Mumbaikar Nayan Khanolkar, recently bagged a prestigious wildlife photography award for a shot of a leopard spotted at Aarey Colony
Mumbaikar Nayan Khanolkar, recently bagged a prestigious wildlife photography award for a shot of a leopard spotted at Aarey Colony. The honour, called the Wildlife Photographer Award 2016, is considered to be the ‘Oscar’ for wildlife photography.
In Khanolkar’s picture, a leopard can be seen almost lounging under a low yellow light bulb, in a narrow alley between two tribal homes in Goregaon’s Aarey Milk Colony. There is so much to learn from this photo and the photographer’s story.
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The fact that Khanolkar spent four months to get this picture, should teach us about the virtue of patience. In our Insta-world, we have lost respect for the grace which comes with ‘slow and steady’, for perseverance and for the priceless quality of waiting for that perfect moment — in all aspects of life. In a zippy world, too much significance is allotted to speed, the fast and the furious, but there is truth in the cliché that rewards of patience are sweet — as this award proves.
The picture also encapsulates Mumbai’s balancing act between development and preservation. Leopards straying in human areas are indicative of how we have impinged on their land. The increasing man-leopard conflicts are warning bells about how carefully we need to tread now in terms of infrastructure.
Thought and long-term vision must be invested into further development, especially along that sensitive belt. Concerted efforts need to be made to preserve whatever little is left of the green areas. People should not resort to protests to safeguard open spaces all the time.
The picture is so much more than an award-winning frame — it is a microcosm of the pull and tug of Mumbai. It speaks a thousand words and more — it tells a story the city can relate to.
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