Sighting a tiger is a matter of great chance,” says 23-year-old computer science engineer R. Gokul. In February 2013, he lugged his Nikon and ventured into the Bandipur jungles and went on a safari thrice. “I could not sight a single bird or animal, not even a squirrel, on my first three safaris,” he sighs.
However, he was fourth time lucky. Just as he was losing hope, a sub-adult tiger emerged from the bushes in the bright morning sun.
When Gokul went on a trip to Tadoba, in Maharashtra, in March this year, he had waited patiently for a glimpse of the big cat. He was hopeful as the verdant grasslands reeked of tiger scat. As the sun, by then an orange orb, slowly descended into the grey skies over the Tadoba jungles, a majestic male tiger strode out. Gokul’s camera moved frenetically, fetching him some of his ‘best’ tiger pictures.
Gokul is not only a tiger buff. He is an avid avian photographer. From eagles, vultures and owls to the famed hornbills of the Western Ghats, the griffons of the Himalayas and the Asian paradise fly catcher, he has captured them all on his SLR camera. “I have taken pictures of about 420 birds across India,” he says. His passion for the jungle has taken him as far as Ladakh while he spends his weekends and vacations mostly in the wilderness, looking for wildlife.
Gokul’s interest in photography was stirred when he was 13 years old. The Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology awarded him a prize for bird watching, and ever since, he began joining a bunch of young wildlife enthusiasts and hitting the wild trail. “I have travelled to Mudumalai, Anamalai, Valparai, Top-Slip, Thekkady, Theni, Bandipur, Sesattal and Corbett national park to photograph birds,” says Gokul, who has taken a picture of a rare woodpecker, soaring to great heights.
His next project is creating a visual diary of the thousands of varieties of tropical fish in India. “I want to take pictures of fish, all the different varieties found in the lakes, rivers and oceans of India.” Gokul’s pictures have been published in prestigious magazines, Sanctuary Asia and National Geographaphic.
