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WOMAN OF THE WEEK

Of canvas and conservation

Meet artist Supraja Dharini, who has a passion for the protection of Olive Ridley and other sea turtles

MAKING A DIFFERENCE Supraja Dharini

Outside, you see Egyptian figures in bas-relief on a wall and a beautifully carved front door. Step into the living room and you find more carved doors, stained glass, ethnic furniture, paintings and rare curios. The flamboyant metal staircase in the middle comes as a surprise. But then, so does artist Supraja Dharini's passion for the care and protection of Olive Ridley and other sea turtles.

What is a Kalakshetra-trained visual artist with a B.Com, PG in Philosophy and PhD in Aesthetics, who does stone and terracotta murals and stained glass panels for corporate and private clients, doing roaming the beaches at odd hours looking for turtle eggs and hatchlings?

"I started my art studio Kalakruti in 1991 but I was a volunteer with the WWF for 20 years," she says. In November 2001, she heard Jane Goodall saying, "Every individual makes a difference to the environment" and decided to do her bit.

At Neelankariakuppam, where she visited her mom, she gathered the village youth, took them to the Croc Bank and told them why they should not kill birds, garden lizards and butterflies. When a sea turtle was washed ashore, she knew the kuppam kids could be the ones to give these animals the protection they needed to procreate.

When the 2002 breeding season started, she got Karthick of Wildlife SOS to talk. With slides to help, he made a pitch about how sea turtles created areas for fish to breed, an action necessary for the community's livelihood. She took the presentation to 11 local schools, circulated photographs in neighbouring villages. She invited the Chief Conservator of Forests, the Chief Wildlife Warden and the Wildlife Warden of Chennai to talk, giving the programme official seal. How would a turtle view all this activity? Listen.

"Hi, I'm a sea turtle. You want me to talk about Supraja akka? With pleasure. I owe my life to her. I am lucky I was born after she started her TREE in 2002. It was brilliant of her to train the youth in the villages of Periya Neelankarai, Injambakkam, Pannayur, Nayanarkuppam-Uthandi and Reddykuppam-Kanathur — a 13-km stretch — to identify places where we lay eggs, build enclosures to protect them and keep a constant watch. Community-based conservation, you know. Once the eggs hatch, the 165 members of her Kadal Aamai Paadukaavalar (KAP) make sure they reach the sea. Get a copy of the pamphlet she distributes about us. Do you attend the peace rally she organises in September?

"Last year, she put her huge cloth doves on boats and took them to sea. An effective way to save sea life. She has been talking to the fishermen too. They now disentangle us when we are caught in draw nets. The nets are no longer adrift. See, we need to come up to breathe every 45 minutes.

The boys now call her the minute they see our tracks on the sand. These are the same boys who used to play "mudugu adi" and cricket with our eggs. Last week, a hawk's bill turtle was washed ashore, its throat slashed by a gill net. Supraja akka was here measuring and photographing it. Sure she'll do something about it.

"Funds for her work to support us? We don't need rice or TV sets or gold. Just old sticks to build an enclosure and baskets to carry hatchlings. Akka gives us her time and her friends pitch in. Want to help? Allow us to come ashore to lay eggs and get the hatchlings into the sea. Keep the dogs away. Do not build any concrete stuff on the beach where we lay eggs. And you, in those fancy houses on the seashore, for heaven's sake, switch off your lights that face the sea. Your lights disturb us. We navigate guided by starlight and moonlight. When akka organises her environment rallies, provide food and water for the boys and girls."

GEETA PADMANABHAN

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