Fishing for a saviour

Almost midway into Saad Bin Jungrsquos book Subhan amp I Subhan who ldquoknows more about angling for the mahseer in the Cauveryrdquo than anyone else gets rather philosophicalu00a0ldquoYear after yearrdquo Jung quotes him in the book ldquothe rains will come the rivers will rise the fish will spawn and the mahseer will roll but the perfectionists us wizards of old will pass away before our story has been toldrdquo Subhan was partly right he passed away of tuberculosis in 2007 much before this book was written But his story did not remain untold after all Author Saad Bin Jung unabashedly admits that without Subhan below pictured with Jung there would have been no conservation effort to save the mahseer in river Cauvery PIC COURTESYROLI BOOKS Subhan amp I is a gripping account on the conservation of the humpbacked mahseer in the moody waters of the river Cauvery You may know little about angling or the virtues of the mahseer itself but the book initiates the reader into the world effortlessly It starts with a racy childhood account of Subhanrsquos first brush with a young bloodthirsty tusker and how he uses the riverrsquos currents to save his life The next few pages establish Subhanrsquos ease and excellence in the river Cauvery he reads Cauvery like a book and knows what lies below the waters much before they surfaceu00a0It is the mahseer and its conservation however that dominate the better part of Subhan amp I The greatest freshwater fighting fish is found in most rivers of India but is under grave threat and has substantially reduced in size ndash this carp can achieve sizes of around 60lb but today a 30lb mahseer would be considered a good catch Jung who set out to conserve the mahseer in the rsquo90s says he knew a book on the conservation of the mahseer would have had no takers in India ldquoHave we managed to conserve anything reallyrdquo he asks over the telephone from South Africa minutes after he is back from a wild safari ldquoWersquove spent crores of rupees on the tiger but are we anywhere close to conserving itrdquo The country believes Jung is in protection mode not conservation mode Subhan amp Iu00a0By Saad Bin Jungu00a0Rs 295u00a0Published byu00a0Lotus Roli ldquoIt takes anything between eight to 20 years to see the fruits of diligent conservation efforts and no officer in a government body wants to leave office without showing something on his record so they all set out to lsquoprotectrsquo creatures in their limited tenure but thatrsquos not how the mahseer or any creature for that matter can be conservedrdquo says Jung The gene pool of the mahseer today he explains is not as pure as it used to be which is the biggest challenge for anyone who tries to conserve the giant fish Jung met Subhan in Haira in the early rsquo90s after he became a life member of the Wildlife Association Of South India WASI and then began an association that in Jungrsquos words changed him forever ldquoSubhan knew the Cauvery in and out and was such a character Brusque and larger than life he predicted the mistakes we would make in the river and sometimes let us that was the only way to learn he always saidrdquo After a detailed description of Jungrsquos first encounter with a huge mahseer the chapter fittingly is called lsquoYou Never Forget Your First Big Bangrsquo the book explores Jungrsquos struggles when it came to bringing Subhan around to take conservation seriously ldquoFor Subhan and the people in his region the mahseer means sustenance and it was difficult to make him see why conserving it was important I lived with Subhan for almost six years before I could make him see the benefits of the exerciserdquo explains Jung It was difficult even for Jung to restore Subhanrsquos faith in the system ldquoIt is important to understand that Subhan came from a povertystricken background where the system does not provide even the basic amenitiesrdquo The relationship shared by Jung and Subhan could be evocative for many but Jung admits Subhan was aware that he was a ldquotoolrdquo to spread Jungrsquos message in the South ldquoBut having said that neither our efforts nor the book would have been possible if I had not met Subhanrdquo says Jung