Jumbos and us; we are so much alike
Conservationist cum photographer Dilum Alagiyawanna talks about his fascination with elephants and the mysteries of the annual ‘Gathering’ in Minneriya
As the afternoon nudged itself into evening and the shadows began to lengthen, he was tired but happy.
That whole day conservation-activist Dilum Alagiyawanna had spent at the Minneriya National Park, photographing at very close range, with the blessings and permission of the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC), the extraordinary ‘Gathering’.
The large herd of elephants, all mothers, babies, young calves and female relatives had largely ignored him, nibbling the tasty tender shoots of grass which were carpeting the floor of the receding Minneriya wewa (tank).
It was around 4 in the evening that a tiny baby fascinated by the presence of one not of its kind attempted to get closer to him inquisitively, when all hell broke loose.
The perturbed herd was about to charge him with the baby’s mother in command, when from among the ‘frontliners’ there was a movement. Mighty and strained was the effort of an aunt to restrain the whole herd…….and restrain she did.
As the images flashed before his very eyes and camera, it was not at that tense moment that it dawned on him – but much later when he was taking a re-look at the numerous photographs in the comfort of his home at Pelawatte in Battaramulla.
“Look at this,” Dilum, 51, tells us on Tuesday morning, getting those images on his tab. What he has told us with absolute conviction hits us too.
Yes, the elephant-aunt is going through the motions of stopping an angry herd from charging Dilum, just like a human exerting his/her voice of reason to stop mob justice being waged. And Dilum’s photographs not only say what a thousand words cannot but also document the strong similarities between these majestic creatures and ourselves.
“Unlike any other animal, be it even a chimpanzee which is said to be very closely-related to humans, I believe that elephants are very much like us,” says Dilum who is Director/Producer of Nature/Wildlife Films for Conservation -- Sri Lanka (FFCSL), his own initiative.
Having given up lucrative employment as a telecommunication engineer who made good in Dubai, then tried his hand at several ventures on his return home which brought him “handsome” money, it was photography which he started as a hobby that led him along the less-trav-
elled trails to the wilds of Sri Lanka.
Establishing links with Canon Singapore (a world renowned camera manufacturer) which oversees South and Southeast Asia, the company on realizing his passion and prowess at photography soon named him their Brand Ambassador, gifting him with expensive camera equipment to pursue his dream.
Pursue he did his dream, capturing
with clarity whales in all their beauty off the southern coast at Mirissa, a difficult and challenging task, but the lure of the elephant surpassed all other animals.
For elephants were very much a part of his boyhood, with a domestic elephant owned by politician Sarathchandra Rajakaruna which was either tethered in his family’s compound in remote Narangaspitiya off Kirindawela in Gampaha or in an adjoining property, being a regular sight. Kitul trees from Dilum’s garden were fodder for it.
Later, he was able to enhance his interest in photography with wide travel, while he was based in Dubai, seeing advanced technology at play.
The projects launched once Dilum took up the camera in 2008 include filming the Kandy Perahera along with a photography expert from Canon Singapore and producing a documentary with 500 of the DVDs being presented to the Dalada Maligawa, live telecasting of the perahera in 2010 to get international attention riveted on this beautiful cultural pageant and facilitating the first-ever online photographic competition in 2011 titled ‘Kandy In Focus’.
What is taking place at Minneriya has been happening for centuries, with the biggest grassland appearing and disappearing according to this cycle. So let’s leave it alone, not interfere with such a wonder.”