Tribute to wilDlife photographer
Well-known wildlife photographer Rakesh Sahai’s passion was tigers. He died in the land of tigers, Pench wildlife sanctuary near Nagpur, on the first morning of 2016. This writer knew him since his teenage days. Lala, as he was popularly known, left a small army of young amateur photographers, whom he trained, taking them to jungles to teach them how to shoot animals, especially tigers, and birds.
Eleven “students”—Taarine, Dhruv, Sharmila, Manoj, Abhinav, Amit, Ajit, Ruchir, Shashank, Kashish and Gagan— organised a weeklong exhibition of their wildlife photographs, along with their iconic guru Rakesh’s memorable shots, at India Habitat Centre, from December 1 to 7. The rotational exhibition, which featured works of different mentees on different days, gave nature lovers a platform to get close to the elements. It was curated by Lala’s daughter Rashi, wife Ritu Sarin, a print journalist, and elder brother, Kamal Sahai, also a well-known wildlife photographer.
“Guru Dakshina: A Mentor’s Memorabilia” showcased 58 frames shot by the mentees of Rakesh.
“It is our unique tribute to a legend,” says Taarine (16), a participant at the exhibition. She fondly remembers how she was initiated into wildlife photography by Rakesh. The teenager, who now confidently flaunts a D7100 Nikon, was just nine when she started venturing into the wild with her late guru.
The number of pictures on display had been carefully kept at 58, the age at which he passed away. “My father would have turned 60 on 20 November this year,” says Rakesh’s daughter Rashi.
Some of the pictures on display included the master’s landscape shots from Ladakh, Deproa Tal in Uttarakhand, a chameleon from the Desert National Park in Rajasthan and tigers in the Rajaji National Park between Haridwar and Dehradun.