As a member of the Indian Forest Service, Sunayan Sharma worked for about 40 years to protect Rajasthan’s forests and wildlife sanctuaries. His primary area of expertise is in the management of wildlife. He is credited with restoring the tiger population and revitalizing the Sariska Tiger Reserve. More than 80 of his writings have been published in prestigious national newspapers and journals. He continues to work on animal and nature conservation as the President of the Sariska Tiger Foundation, a cause he is extremely passionate about.

The Kolkata Mail correspondent Priyanka Dutta caught up with the author about his new book Wild Treasures and Adventures: A Forester’s Diary in an exclusive chat. Excerpts..

Tell us something about the book.

Sunayan Sharma- I am a former member of the Indian Forest Service specializing in wildlife management. Though I served the Forest department of the Government of Rajasthan for almost four decades, I have traveled widely and have trekked through practically all the forest-wildlife reserves across India, ranging from the rain shadow forests of the snow-clad high Himalayas to deep coniferous forests and tropical forests of Corbett and Rajaji to the grasslands of Kaziranga and the arid habitats of Rajasthan.

The book is a collection of anecdotes from the experiences I have amassed during my postings and long exhaustive training at different forests and wildlife reserves. As the book’s title suggests, through these stories I have attempted to showcase the beauty and rarity of the wild flora-fauna and old forts, palaces, temple complexes, rivers, lakes, hills, valleys, and grasslands, creating a unique world of nature and its denizens. I believe the total effect is a magical drama of nature, which is supreme and governs everything in this universe.

On one hand, I have shared the challenges that a forester must encounter in day-to-day life while carrying his duties, while on the other hand, I tried to take the reader on the thrilling and exciting journey of these wilderness areas full of frightful but beautiful wild animals and their highly absorbing usual/unusual activities.

Different stories in the collection have different flavors. If in one story I am narrating an account of a deadly encounter with timber smugglers in the teak forests of Mewad, Rajasthan, in another story I have portrayed an honest picture of the lesser known Bhil tribe of Mewad and their socialistic character. One interesting tale revolves around the ruined Bhangarh fort, regarded as one of the most haunted forts in India, and the deserted township of Ajabgarh, all a part of the Sariska Tiger Reserve.

‘Nahar Sati’ is the story of a lady who becomes sati by sitting on the funeral pyre of a tiger, killed by her fellow villagers. Instead of being caught up in the web of testing out the truth behind the story, since I had been in charge of the tiger reserve, in the story I used the opportunity to emotionally motivate potential poachers to give up poaching in this pious jungle being protected by the sacred Sati Mata.

Two stories are set in the swamps of the Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, which serves as a central station on the grand Central Asian flyway, for migratory birds in this part of the globe. Lakhs of birds gather here every winter, from various Central Asian countries, making an arduous trans-Himalayan journey of over 5000km. Also, the vast lakes here host thousands of beautiful multi-colored piscivorous birds to form spectacular, world-famous breeding colonies. For this unique significance, the prestigious title of being a World Heritage Site was bestowed upon the Park by UNESCO, but at the beginning of this millennium, its lakes dried up for want of water supply, attributed to poor management and nasty politics. Also, the Park, especially the lakes, got engulfed with the deadly weed, Prosopisjuliflora. Highly unpleased, UNESCO threatened to withdraw its World Heritage title. These impossible-seeming problems were managed by me as I was posted there as its Director to manage the crisis. This story has been developed, especially in the interest of bird lovers, in the book. 

I ideated ‘Love Life of Heronries’ not merely as a compendium about this peculiar world of birds. The world of breathtakingly beautiful singing birds displaying their fascinating colors and dances mesmerizes and evokes wonder in the partakers of the spectacle. Courtship dances and songs of certain species may even embarrass the most romantic humans and this section also picturizes the beauty and courtship behavior of these winged creatures in the most romantic poetic verse.

I have dedicated this book to my revered teacher and Padma Bhushan recipient Shri Hemendra Singh Pawar—Founder Director of Wildlife Institute Of India, Dehradun, my mentor and an incredible source of support.The Foreword of the book has been given by Shri Ravi Singh, Secretary General and CEO of World Wide Fund(Wildlife)India.

My previous books, Sariska: TheTiger Reserve Roars Again along with its Hindi version, and Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur: Birds in Paradise have received high praise.

What made you write about these stories?

Sunayan Sharma- Though in the last 2-3 decades wildlife tourism has grown manifold in India and abroad, yet there seem to be very few additions to jungle storybooks in the recent past. Even today search for such books stop at literature written by a few well-known hunters like Jim Corbett, Rudyard Kipling, and Kenneth Anderson.

It seems like the ban on hunting in modern India has taken away such literature too along with the hunters. After all, wild flora and fauna have always evoked curiosity in common people and this genuine interest too needs to be catered to.

In 2005, the revelation about the annihilation of tigers in Sariska Tiger Reserve sent shock waves among nature lovers the world over. Powerful committees were formed to enquire into the facts and suggest a revival of the reserve, which recommended restocking the reserve by introducing wild tigers from other reserves. It was being executed for the first time the world over, drawing the attention of scientists and critics alike. Some powerful lobbies tried to sabotage the project, perusing their personal agenda. At this critical juncture, I was posted at Sariska! Obviously, the responsibility loomed heavily on my mind to ensure the success of this mission, given my long experience of heading this reserve earlier. It was a herculean task, especially holding the wild agitated tigers in an open reserve surrounded by villages and infested with the greedy poachers responsible for wiping out the tigers just a few years ago. The author vividly describes the entire operation as full of adventure, thrill, and excitement and even proved to be life-threatening for him and several staffers, tasked with following tigers day and night for their safety and holding them in the safe confines of the reserve. And ultimately they achieved success. Today several other reserves deprived of tigers have revived their glory along the lines of Sariska. I wish to reach out to more readers and take these stories of motivation to them to conserve the beauty of the world around us before it gets too late.

Your earlier books were bestsellers. Does that put more pressure on you while writing this book?

Sunayan Sharma – No, not at all.In fact, the reception I have received from readers for my earlier books has encouraged me to come out with a book, especially for wildlife enthusiasts who haven’t had much exposure to this jungle life. My earlier books, though written for wildlife enthusiasts in general as well, had been chiefly focused on wildlife management and ecology. Whereas, this book in the form of anecdotes is different. Comprising stories based on my first-hand experiences full of adventure and excitement, it is focused not only on merely providing recreation to readers but also to orient them towards Mother Nature, whose nurturing, guiding force despite our constant exploitation of her, is supreme.

You have been an Indian Forest Service Officer. How has this post been helpful in writing the books till now?

Sunayan Sharma- In fact, all three books written by me so far are based on my personal field experiences. And only my job as a forester could provide me with this opportunity. I was basically trained as an engineer and took up this career in forestry later on. After devoting four decades to this job, I can honestly confess that no other career could have given me as much satisfaction as this, providing me with the rarest possible opportunities to explore the wilderness and witness the heavenly drama of nature. Had I not been in this profession, how else could I have been blessed with these possibilities to bring them out in the form of real stories for the benefit of wildlife enthusiasts and professionals?

You have dealt with dangerous animals and smugglers and poachers. Can you tell us some interesting stories of such interactions?

Sunayan Sharma- Cracking on the timber smugglers was my key job during the initial years of my posting in the vibrantly luxurious Mewar forests. I headed several such operations bearing huge risks to life but also full of adventures and excitement. As I mentioned earlier, one of the tales in the collection,‘Encounter with Timber Smugglers’ is based on one such critical operation, which shall give readers an idea about the richness of these jungles and the challenges faced by forest officials while guarding this precious bounty of nature.

Protection of wildlife and its critical habitat in deep jungles like Sariska Tiger Reserve has always been highly challenging. The reserve personnel has to be on their toes day and night against poachers as well as local villagers violating the core areas for cattle grazing and smuggling of all kinds of major-minor forest produce including wood, grass, fruits, honey, etc.

Since tigers and other carnivores are a threat to their livestock, they are always inclined to get rid of them by poisoning these animals or hiring professional shikaris. The vote-hungry politicians are always ready to support such ill elements.  The stories ‘Shikar& Politics’ and ‘High Profile Shikar’ gives a peep into the harsh ground realities full of woes a dedicated forester has to pass through in his otherwise quotidian schedule, mirroring the adversities and problems that the reserve personnel faced to ensure safety and standardized mores of conservation of nature.

Laxity on their part could lead to similar ecological disasters similar to the wiping out of the tiger population that Sariska faced in the year 2004.

The story ‘When Elephants Stopped our Caravan in the Jungle of Kaziranga’ is the story of a close encounter I had with a deadly herd of wild elephants when I was in the Kaziranga National Park. Our entire group comprising 21 officer trainees and faculty of the world-famous Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, along with the Park Director & other officials was attacked and kept hostage by a herd of several unruly elephants. The vision I had for the Kaziranga story ran like an exciting film, depicting the vengeful behavior of elephants and the bravery of the field staff who dared the unruly tusker with a non-functional gun! A challenge is veritably unparalleled. My intention had been to convey a forester’s life aptly­­­—though tough but full of adventures. There is never a dull day.      

‘Tigress in the Fort’ takes the readers on an exciting tour of the Kankwadi Fort located in the heart of the jungle. The historic fort is believed to have been used to keep the Mughal prince Dara Shikoh under arrest by his brother Aurangzeb. It was my first closest possible encounter with tigers, and I have been told that the vivid description of the close-shave encounter I had here with the resident tigress gave goosebumps to readers.

All the stories are close to my heart but ‘An Exciting Tracking through the Bhensota Plateau’ is the closest of all. It not only transports readers to the dense jungles dominated by bamboo thickets but also to an exciting tracking full of thrills and adventures through this typical tiger land in the dark hours of the night. The readers, filled with excitement, can visualize themselves as members of the crew cautiously treading through the rough hilly terrain dominated by tall grasses, drenched in the pouring rain.

Will you be writing more stories about the forests in the future?

Sunayan Sharma- Yes, I do wish to write more such books of stories drawn from my experiences.

Wilderness has got its own magic. Spending time in the wilderness provides real solace and calmness, transporting one to a zone free from worldly worries, at least for the time being.

Several of our forest areas especially the wildlife reserves spread over the entire country are treasure troves of wild flora-fauna and heritage structures like palaces, forts, temple complexes are full of history and I truly believe that archaeological findings are gifts from our ancestors bestowed upon us. In this book, I have tried hard to introduce this invaluable treasure of nature to the readers.

From this perspective this book is unique and may prove motivational to other writers, to seek out different opportunities of exploring jungles.

My books are focused on not merely providing recreation to readers but also orienting them towards Mother Nature. If I succeed in motivating a few readers to appreciate nature as an eternal entertainer and stress buster, apart from being a source of sublime beauty, I shall feel suitably rewarded for the effort I have made in writing this book and those in the womb of the future. I wish to keep marching on this holy mission and writing more and more books if people respond positively.