My Science School

The transportive work of Vincent van Gogh has transposed us through the limits of time and into an era where Impressionist paintings were a statement to be made. While the artist himself may be of post-impressionism, he manages to capture the open composition of the movement perfectly.

Through his swirling brush strokes, the artist would convey his feelings and his state of mind. His belief that there was a power behind nature made him try to capture it through his work. Therefore, he strove to become a painter of rural life and nature.

Van Gogh always aimed to stay within the “guise of reality” which gave his paintings an abstract form. However, he later wrote that at times he might have taken it too far, reality having been set as a background character and being heavily overshadowed by the protagonist: symbolism.

Each artistic development Van Gogh had gone through has been owed to his living across different places in Europe. He took to immersing himself in the local culture and activity, he judged and studied the lighting and implemented in his various paintings. His evolution had been slow, and he was acutely aware of his painterly limitations, yet he kept his individual outlook throughout each work.

He might have been pushed to move often as a coping mechanism when faced with the realities of his current situation, however, it also contributed to his development of his technical skill. Whenever he painted a portrait, he wanted them to endure through the passage of time and would use colors to capture the emotions of each person rather than aim for realism.

 

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Cubism is an artistic movement, created by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, which employs geometric shapes in depictions of human and other forms. Over time, the geometric touches grew so intense that they sometimes overtook the represented forms, creating a more pure level of visual abstraction. Though the movement’s most potent era was in the early 20th Century, the ideas and techniques of Cubism influenced many creative disciplines and continue to inform experimental work.

Picasso attended the School of Fine Arts in Barcelona, where his father taught, at 13 years of age. In 1897, Picasso began his studies at Madrid's Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, which was Spain's top art academy at the time. Picasso attended only briefly, preferring to roam the art exhibits at the Prado, studying paintings of Rembrandt, El Greco, Francisco Goya, and Diego Veláquez.

During this nascent period of Picasso's life, he painted portraits, such as his sister Lola's First Communion. As the 19th century drew to a close, elements of Symbolism and his own interpretation of Modernism began to be apparent in his stylized landscapes.

In 1900, Picasso first went to Paris, the center of the European art scene. He shared lodgings with Max Jacob, a poet and journalist who took the artist under his wing. The two lived in abject poverty, sometimes reduced to burning the artist's paintings to stay warm.

Before long, Picasso relocated to Madrid and lived there for the first part of 1901. He partnered with his friend Francisco Asis Soler on a literary magazine called "Young Art," illustrating articles and creating cartoons sympathetic to the poor. By the time the first issue came out, the developing artist had begun to sign his artworks "Picasso," rather than his customary "Pablo Ruiz y Picasso."

 

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Nearly 500 years after his death, Leonardo da Vinci still remains the most well-known Renaissance Man. A jack of all trades, his masterful combination of art with math and science gave birth to plenty of inventions. As an artist, his masterpieces such as the Last Supper, Mona Lisa, and the Vitruvian Man, remain religious and cultural icons to this day. Discover the life and works of The Master, fall in love with his brilliance, and decode his genius with our top picks.

Leonardo da Vinci is probably the best-known Renaissance artist, famous for his masterworks The Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. The classic “renaissance man,” da Vinci was not only an artist but also an inventor, scientist, architect, engineer, and more. His innovative techniques included layering of paints, precise attention to light, shadow, and human form, and a detailed eye for expression and gesture — the last of which has led to endless speculation over the impassive face of the Mona Lisa. His famous sketch known as The Vitruvian Man is shown to the right.

In 1472 Leonardo was accepted into the painters’ guild of Florence, but he remained in his teacher’s workshop for five more years, after which time he worked independently in Florence until 1481. There are a great many superb extant pen and pencil drawings from this period, including many technical sketches—for example, pumps, military weapons, mechanical apparatus—that offer evidence of Leonardo’s interest in and knowledge of technical matters even at the outset of his career.

 

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Sartre postulated that past awarded winners did not represent equally all ideologies and nations, and was concerned that his work would be unjustly and undesirably misinterpreted by rightist circles who would criticize “certain past errors.”  Sartre, himself, disagreed with particular laureates of past awards, including, interestingly enough, Boris Pasternak who also refused the Nobel Prize in literature in 1957, though for different reasons.  

But the refusal was not a theatrical or “impulsive gesture,” Sartre wrote in a statement to the Swedish press, which was later published in Le Monde. It was consistent with his longstanding principles. “I have always declined official honors,” he said, and referred to his rejection of the Legion of Honor in 1945 for similar reasons. 

There was another reason as well, an “objective” one, Sartre wrote. In serving the cause of socialism, he hoped to bring about “the peaceful coexistence of the two cultures, that of the East and the West.” (He refers not only to Asia as “the East,” but also to “the Eastern bloc.”)

Boris Pasternak, the Russian author, said to-day that he had "voluntarily" changed his mind about accepting the Nobel Prize and had done so without having consulted even his friends. He told me at his villa ten miles outside Moscow that he had thought over the reaction to the award and decided fully on his own to renounce it.

This morning he wrote in pencil a brief telegram of explanation to the Swedish Academy, carried it himself to the local post office, and so informed the world. The telegram read:

"Considering the meaning this award has been given in the society to which I belong, I must reject this undeserved prize which has been presented to me. Please do not receive my voluntary rejection with displeasure. - Pasternak."

 

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The Nobel Prize in Literature 2020 was awarded to Louise Glück "for her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal."

Born in New York City in 1943, Glück grew up on Long Island and from an early age was drawn to reading and writing poetry. Her parents read her classical mythology as bedtime stories, and she was transfixed by the tales of Greek gods and heroes — themes she would later explore in her work. She wrote some of her earliest verses when she was 5, and set her mind to becoming a poet when she was in her early teens. She struggled with anorexia as a teenager, a disease she later attributed to her obsession with purity and achieving control, and almost starved herself to death before eventually recovering through therapy.

She began taking poetry workshops around that time, and attended Sarah Lawrence College and later Columbia University, where she studied with the poet Stanley Kunitz. She supported herself by working as a secretary so that she could write on the side. In 1968, she published her first collection, “Firstborn.” While her debut was well received by critics, she wrestled with writers’ block afterward and took a teaching position at Goddard College in Vermont. Working with students inspired her to start writing again, and she went on to publish a dozen volumes of poetry.

Glück’s verses often reflect her preoccupation with dark themes — isolation, betrayal, fractured family and marital relationships, death. But her spare, distilled language, and her frequent recourse to familiar mythological figures, gives her poetry a universal and timeless feel, said the critic and writer Daniel Mendelsohn, the editor at large for The New York Review of Books.

 

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To date, the youngest Literature Laureate is Rudyard Kipling, best known for The Jungle Book, who was 41 years old when he was awarded the Literature Prize in 1907.

Kipling’s father, John Lockwood Kipling, was an artist and scholar who had considerable influence on his son’s work, became curator of the Lahore Museum, and is described presiding over this “wonder house” in the first chapter of Kim, Rudyard’s most famous novel. His mother was Alice Macdonald, two of whose sisters married the highly successful 19th-century painters Sir Edward Burne-Jones and Sir Edward Poynter, while a third married Alfred Baldwin and became the mother of Stanley Baldwin, later prime minister. These connections were of lifelong importance to Kipling.

Kipling returned to India in 1882 and worked for seven years as a journalist. His parents, although not officially important, belonged to the highest Anglo-Indian society, and Rudyard thus had opportunities for exploring the whole range of that life. All the while he had remained keenly observant of the thronging spectacle of native India, which had engaged his interest and affection from earliest childhood. He was quickly filling the journals he worked for with prose sketches and light verse.

In 1907 he received the Nobel Prize for Literature, the first Englishman to be so honoured. In South Africa, where he spent much time, he was given a house by Cecil Rhodes, the diamond magnate and South African statesman. This association fostered Kipling’s imperialist persuasions, which were to grow stronger with the years. 

 

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The Nobel Prize in Literature 1909 was awarded to Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf "in appreciation of the lofty idealism, vivid imagination and spiritual perception that characterize her writings."

Selma Lagerlöf (1858-1940) was born in Östra Emterwik, Värmland, Sweden. She was brought up on Mårbacka, the family estate, which she did not leave until 1881, when she went to a teachers’ college at Stockholm. In 1885 she became a teacher at the girls’ secondary school in Landskrona. She had been writing poetry ever since she was a child, but she did not publish anything until 1890, when a Swedish weekly gave her the first prize in a literary competition and published excerpts from the book which was to be her first, best, and most popular work. Gösta Berlings Saga was published in 1891, but went unnoticed until its Danish translation received wide critical acclaim and paved the way for the book’s lasting success in Sweden and elsewhere. In 1895 financial support from the royal family and the Swedish Academy encouraged her to abandon teaching altogether. She travelled in Italy and wrote Antikrists mirakler (1897) [The Miracles of Antichrist], a novel set in Sicily. After several minor works she published Jerusalem (1901-1902) [The Holy City], a novel about Swedish peasants who emigrated to the Holy Land and whom she had visited in 1900. This work was her first immediate success.

 

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The board of Bengal, Rabindranath Tagore was the first Indian to receive a Nobel Prize, one of the highest honours in the world. He won the prize in the Literature category in 1913 for his poetry collection “Gitanjali”.

Born in 1891 in Calcutta (now Kolkata), Tagore was well known for his poetry, songs, stories, dramas, which included portrayals of people’s lives, philosophy and social issues.

Born in a wealthy family, Tagore was home-schooled, but went to England to study further. A few years later, he returned to India without a formal degree. While managing his family’s estates, he got a closer look at the impoverished rural Bengal. A friend of Mahatma Gandhi, Tagore participated in India’s struggle for independence. In fact, the national anthem that we sing today is one of the many stanzas of hymn composed by Tagore.

While he originally wrote in Bengali, Tagore reached out to a wider audience by translating his works into English. “Gitanjali” is a collection of more than 150 poems, which includes Tagore’s own translations of some of his Bengali poems. It was originally published in Bengali in 1910 and in English in 1912, with a preface by English poet W.B. Yeats. Some of Tagore’s acclaimed works include “Ghare Baire” (“The Home and the World”); “Sesher Kabita” (“Farewell My Friends”). “Kabuliwala”, “Gora”, “My Boyhood Days”, “Gitabitan, “and “The Post Office”.

Following the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre in 1919, Tagore returned his Knighthood for Services to Literature, which g=he was awarded in 1915.

Through his ideas of peace and spiritual harmony, the Nobel Laureate paved a new way of life based on his ideals of Brahmo Samaj. His contribution to education too is unparalleled. He founded the Visva Bharti University in Santiniketan, focusing on developing the child’s imagination and promoting stress-free learning.

Tagore passed away in 1941 at the age of 80.

 

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Bestselling author Neil Gaiman's Sandman comic series is set to be adapted into a Netflix series in 2021. The upcoming adaptation will take on a more modem approach to Gaiman's best-selling graphic novel series, which ran for 75 issues from 1989 to 1996.

The fantasy series followed the adventures of Morpheus, or Dream, the Lord of the Dream World. The 11 episode series will focus on Morpheus after being imprisoned for 105 years as he sets out to restore order to his fallen kingdom and return to his realm.

Gaiman, who is co-creating the series, has been dropping hints on social media about what fans can look forward to in the series Gaiman will take on the role of co-creator for the series

Author bio

Hailed as the modem master of fairytales, Gaiman's work spans across genres and formats. He has written novels, short stories, non-fiction, graphic novels, comic books as well as audio theatre and films. His books appeal to adults and children alike.

"Sandman" begins

Gaiman started his career as a journalist reviewing books, before timing to writing full-time. One day while riding a train in London, he noticed a co passenger reading a comic by Alan Moore. The quirky style sparked his interest in comics and he started writing "Sandman" comics.

Popular works

 "Coraline": Published in 2002, this dark fantasy children's novella by Neil Gaiman is popular with children and adults alike. It traces the journey of the protagonist and the many adventures that are thrown up once she moves into a new flat.

"Good Omens": Written with acclaimed author Terry Pratchett, Good Omens is a comedy about the birth of Satan and the nearing of the end times. The apocalypse is near and so is the day of judgement. It is a delight to read the way things unfold thereafter.

"The Graveyard Book": The novel traces the story of a boy who was raised by ghosts and vampires. It is up to the protagonist to gather the meaning of life living among the dead.

 

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With lives getting busier and attention spans getting shorter long meandering fiction is a luxury few can afford. This has increased the popularity of microfiction. Stories written with extremely short word counts, often as little as 50 words, "Microfiction is here to stay." Meenakshi Gautam Chaturvedi, an internationally acclaimed author tells The Hindu In School.

Based in Mumbai, Chaturvedi writes across genres. Her new book The Moon Cake" is a read aloud picture book, a vividly illustrated fairy tale which introduces children to nature besides kindling their curiosity to ask questions. Chaturvedi is also the author of "The Runaway Moon", "The Corporate Jungle Book", "Tales from Bushland", and Tales of Phoolpur."

A graduate in Zoology from the Institute of Science, Nagpur, she won a University Grants Commission Junior Research Fellowship and took up research for two years, but she wanted to do more than just dissect animals. While in college, she wrote her first piece of fiction, which was published in a local newspaper. She relocated to Mumbai and began her copywriting career with Lintas.

Having written across varied media from television commercials and radio to novels, Chaturvedi considers microfiction to be the future of children's literature.

In a candid chat the author talks about her love for writing and the rise of microfiction.

How did you get your start in writing? Were you a bookworm in school?

I guess I was born to write, only I discovered it much later. I remember reading up anything and everything that I could find including the writing on paper bags. When I was a child, I saw the "Adventures of Peter Pan" (by J.M Bamie) displayed in a showcase at a bookstore in Kashmir. I was in Class III. When my parents refused to buy it. I remember throwing a tantrum something I rarely did as a child. in school, I was a total bookworm. I would walk across from one end of the school to the other to spend the mid morning breaks in the library. I would finish reading all my English course books as soon as I got my hands on them.

However, coming from a family of doctors. (my great grandfather was a Rai Bahadur, a civil surgeon) I was supposed to opt for science and I did. Even won a UGC fellowship and spent two years on research. Later following my heart. I took up writing women's and children's fiction and started my professional career as a copywriter with Lintas. But continued to write on my Commutes to work.

What is microfiction? Is microfiction the future of literature, especially with attention spans shrinking?

To cut a long story short microfiction comes straight to the point giving the essence of the story or a life-changing experience. Microfiction is here to stay. As lives get busier and people are pressed for time, long meandering fiction is a luxury few can afford. So yes, microfiction is the future.

You write across multiple genres. Why did you choose to write microfiction?

In my early years of writing. I was always in a hurry to reach the conclusion of a story. So microfiction suited me best. It was much later that I began writing novels. However, literary microfiction is only one aspect of my writing. I mostly switch genres to overcome writers block. I feel I haven't lived the day if I don't write.

The current COVID-19 pandemic is sure to have far reaching effects on the human mind and behaviour. Has it affected the way you write?

I think authors are one of the few people who have been least affected by the pandemic Since writers are anyway used to staying indoors and writing, the lockdown didn't make much of a difference to us. I am addicted to writing and I can write anytime, anywhere. I once came up with an idea for a story when I was in the Intensive Care Unit for dengue. In semi-conscious state, I heard the doctor say that my dengue could lead to a haemorrhage, but I was busy thinking about how terrorism is like young blood going into wrong places. The moment I was shifted to the ward I asked for my laptop and started writing

What are you working on currently?

After "The Moon Cake: A Fairy Tale". I am currently working on another picture book titled "Corona and the Little Girl and I am planning to work on a graphic novel next.

 

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The genius in the wheelchair

When Stephen Hawking was 21, he was given only a few years to live after being diagnosed with a rare form of motor neurone disease. Undaunted, Hawking made breakthroughs in quantum physics and cosmology with his "The Theory of Everything" and his work on black holes. Although a number of biographies have been written about the genius, a new memoir gives an affectionate account of Hawking and his indomitable spirit.

Written by Leonard Mlodinow, who worked closely with Hawking for nearly 11 years and co-authored two bestselling books with him ("A Briefer History of Time" and "The Grand Design"), "Stephen Hawking - A Memoir of Physics and Friendship gives fresh insights into Hawking's character and his famous sense of adventure and fun.

A daredevil

Hawking was born on January 8, 1942 in Oxford. At 17, he won a scholarship to study at University College, Oxford. Despite his brilliance in academics, Hawking hated studying. According to his own estimates, he studied for only 1,000 hours during his three undergraduate years at Oxford. Once he even joined the college boat dub. But earned himself a daredevil reputation as he steered his crew on risky courses that often damaged boats.

Living with a rare disease

After being diagnosed with a rare form of motor neurone disease known as ALS, Hawking sunk into depression. Though the disease progressed slowly, it began to interfere with his daily activities, and his condition worsened in 1985 during a trip to Cern. Hawking underwent a tracheotomy, which saved his life but destroyed his voice. He started using a voice synthesiser.

The early diagnosis of the terminal disease ignited a sense of purpose in Hawking and he embarked on his career in earnest. He pursued his work with black holes and relativity with new zest. In 1988, Hawking published "A Brief History of Time, which turned him into an instant icon.

Writing for children

Hawking and his daughter Lucy came up with a series of illustrated books to explain the "secret keys to the universe" to young readers. The books deal with complex topics, including the Big Bang, black holes, atoms. planets and their moons, in the form of space adventures embarked on by junior astronaut George and his best friend Annie. The series helped simplify cosmology for children.

Love for adventures

Hawking enjoyed his fame, taking many opportunities to travel and to have unusual experiences such as going down a mine shaft visiting the south pole and undergoing the zero-gravity of free fall, and to meet other distinguished people.

Legacy

Hawking died at his home in Cambridge on March 14, 2018, at the age of 76. In the same year in June, Hawking's words, set to music by Greek composer Vangelis, were beamed into space from a European Space Agency satellite dish in Spain with the aim of reaching the nearest black hole 1A 0620-00.

 

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He did indeed. Or more accurately, he pushed a needle behind his eye and with it, indented the sclera. The needle never entered the eye.

By doing so, he stimulated his retina in many spots and noted a "phosphene" or glowing spot that resulted from the pressure. From this he was able to "map" his own retina against where he saw the spots. This map conformed to the map on the back of a rabbit's retina that he made by shining light from a window, through a pinhole, into the rabbit's eye that had an opening cut away from the sclera allowing him to see into the rabbit's eye.

And thus Newton showed how the rays of light enter our eye by an optical system now called the camera design. And how the retina represents the outside world but with inversion (up is down and left is right).

Newton was a dedicated scientist who was willing to accept some pain and personal risk to satisfy his curiosity.

 

Credit : Quora

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Whether it is the wicked Captain Hook or the swashbuckling Jack Sparrow, pirates and their seafaring adventures make for gripping stories and action-packed films. But how well do you know the man who popularised pirates and their colourful attire in fiction?

Meet Robert Louis Stevenson, a prolific Scottish writer and poet who shaped our perception of pirates with his acclaimed book Treasure Island. Remember Long John Silver, one of its main characters, with a wooden leg. Eye-patch and a shrewd parrot sitting on his shoulder, who became the face of the quintessential seafaring bandit

Early life

Stevenson was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on November 13, 1850. His family was in the business of lighthouse engineering and so his vacations were often spent on sea voyages to inspect lighthouses on exotic islands around Europe. This kindled in him a desire for travelling and adventures, which stayed with him for the rest of his life.

On a treasure hunt

Stevenson was confined to bed frequently due to his poor health - he suffered from chronic bronchitis (possibly tuberculosis). While he could no longer embark on expeditions himself, it did not stop him from dreaming about adventures. Using his imagination, he came up with some of his best stories during this period most notably "Treasure Island”, "Kidnapped." The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." and "The Black Arrow

He hit upon the idea for "Treasure Island" while drawing a map for his 12-year-old stepson. He conjured up a pirate adventure story to accompany the drawing. The story got published in a boys magazine and was an instant hit. By the end of the 1880s, it was one of the period's most popular and widely read books. It gave Stevenson his first real taste of success. The character of Long John Silver was inspired by a real person - Stevenson's friend, William Henley, who was an energetic and talkative man with a wooden leg.

Exploring the human mind the inspiration for another one of his great works, "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", the spine-chilling tale of a person with a split personality, came to him in a feverish dream. When he woke up, he could still remember the first few scenes, including the first transformation scene. Building on these sketches, he penned the masterpiece. The novel became so popular that today, the phrase "Jekyll and Hyde" has entered the dictionary to refer to people with an unpredictably dual nature.

DID YOU KNOW?

• Following the Stevenson trail: Stevenson went on a 12-day solo trek through the sparse and impoverished areas of the Cevennes mountains in south-central France. He hiked for nearly 200 km through barren rocky hillsides with a donkey - he named Modestine - as his only companion. He recounted his journey in "Travels With a Donkey in the Cevennes" It is one of the earliest accounts that presents hiking and camping outdoors as a recreational activity. Even today, hikers -sometimes with donkeys - retrace his route, which is now an official French footpath, the GR70 also known as the Stevenson Trail.


• His legacy lives on: In June 1888, Stevenson chartered the yacht Casco and set sail with his family from San Francisco. He wandered around the Pacific before settling down in the Samoan Islands. The locals fondly called him Tusitala ("Teller of Tales) and consulted him on all important matters. On December 3, 1894, Stevenson died of a cerebral haemorrhage at the age of 44. The Samoans carried their Tusitala on their shoulders and buried him near Mount Vaea, on a spot overlooking the sea, with a requiem, Here he lies where he longed to be: Home is the sailor, home from sea inscribed on his grave. The Samoans loved him so much that this requiem has been translated into a song of grief, which continues to be sung in Samoa.

 

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Tales from a galaxy far, far away....

On May 25, 1977, a low-budget science fiction film opened in just 32 movie theatres across the United States. The film. Packed with strange characters such as lightsaber-wielding Jedis and Wookiees, surprisingly caught the public imagination and broke all box office records across the country. That film was none other than the cult classic "Star Wars".

Forty-three years later, the space saga is still going strong with Disney's film and television adaptations. But what exactly did filmmaker George Lucas have in mind when he conceived this timeless series and what did he intend for its characters in the future? That's exactly what a just "Star Wars" companion book "Star Wars Fascinating Facts" written by Pablo Hidalgo reveals.

Disney's film adaptations of "Star Wars" have received mixed reviews from fans over the years. One of the most debated topics was Luke Skywalkers death in director Rian Johnson's 2017 film 'The Last Jedi". It showed the Jedi fading away after expending all his energy. Much to the surprise of the fans, Hidalgo's book states that Lucas loo wanted to kill the character in his original plan for "Star Wars 8" (also known as Episode VIII), which was set Around the same time as that of the film.

Who was George Lucas?

George Lucas Walton Jr. was born in a small town of Modesto in California on May 14, 1944. From a young age. Lucas wanted to become a professional race car driver. But a near fatal car racing accident altered his aspirations and forced him to pursue other interests. He began filming car races, which gradually got him interested in filmmaking. He created classics such as Star Wars" and "Indiana Jones”.

In 1971, he founded Lucasfilm, the parent company of the Pixar Animation Studios. Many of Pars creative geniuses used to work at Lucasfilm.

How it began

Contrary to the science fiction films of the time. Lucas wanted to make something light for young adults. So. he began working on the space drama Star Wars". But its production proved to be tumultuous. From budget constraints and health issues to natural disasters, Lucas had to overcome several odds along the way. On the first day of filming "A New Hope", a huge Tunisian storm destroyed the set and delayed shooting and some of the electronic equipment malfunctioned. To make matters worse, actor Mark Hamil was injured in an accident towards the end of production. That's not all, Lucas had an equally tough time finding producers for the film. It was turned down by major studios such as United Artists and Universal But an undeterred Lucas finally managed to convince 20th Century Fox to invest in the film.

OH REALLY?

"Star Wars" and "Indiana Jones" became two of the world's most successful film franchises, paving the way for the others such as "Harry Potter and "Marvel". Today, Lucas is worth an estimated $6.1 billion. But in 2010, the billionaire signed the Giving Pledge, which is a promise to give away half his wealth. During his lifetime. He was particularly interested in donating it to the cause of education.

 

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Have you seen my pet?' a teenage Romulus Whitaker went knocking door to door in his apartment complex in Bombay (today's Mumbai).

What sort of a pet? One neighbour asked kindly, probably thinking of a cat, dog or some such.

A python,' Rom answered, with a straight face.

The neighbours eyes widened, and words caught in his throat.

It's non-venomous.' explained Rom, patiently.

Rom retells the story, while sitting in his house in Tamil Nadu, with a twinkle in his eyes. 'Ah, non-venomous. As though that makes a big difference! A snake is a snake.

City slickers are not very kind towards species that they ve only read about and don't really know personally."

Fortunately for his neighbours, Rom found his missing pet snoozing under an old trunk in the storeroom in his own house, and so, 1 had to literally go back to every house and tell them.' Little did his neighbours know that the teenager would go on to become one of India's foremost herpetologists earning him the title, Paambu kaara ('snake man in Tamil).

Romulus Earl Whitaker III has been working in reptile conservation for over half a century, but his heart still races when he sees a King Cobra. In fact, decades of hard work hasn't dulled his passion or enthusiasm for the subject and the species.

Rom has worked with scientists, educationists, students and conservationists in India and all across the world on several projects: crocodile recovery programmes, radio telemetry studies on the Gharial and King Cobra, snake venom collection and rodent control by indigenous people. Breeding biology of pythons and King Cobras, field surveys to determine conservation status of reptiles, and popularising conservation biology through writings, talks and films.

Rom moved to India when he was seven with his mother Doris Norden and stepfather Rama Chattopadhyay, son of social reformer and freedom fighter Kamaladevi and poet Harindranath. After high school, Rom went to college briefly in the U.S. and served in the U.S. army for two years during the Vietnam War, working in the army hospital and assisting the medical team in Japan. Rom trained at the Miami Serpentarium from 1963 to 1965, and returned to India because he knew he wanted to work with reptiles.

His career is dotted with many firsts:

1969: Rom set up the Madras Snake Park, India's first reptile park.

1972: Rom started the first sea turtle walks in India. Volunteers would walk the coast and transplant eggs to hatcheries to safeguard them.

Early 1970s: Rom carried out the first Gharial survey in the Chambal Valley. This work helped convince the government of India to create six new river sanctuaries for this endangered species, and a national conservation programme, Project Crocodile, was established. 1975: Rom conducted India's first survey of crocodiles Finding out that crocodile populations were dwindling spurred him and his former wife, children's author Zai Whitaker, to start the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust (MCBT) in 1976, with three field research and conservation stations on the Chambal river, the Agumbe rainforest and the Andaman Islands,

Rom was instrumental in bringing about the creation of five iconic Protected Areas (where human occupation and exploitation of natural resources are limited or banned), These are Silent Valley National Park in Kerala, Guindy National Park and Palani Hills National Park in Tamil Nadu. Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve in the Indian Ocean and the Great Nicobar Island Biosphere Reserve in the Nicobar Islands.

The Madras Crocodile Bank Trust

The MCBT was set up by Rom and zai. They met through their joint desire to protect Silent Valley.

The Indian wing of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) was set up in 1969 by Zai's father, Zafar Futehally. While working there as a volunteer, Zai read an article by Rom about Silent Valley. Silent Valley is a perfect example of (a] true rainforest with all the wealth of animals and plants that make it up... As humble observers of this great expanse of rainforest we also know that it is just a tiny valley when compared to what has already been deforested in the name of "economic and technological progress... HOW many dam projects could be best done in biotopes less vitally important to keep intact? (published in the WWF newsletter November 1973).

Deeply moved, Zai and her sister petitioned Salim Ali, their unde and India's foremost omithologist, who headed the Bombay Natural History Society at the time. They urged him to write to the then prime minister Indira Gandhi to stop the dam construction. He shooed us away! Laughed Zai. But we drafted and redrafted a letter and he signed and sent it. And Indira Gandhi put a stop to it.

Three years later, they set up the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust (MCBT) together, of which their elder son Nikhil is the curator. Zai, who is the joint director of MCBT, said people thought they were crazy to set up a centre in the middle of nowhere, 'Back then it was just a bare sandy stretch with few casuarina trees ... we walked out one day and an Olive Ridley Turtle was laying eggs by the gate; there were sea snakes on the shore, and jackals and foxes at night.

Parselmouth

Rom, Zai and their team also partnered with the Irulas, an indigenous community from Tamil Nadu known for their skill in finding and handling snakes, to set up the Inula Snake Catchers Cooperative Society in 1978, and they worked with the community for three decades. The Irulas extract venom from snakes, which is needed to make antivenom to treat snakebites, thus saving many human and snake lives. This is crucial, as according to one estimate, some 46,000 snakebite deaths occur annually in India. (Ironically, Rom is allergic to antivenom.) Many years later, Zai would write "Kali and the Rat Snake" (Tulika Books), a story about an Irula boy whose classmates find him strange. She also wrote the script for the multilingual award winning film, "The Boy and the Crocodile," which was directed by Rom.

Rom attributes a lot of his knowledge of snakes to the Irulas, and continues to be amazed. At how good they are at tracking snakes, especially how they can tell whether the snakes are venomous or not simply by looking at their tracks on the ground. Rom has had a special interest in snakes from the time his mother got him "The Boys Book of Snakes when he was four. It was basically about American snakes but it helped a lot.' said Rom. First of all, it told her that there are no venomous snakes where we lived in northern New York state, which is helpful. No matter what I picked up, I might get a bite but I'm not gonna get a venomous bite. So she was pretty cool with that.'

When Rom was studying in Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu, he ferried his pet python to school by train in a vegetable basket, and stored him under his bed in the dormitory in a box. He warned the cleaners not to bother with the box. He would take him out to bask in the sunlight while his friends read and played. He picked up snakes whenever he spotted one, read about them and wrote to herpetologists asking for tips on taking care of the reptiles.

It was in school that he came across a green coloured pit viper. He sensibly spoke to his biology teacher rather than hiding the snake under his bed. Luckily, this guy was okay, recalled Rom. He said, I know it's venomous. We also know that it's not a fatally venomous creature and we are not going to let anyone handle it' He put it in a terrarium and kept it for a while, until I decided to let it go. So it was a series of people who encouraged me along the way. Or didn't discourage me, let's put it that way.

Life with crocodiles Rom first met a crocodile when he was fifteen: used to go fishing, with one of the guys who "I worked at my stepfather's motion picture lab, an old German guy, Schroder. Shammi Kapoor (actor) and people like that now old timers, loved fishing too. We'd fish from these so-called machans, which were floating on Powai Lake. We'd fish all night. We'd go in the evenings, spend the whole night nodding off fishing for katla and rohu. One evening. I saw a croc on the surface. And it just disappeared under the water, and I was like, wow! It was like the first dinosaur I'd ever seen."

Rom started researching crocodiles by talking to people.

Many people hated crocodiles, as they did leopards and tigers, because they were predators. Luckily, Rom knew otherwise.

Gharials, he discovered, had evolved with the dinosaurs, which means they have spent some 150 million years on this planet. Also, that birds are highly modified reptiles, which is why birds get a little bit of space in Rom's life.

Life with many animals Rom has a pet Emu called Neelakantan, named after his brother, and because the bird develops a blue mane during the breeding breeding season (neela: blue; kanta: throat). Neelakantan can be friendly or can make enemies in an instant.

'I wasn't into conservation,' said Rom. People give me that label and I still cringe a little bit. It just seems like a natural part of what you do, is to have that attitude towards life. It's not a special little branch of a tree which you sit out on, and say I am a conservationist. You just live your life that way. And if everyone did, it would help the world a lot.

But Rom credits his single-minded approach for his success. I still get excited at seeing a snake, he said, pointing around his garden in Tamil Nadu, if a snake pops up over there, which is very possible. There's a cobra, there's a Rat Snake, there are lots of vine snakes living here. And when I see one, I still get a real good feeling."

"Humans are not comfortable with creatures they know little about and if there is one thing those of us who like reptiles (and all wild creatures) can do to help them it's to get people to know and appreciate them.' said Rom. He has spent years understanding the King Cobra's biology and his efforts, by way of his writings, research and films, have helped building people's tolerance towards the snake. The first instinct to kill on sight has given way to observe and understand the snake instead.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Learn everything there is to about reptiles. Start with "Snakes of India: The Field Guide by Romulus Whitaker and Ashok Captain.

• Once you know how fascinating they are, it's easy to protect them. If there are venomous snakes in your area, don't disturb them. Instead, tell an adult and call the local wildlife department or people who work with animals to rescue them.


• Become a snake myth-buster. Cartoonist Rohan Chakravarty has written a comic book, "Making Friends with Snakes (But From a Distance)", based on Rom's film. It's got everything for you to become a know-it-all.

MORE CHAMPIONS WORKING WITH REPTILES

1. Ashok Captain, a Pune-based herpetologist, is so cool that he has two snakes named after him: Ashok's Bronzeback Tree Snake and Captain's Wood Snake! In 2019, he described a new snake species, the Arunachal Pit Viper. He's co-authored Snakes of India: The Field Guide with Rom. Usually he's found on a bicycle (he used to cycle competitively), and when off it he's counting snake scales.

2. Vijaya was perhaps India's first female herpetologist. She trained with Rom and in the early 1980s she documented mass hunting and slaughter of sea turtles. Her photographs caught the attention of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi, who created rules to conserve the species and instructed the coast guard to stop sea turtle captures. Vijaya lived alone for many months in a cave in Kerala while studying the Forest Cane Turtle, when she passed away under unknown circumstances. After 19 years, the turtle species she was studying was named Vijaycheles silvatica. She died in 1987.

3. P Gowri Shankar learnt how to handle snakes at the age of 13, and has gone on to rescue more than 100 King Cobras over the years. He works in Agumbe in the Western Ghats of Kamataka. He is a familiar face if you have watched any documentaries that feature Rom. He studies and documents King Cobra behaviour and trains hundreds of young people on snake ecology.

4. Gururaja KV is a batrachologist (bátrakhos is frog in Ancient Greek) and has described many new species of frogs. Special mentions go to one who is an ace potter (Kumbara Night Frog), and another who calls like a kingfisher (Karnavali Skittering Frog)! Gururaja helped publish a field guide to identify frogs, called "Frog Find" (there's an app too) and is part of a team that put together "Mandookavani". An audio compilation that has field recordings of over 75 frog calls.

 

Picture Credit : Google