch. This was because after studying them from close, he would let them back into water. Manjappa, his local friend who was an M.Sc. in Fisheries, would fill in with all the details about fishes. Yes, at the surface level, Tejaswi was looking for fishes, but his mind was always underwater.
Tejaswi was able to achieve a great communion with nature, and that probably came from his father. He would sit there still, as if in penance. The other great influence on him was Shivaram Karanth, who also admired Tejaswi. In 1998, he had come to Mudigere. There was a cardamom research station and Tejaswi had put him up there. But when Karanth visited Tejaswi house, he insisted he wanted to stay with him.
He was so impressed that he apparently told Tejaswi: `I too wrote science, but that was mostly through translations. But you are someone who writes science from experience. You are the equivalent of live broadcast.'
When Karanth had seen Tejaswi's felicity with technology, he had remarked: `You are the continuation of Shivaram Karanth.'
Tejaswi was a verydifferent man, unlike no other.We have spent several days with him and have been greatly influenced by him. He will continue to be our source of inspiration."
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