(Image copyright- Bombay Natural History Society. Click for a larger view)
In one of the most exciting projects I got to work on recently, I illustrated a timeline spanning 133 years of one of India's prime wildlife organizations- the Bombay Natural History Society. In the illustration, William the Hornbill, who was the BNHS' resident bird and mascot, takes you through some of BNHS' major achievements and landmarks since its year of foundation (1883) in British India, until the present. I also had the pleasure of reading about and drawing some of the most eminent naturalists in India's history, both English and Indian, including EH Aitkien, Col. FW Wall, Dr. Salim Ali, WS Millard (who introduced Dr. Salim Ali to ornithology), SH Prater (Author of The Book of Indian Mammals), Dillon Ripley (who co-authored 'The Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan' with Dr. Salim Ali), Humayun Abdulali, JC Daniel, Zafar Futehally, Dr. Asad Rahmani, Isaac Kehimkar, Dr. Vibhu Prakash and marine biologist Dr. Deepak Apte who is the current director of the BNHS. Working on the project also gave me a chance to spend some time at the BNHS office and taxidermy museum in Fort, Mumbai; which is a Mecca for wildlife enthusiasts in India.
The massive illustration has been published alongside BNHS' latest portfolio. A big thanks to Dr. Apte and the BNHS team for choosing me for this!
Absolutely brilliant. Thank you for sharing this history with the world. I'd love to hear some of the stories if anyone has recorded or wants to record a video conversation
ReplyDeleteToo good as I owe a lot of what I am today to the organisation and its publications and not to forget the brilliant set of people always there to guide you along -
ReplyDeleteGeetanjali
I so wish Dr. Almeida's awards and Hon. DSc degree should also be mentioned. But OK.
ReplyDeleteThanks Shardul. There were several we had to omit. The original draft had over 200 instances but the space allotted did not permit us to depict each.
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