Wild Wild Best: Congressman Mukul Wasnik says he turns his attention to wildlife when he needs peace and balance in life

When not politicking Mukul Wasnik picks up his camera and ventures into the wild hoping to capture wildlifersquos best moments A senior member of the allIndia Congressrsquos Steering Committee and former Union minister Wasnik opened his maiden exhibition at the iconic Jehangir Art Gallery on FridayUnlike some acclaimed personalities who experimented with lenses before becoming fulltime politicians wildlife photography happened to Wasnik just about six years ago ldquoWhat began as a hobby has turned into a passion It relaxes merdquo he tells midday at the exhibitionClad in a grey cotton shirt and trousers he welcomes guests young and veteran and friends across parties He interacts with them especially the young narrating the experience of grabbing a particular picture His gracious wife Raveena in a milkwhite suit plays a perfect host while her husband is busy with visitors Wasnik mentions that MP Supriya Sule was there a little while agoScaling hurdles for passionldquoLetrsquos see this snow partridge Of all the pictures you see here today capturing this bird on was most challengingrdquo Wasnik says as he leads our attention to a corner ldquoThis bird is found only in snowy mountains I was in Chandrashila in Uttarakhand in 2018 and guide just said lsquoletrsquos gorsquo It turned out to be a strenuous fourhour trek up at the height of 3600 metres where we got to see this beautyrdquo recalls Wasnik who was knocking the 60s when he successfully met the challenge in the Himalayas He completed 63 years last monthSenior Congress leader Mukul Wasnik narrates his experience of photographing a snow partridge at a height of 3600 metres in Uttarakhand His wildlife photography exhibition opened at the Jehangir Art Gallery on FridayHe says he has been lucky at times ldquoCapturing this longeared owl It rarely happens Not only did I sight the bird but I also photographed itrdquo he says about the experience in Churu Rajasthan where climate is extreme in the winters as well as the summers ldquoWildlife photography throws physical challenges at you but it gives you mental peace when look at the pictures you have taken Sometimes you make mistakes but then you learn from them and improverdquo he says as we ask him about his initial attemptsAlso Read Devendra Fadnavis promises globalstandard cyber unit in MaharashtraThe inspirationHe says it was six years ago when he accompanied his sister brotherinlaw and their children to Karhandla Wildlife Sanctuary in eastern Vidarbha ldquoAll of a sudden three tigers surrounded our jeep and were at an attacking distance We were all scared My brotherinlaw demanded we pull the shields up and move out but I was mesmerised by the beautiful animals We just stayed theremdashstatuelike breathless and yet enjoying the sightrdquoWasnik says before the lsquotigerscarersquo incident he had visited TadobaAndhari National Park many times but returned disappointed because he would carry a small camera that hardly captured objects he focused on ldquoI would see people carrying big cameras lenses and other paraphernalia necessary for photography They inspired me to take up wildlife photography But then I needed basic traininghelliprdquoSo one of the busiest national general secretaries of the Congress and Rajya Sabha MP enrolled for the tutorials of one of Indiarsquos foremost wildlife photographers Rathika Ramasamy ldquoBut I couldnrsquot attend her classes Rathika was kind enough to teach me at my residence whenever I could find the timerdquoFor peaceldquoWhy wildlifersquo we ask him ldquoAs I said it gives me peace It is also because we need to create awareness about protecting and preserving wildlife Have you heard about the great Indian bustard an endangered birdrdquo he asks as we mention the Nanaj sanctuary in Maharashtra thats dedicated to the preservation of this avianHe then leads us to the pictures of a variety of vultures rueing that the birds that were in abundance in his childhood are not seen anymore However he thanks the wildlife protection acts that were legislated during the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhis regime ldquoImagine what would be the situation today if these laws were not there as a deterrentrdquo the leader asksDoes he see awareness spreading throughout the populace ldquoYes for sure he says adding If it is not our generation generation Z is more aware about and kind towards wildlife Irsquom glad to see young people visiting the exhibition and asking me questionsrdquoHe shares that it was his dream to hold the first show at the iconic Jehangir Art Gallery ldquoI got dates earlier as well but the show had to be cancelled because of the pandemic For this one the behindthe scenes performance has been extremely hectic Sending pictures from Delhi and getting them printed and mounted here in Mumbai was a task in itself The exhibition management is being handled by my friends hererdquoFriends by his sideOne of Wasnikrsquos friends from his days of student politics Suresh Shetty who is also the former Maharashtra health minister will stay by the leaderrsquos side until October 31 the closing day of exhibition Incidentally Shetty is also a wildlife photographer who began early in his college days but slowed down later because of political assignments ldquoMukul bhai has inspired me a lot in the past couple of years I have reinvented my wildlife photography skillsrdquo Shetty says promising us a solo exhibition at the same venue as early as possibleMaharashtra Navnirman Senarsquos vicepresident Vitthalrao Lokhandkar who considers Wasnik his political guru was also overseeing the exhibition ldquoI will be there until the end The exhibition has nothing to do with politicsrdquo he tells us adding that Wasnik has invited MNS chief Raj Thackeray and former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray an acclaimed photographer himself as well31 OctLast day of his exhibition