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'Pandemic a huge lesson for govts to redefine idea of development'
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Vishnu Makhijani | 07 Jun, 2021
From dentistry to animation to promoting environmental issues through
illustrations and cartoons, the world has come full circle for Rohan
Chakravarty, whose new book "Green Humour for a Greying Planet"
(Penguin) has just been published and who fervently hopes the pandemic
will come as a "huge lesson" for governments worldwide to redefine their
concepts of development.
"Although as a befuddled teenager I
strayed into dentistry as my qualification, I realized that drawing
cartoons on wildlife was my calling after an encounter with a tigress on
a visit to Nagzira Tiger Reserve (in Maharashtra). After a three year
stint in the animation industry (2011-2014) which I quite enjoyed, I
quit my day job to devote my time entirely towards my series 'Green
Humour', which by then had started appearing in a few print columns and
had also been picked for online syndication by the Universal Press
Syndicate.
"I conducted my first solo exhibition in
Bangalore in 2014, which luckily was quite successful, and gave me the
financial backing to pursue cartooning full-time," Chakravarty told IANS
in an interview.
Some of the illustrations from the
book have been used for several projects and campaigns on wildlife
awareness and conservation. Chakravarty is also the author of "The Great
Indian Nature Trail" (WWF India) and "Bird Business" (BNHS), and has
won awards from UNDP, Sanctuary Asia, WWF International, the Royal Bank
of Scotland and Publishing Next for his work.
How did the present book come about?
"My
comic strip column Green Humour has been running in the print and the
web for 11 years now. Although I have been planning a compilation of my
published work for a long time, it just never happened somehow. After a
few early rejections from publishers, I gave up on the idea for a few
years, chasing other creative pursuits. Compiling work that has already
been published can be a little dreary for an artist as it is more about
curating and less about creating.
"So I think I needed
to age a little and slow down before I could get around to it! Finally,
after Penguin showed an interest in my pitch, my interest in the
endeavour was revived again last year, and with age on my side this
time, along with a fabulous curation and designing team from Penguin,
"Green Humour for a Greying Planet" could finally happen," Chakravarty
explained.
To this end, the book is a curation of gag
cartoons and comic strips based entirely on wildlife and nature, perhaps
the first of its kind. At a time when global warming, wildlife crimes
and man-animal conflicts are at their worst, the book is sure to provide
its readers some much needed comic relief. A comprehensive and
satirical take on various aspects of the natural world and the threats
to its conservation, this book will appeal to both the scientifically
inclined readers as well as the general readers.
"The
research that went into the book varies from cartoon to cartoon. While
some have been inspired by personal sightings of wildlife, others have
resulted from long hours of reading both popular writing and scientific
research," Chakravarty elaborated.
Much has been
written about the impact of the Covid pandemic on the future direction
of the struggle against climate change. What's his take on this?
"I
personally feel that the pandemic has come as a huge lesson for
governments around the world to redefine the idea of development. The
blaring question it now poses is: Is development at the cost of the
environment or public health development at all? Fortunately for some
countries, their governments are making the effort to unlearn and learn.
India has not been so lucky," he lamented.
What's next? What's his next project?
"Among
the most exciting projects lined up for this year are an illustrated
urban biodiversity map of my current hometown, Hyderabad; a set of 45
endangered shark and rays that I am illustrating for a team of marine
biologists and communicators at the Save Our Seas Foundation in South
Africa, and another book with Penguin, which is a series of detective
comic stories based in nature," Chakravarty concluded.
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