“The world is still beautiful, upside-down, not your future!”, says a hand-painted wildlife message card sent to me by my friend and Virajpet-based physician Dr S.V. Narasimhan.
Dr Narasimhan’s message is very true for Kodagu, a nature’s paradise whose future has become bleak, because of the move to cut down 50,000 trees to build transmission lines across the verdant greenery in the Western Ghats to cater to the power needs of Kerala.
A bird-watcher and nature-lover, the good doctor has been sending hand-painted cards for the past 30 years to spread wildlife awareness. He has sent more than 60,000 cards free so far and holds two Limca Book of Records.
In a letter to me, Dr Narasimhan says: “Over a period of three decades, I might have painted more than 480 species of animals, birds and butterflies. For various reasons, I do not have all of them in my assemblage. I am sure that some of you still have them in your collection. I request you to please mail me the scanned copies of those wildlife message cards that you have received.”
Dr Narasimhan was the recipient of the ‘Coorg Person of the Year, 2013’ title.
By P.T. Bopanna