BEHIND THE GLASS

 

"Life has been always thirsty of rediscovering pristine habitats and wild lands. Few destinations were too easy to conquer, while others very challenging in snow and rain. They all became memorable forever. Life has been so much colorful, painted with vivid natural colors beyond imaginations. As I look back today, I find myself so insignificant in this vast world of dynamic ecosystems and beautiful creations.

 

Proud to be a little element of this wonderful World."

 

Born on a Monday, the 13th of March, in the industrial town & coal belt of eastern India – Asansol, Nirmalya Chakraborty is a jungle lover from heart. His passion for wildlife conservation and research on animal behavior has taken him to the darkest depths of the Indian Jungles and hostile ecosystems of the world. Experience has taught him a lot. He rightly and strongly expresses the need to save the entire ecosystem starting from minute creatures from the forest floor to the great elephants. All that can save the dwindling umbrella species – The Royal Bengal Tiger. Corridor protection and buffer enrichment will be the key for tiger survival and growth in future, he rightly knows.  

 

Other fragile habitats like Alaskan Arctic – The Land of the Polar Bears are also exposed to habitat loss due to global warming and live a life on the edge. American Wolves of Yellowstone are also in conflict with humans and are still vulnerable after re-introduction. Conservation efforts and reducing the carbon footprint would be vital.

 

Nirmalya grew up in a family which had great interest in forests, wildlife & scientific research.  From childhood, he is very close to his maternal grandfather who then used to spend a lot of his time among local people and the animals of the harsh jungles of Hazaribagh, Bihar. Nirmalya still clearly remembers his first ‘leopard tracking expedition’ with him when he was merely a kid. Nirmalya’s deep interests in the jungles had already started then. He used to listen to the sounds, songs, signs and colors of the jungle, perfectly taught by his grandfather during that early age. His paternal grandmother was also from town of Daltonganj, the gateway to the jungles of Palamau where ferocious tigers then roared. Childhood stories from her of fleeting sightings of tigers, honey collector’s life and how lost chital fawns picked by villagers were brought to her ’Rajbari’ (Mansion) made a profound effect on Nirmalya’s life.  

 

Nirmalya by profession is a serious Information Risk Manager with a deep commitment to protect and secure sensitive electronic data in the virtual world which beautifully complements protection of wildlife and its habitat. His wondrous mind completely engrossed into the delicate life of the jungle when his life changed completely in 2009 after he made his maiden trip to Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve. There, a sighting of a full family of tigers – male, female and their four sub-adults cubs and how they revealed their lovely tender secret life to him, strengthened his convictions to save the big cat actively from the ground. He with also a strong support from his wife, Suchetana launched the platform – Jungle Rhythms – the place to discover, listen, learn and help the forest and its life.  He launched a FREE electronic wildlife journal – Jungle Rhythms – which reports raw and un-cut research and news of the jungle directly from the ground staff and people who live that life. This journal is specially tuned for the civilian who needs to be aware and step-in case of need. Jungles clearly cannot be protected by the department alone.

 

Nirmalya lives a simple life and is a dedicated conservation awareness driver through wildlife photographic evidences that portraits a ‘different’ look of the jungle. This has been used as a spear head tool for conservation and was found to be very effective.    

 

All photographs here are copyright protected and may not be copied or used for any purpose without permission & documentation.