Sanctuary | The Last Word
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SanctuaryAsia | http://www.instagram.com/sanctuaryasiaCHANDRASHEKAR SUNDARAM/
ENTRY-SWP
A 2017
When Ramasamy Mudaliyar began planting coff ee in
Valparai in 1846, he could hardly have guessed that his one
small action would end up killing off vast portions of one
of the world’s fi nest rainforests. He lost money and was
forced to sell the land, which kept changing hands until the
British army took charge and prepared (read deforested) it
to receive the Prince of Wales, son of Queen Victoria, who
later became King of England. Eventually, the prince did not
even visit Valparai! Then, in 1890, two Britishers bought a
chunk of forest land and proceeded to obliterate the forest
to make way for tea and coff ee, grown to this day after
continuous deforestation of elephant and tiger habitats
for decades.
The elephant on this page is a descendent of the herds
the British drove out. Comparatively, today’s elephants live
in handkerchief-sized wildernesses from which they emerge,The Elephant in the Room
much to the dismay of plantation owners and workers (who,
as we can see, nevertheless worship the great beasts).
Peninsular India sources the bulk of its water from the
Eastern and Western Ghats. And climate change has already
begun to devastate the water security of millions. Restoring
elephant and tiger habitats is one of the least expensive, most
eff ective ways to off er a better life and security to Indians
because this will clearly moderate the impact of fl oods
and droughts.
How do we explain this to Chief Ministers, Prime Ministers
and economists who have much shorter-term objectives? That is
the real ‘elephant in the room’ that no one wants to tackle. ELOCATION: Valparai, Anamalai, Tamil Nadu DETAILS: Camera: Nikon D500,
Lens: Nikon 24-120 mm. f/4, Shutter speed: 1/1600 sec., Aperture: f/5.6,
ISO 1600, Focal length: 120 mm.