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“The only biodiversity we’re going to have
left is Coke versus Pepsi. We’re landscaping the whole world one stupid mistake
at a time.” ― Chuck Palahniuk
“I always say that the Earth is not our home,
because the term "home" has the connotation of permanent ownership.
Rather, it is a dormitory where we need to learn to live together by sharing
with each other and caring for one another.” ― Shivanshu K. Srivastava
“Neither Superman nor Captain America is real.
Real heroes who will save our planet are activists and biodiversity savers.”
― Hakan Kapucu
Charles Michael Palahniuk is an American
novelist. Shivanshu K. Srivastava is an accomplished writer, poet and
legal professional based in Lucknow, India. Hakan Kapucu is Technoversal
Leader at VC Law & Consultancy, Istanbul, Turkey. Interestingly, two of the
above quote writers represent the Law fraternity also & the subject of
sharing thought isn’t law making or such (thankfully) yet it has lots of social
law thingy involved in it & how animals are far better on that front than the
humans! And the subject of sharing merges two of my most favourite topics (no,
it’s not tadoba & cricket) i.e. movies & wildlife at large! I bumped
(that’s right word) on a movie named Nilgiris, though the names sounds like of
some beautiful lady (that’s true actually), it’s a documentary film about
Nilgiris mountain ranges which lays in southern peninsula of our country &
joins eastern & western ghats! The name Nilgiris must be because of the bluish
haze its most of the time covered in i.e. Blue Mountains! Well, this is like the way they teach us
geography in school to get marks but such words hardly make us realize the kind
of heaven this place is & they fail to make us know the importance of
Nilgiris in not just our lives but in the lives of thousands of species of
every kind & many of them are found only in these mountains!
At the same time geography textbook words fail to make us realize the scale of
this wonderful heaven & its relation to so many things which makes the
entire world's life a shade better, that’s the object of my sharing!
Well, Nilgiris as I said, is a documentary
made by Indian Technicians, Photographers, Director & all such crew &
first & foremost, hundred percent marks for their efforts in making a film
about this hidden jewel of our country. Hidden I said because, not just the
wild lifers (read as common wild lifers which has good gear of camera &
thinks they know everything about wildlife) but forest dept & lastly our
rulers (do they know ever any such thing, sarcasm) doesn’t know such forest exists
& it’s under great threat (as usual, sarcasm) & problem is because of
its remoteness & lack of tiger sightings, not many are aware about the
damage its being put under! Needleless to say, the threat is none other than we
the humans & reasons are Tea/ Coffee in & plantations around Nilgiris
as well as tourism & so-called developments such as roads, railway lines
& many more. Best part of the movie is the efforts they have put in visuals
of road crossing efforts by Indian Gaurs & CCTV footage of Sloth Bear
entering a vacant farm-house amidst tea estate & a Leopard hunting a
domestic dog from a bungalow’s veranda. All such moments make us know the desperate
efforts which these wild species are trying to keep themselves alive among the
humans which are surrounding their home (and polluting too) from all directions
& these animals have no means to protect themselves but to learn the rules
of human beings & start living by them!
Usually when not many people go to such
wildlife films in movie theatre or talkies & those who goes usually gets
mesmerized by the cinephotography of such films & thanks to NatGeo or
Discovery or Animal Planet, even Indian people have got lot of exposure of
wildlife photography & comparison of all those things are bound to happen
with Nilgiris! I will tell to all of them, please don’t expect exotic
photography of tiger hunting or some underwater diving type shots or chase for
life type drama in Nilgiris! Indeed, there is some wonderful footage of the
drone of a tiger & its unsuccessful hunting as well as rare documentation
of wild dogs’ pack lifestyle but watch Nilgiris for the day-to-day photography
of nature around us & its destruction! This is where Nilgiris is different
& special as it shows us wildlife living right within the humans &
reasons behind it. How these wonderful biodiversity rich mountains/ hill ranges
got under tea & coffee plantation due to British Raaj & how that
changed the core of this habitat, which is core of the film. This one single
aspect is enough to make us know the damage the British have done to our
country & even when they have left us the damage is continued due to the
way they have done it & we are carrying it ahead! British
may have taken away Kohinoor & gold & jewellery from us but that’s one
time loss, the encroachment they did on our culture & nature, we are paying
the price even today for the same & Nilgiris shows this aspect in a naked
crude way to us which till now nobody has shown. As till now the Coorg, Kannur, Madikeri, Uti all these locations are
considered as tourists paradise for the greenery & scenic beauty of the
green hills the coffee/tea plantation resorts offer to the visitors but what
price the surrounding wildlife is paying for this development that no-body has
tried to show, which Nilgiris dared to do! Another
aspect is the way wild animals are adopting to live with humans which not many
urban people are aware of & with the help of local CCTV footage Nilgiris
shows us the scene on the roads of towns here, after the sunset. The way wild
animals have adopted to shrinkage of their homes due to humans is admirable
& sad also, as leopard hunting domestic dog or Indian gaur trying to cross
the road adjusting its vision to floodlights of moving vehicles hits us hard,
if we care for these things a bit in the first place! As well, the way sloth
bear family & leopards have adjusted their own living according to seasonal
changes of human movements in & around tea plantations, is also very touchy
& informative!
Last but not least, Nilgiris is not a mere
film or documentary but it’s a message (read as warning) to the entire man-kind
(especially our country) about the destination we are heading to, under the
name of development which actually is destruction! In Nilgiris’ script it’s not the people, not animals, not trees but
Nature (read as Biodiversity) is in the lead role, rather is the only character
in the entire movie! Nature is also the main lead in our lives but it is
mostly in the background & silent, until it screams! And once nature starts
screaming then we must pay attention & pay the price of these screams also.
Nilgiris also touches on an aspect of
ever-increasing human population about which every ruler & every political
party is silent & has turned a blind eye but nature hasn’t done that! One
day or other if we don’t learn to accommodate the wildlife in our growth then
one thing is sure & that is not development but disaster, I think that’s
the warning Nilgiris has given us! And yes, thanks to Mr.Nandan Nilekani &
his family as they have funded this project & wildlife even awareness needs
lots of money & not many rich people’s pockets are open for this cause
which Mr.Nilekani did, so sincere thanks to him! And thanks to the forest depts
of respective States also for supporting the project! Speaking
about the movie review, all I will say, everybody must watch “Nilgiris”, &
adopt just one aspect of living after watching it & that is, learn to coexist
with wildlife, if you want to live in a world which has butterflies, birds,
flowers, grass, trees, streams & yes tigers too; adios with this note!
-
Sanjay Deshpande
Sanjeevani Dev.
Please view my sharing about finding a Right Home/ Office in Pune, at
YouTube link below & share if liked...
https://youtu.be/27j3I3rwGPQ?si=-ODYBxVI2Dl_C345
Please do visit my blog links below to read
about real estate & home buying!
https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2024/12/right-home-buying-in-2025.html
https://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2024/12/2025.html
Creating Togetherness; team Sanjeevani Way (Click link below)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/albums/72157627904681345
For any of your complaints about city, log in at link below
www.punecorporation.org
Think Green, Think Life
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