Maruti Chitampalli, 88, shares an immortal bond with the forests. He taught us how to read the jungles — their biodiversity, the habitat of all living organisms — the wildlife and the Adivasis. He walked the length and breadth of Vidarbha's forest areas and documented them in a vast collection of books. He loved the forests. October 11 marks the bird lover's migration from Nagpur to his native Solapur, a place that wasn't really on his mind as a retirement abode. His friends and well-wishers, most of whom are my good pals, gave the octogenarian a warm send-off on Saturday. Moist eyes and choked throats summed up a 45-year stay in a forest-filled Vidarbha.

A complete forest lover

Reading politics all the time could be as boring as watching a dud web series in the time of the pandemic. This time around, I'm bringing you a story of a retired deputy chief conservator of forest, who turned himself into an acclaimed writer and impacted our lives with his work without making much ado about it. In his 45 years in Vidarbha jungles, which included the years in service and post-retirement till today, he studied birds, animals, trees, fish and the lives of several tribes and Adivasis. He has made Marathi language richer by adding one lakh new words, all of them coming from the languages the tribes of Madia, Korku and Adivasis in Vidarbha's zadipatti forest areas speak. These words help in understanding the forest and wildlife. Do you know how a tiger smells? Do you know how a bear smells? Chitampalli may have all the answers. Among his 25 much-acclaimed books, he has authored comprehensive thesauri on birds, trees, animals and fish for which he stayed in Konkan's fishing villages. A grand recognition came in 2006 when he was elected the president of All India Marathi Sahitya Sammelan, putting him in the hall of fame of Marathi literature. His contribution to Navegaon National Park, Nagzira Sanctuary and Melghat Tiger Project has been hailed. He was consulted for developing Karnala Bird Sanctuary and constructing orphanages for displaced wildlife.