Hamir and I: Can you be friends with a tiger?

Arjun Anand was a visual artist and fine arts photographer until he met Hamir Then a cub whod hide behind his mother at their Ranthambhore National Park home he turned Anand to wildlife photography with a vengeance The result is a justreleased coffee table book Hamir The Fallen Prince of Ranthambhore published by Pirates with 160 images that track the tigers journey from playful cub to alleged man eaterArjun AnandThe first time he spotted Hamir T104 Anand says he noticed his eyesmdashthe most piercing blue he had seen It was 2017 and Anand was on his umpteenth visit to Ranthambore in Rajasthan a sixhour drive from his Delhi home He Hamir was six months old and would pop his head out from behind his mother This instantly humanised Hamir for me I stopped seeing him as a tiger from that moment on he recalls Gradually his visits got more frequent You could say that I became obsessed with him at times I would spend 13 straight days looking for him Tiger sightings were happening in other parts of the park but I wanted to photograph Hamir aloneAnand first photographed Hamir in 2017 as the cub with piercing blue eyes He was a doting son always tailing his motherLast September the tiger was classified as a maneater and captured after he had reportedly claimed his third human victim A 100member team led by Hemant Singh Deputy Conservator of Forest DCF and Ranthambore Deputy Director tracked T104 for 11 days in the areas surrounding the park On September 12 2019 the team tranquilised the tiger and fitted him with a GPS collar Fortunately Ranthambore has a strict policy that under no circumstances should a tiger be eliminated So Hamir now lives in a massive 1 sq km enclosure in the park but in a nontourist zone Hes wellfed and being taken care of says AnandWe may not have access to Hamir but Anands book is an earnest attempt to give us an insight into his life and times as observed by Anand Not the typical wildlife coffee table book it doesnt tell you how tigers live kill and eat It is an immersive journey where I invite you to join me and experience Ranthambore as I see it because I have been going there for 25 yearsThe 200pager has over 160 photographs in colour and monochrome covering Hamir as he grew from an impish cub tailing his mother to a potentially lethal adult tiger What has drawn me to Hamir was that he was truly wild I wanted to capture his dual personality He was a loving doting son obsessed with his mother and on the other hand he had a diabolical side where he would greet you with a snarl Anand remembers a time when the big cat came within two feet of their safari and nearly attacked the driver I was pouring tea when he came out of nowhere The cup fell from my hand and for a moment I thought this is it We had a narrow escape When you start spending time with the tigers you understand their personalities There was a tigress called Noor who I had photographed with her daughter from a distance of two feet with my camera sticking out She was very peaceful Both of us walked away from the shot But I wouldnt dare do that with HamirAnands pictures are largely portraits of the cat He says photographing Hamir has made him patient teaching him composureAnand says he is particularly drawn to black and white images colour sometimes can be a distraction Here the viewer focuses only on the subjectThe book carries an underlying message of conservation Mananimal conflict is a direct outcome of encroaching on forest land he thinks Incidentally a day after Hamir was caught another unidentified tiger killed a human The same evening a goat herder was attacked but luckily survived Two weeks from that day a sevenyearold boy was killed The challenge of the future is going to be reclaiming forest land to accommodate more tigersKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news