A world-renowned man with an equally famous moustache and the hunter’s hat, who “was” known more as the Tiger Man of India, passed away on March 1st after a battle with cancer. The first thing that comes to the mind of a person who knew Fateh Singh Rathod is, the person who brought a revolutionary change in the history of Tigers is no more amongst us. But it takes more than just knowing him to actually feel the loss of the Tiger Man. You need to meet him at least once to feel the exuberance, zeal, energy, and compassion he had towards life. Owing to which, I guess, he was so sensitive towards the plight of Tigers in India and beyond that, the ecosystem as a whole. I had one such chance to experience Fath-ji’s (as people at his Maa farm lovingly addressed him) compassion and knowledge about the biodiversity and ecosystem in the April of 2008. As a part of a Wildlife Conservation Camp organized jointly by Sprouts and Tiger Watch, I travelled to Ranthambhore, all the way dreaming about interacting with Fath-ji, whom I guess, we all watched on Discovery or Nat Geo at least once in our lives. The moment I reached Maa Farm; Fath-ji’s home and Tiger Watch’s office, I was greeted by peacocks, which roam and flit around the farm and the house without any fear. If you took a close look around, you could spot a monitor lizard, paradise flycatchers, and sometimes, even a jackal. This tells us, how comfortable and safe the wild felt being around him.
I had to wait for 2 days to finally meet him one evening, just when he was about to take a few people for a safari in the park. The twinkle in his eyes even at his age and with his medical background was remarkable. He was a person who would invite anyone who came to his farm, for dinner and stay at his place. Such was his nature, down-to-earth even after being so famous and sought-after by the likes of the Queen of Britain. He greeted me but said nothing much, which disappointed me a bit, but before driving away, he turned around and promised meeting again to have a chat. Yippie, I felt so lucky!
The camp came to an end and on the last day, Fath-ji invited all of us to his home. It was while looking around his place that I realized, he had a thing for hunter hats. His collection included hats in all sizes and material, be it fake leather, wood, clay, or wrought iron miniatures. Although he was known as a hunter to many, he never hunted! In fact, he was the first to identify the man-tiger conflict and provide solutions to avoid it. It was he who recognized what apart from hunting was a cause for the dwindling number of Tigers in India. And not just did he provide solutions, he implemented those against all the odds, which came in the form of politicians, babus, local Moga tribals, and even the international racket for tiger skin and parts smuggling. So much so was the opposition, that to save him from being killed, as many say, Fath-ji was released from the duty as the Director of the park. But he led the battle despite all the hurdles with help from like-minded people, such as Madhu Bhatnagar, a Delhi school teacher; Dr, Dharmendra Khandal, a botanist and Conservationist, and Jay Majumdar, a writer, documentary film-maker, and journalist from Kolkata.
After a group talk and pleasantries, all of my other camp-mates left for home at night itself, leaving me alone at the camp. I was sitting at Tiger Watch’s office flipping through the numerous albums and newspaper clippings when Dr. Dharmendra Khandal, the heart and soul of Tiger Watch, asked me whether I would like to stay at the farm with the volunteers who worked for Tiger Conservation. I grabbed this opportunity and was least bothered about how the remaining hours would pass when Dr. Khandal suggested a night-safari, of course not inside the park, on permission from Fath-ji. It was he who suggested that if the girl dared to stay back just to interact with me and get a firsthand experience about the wildlife, take her for a night safari, when the wild actually awaken and do their things without any interruption from humans. It was a once in a lifetime experience as Fath-ji promised, with the howls of jackals, hyenas, and distant calls of a river-owl.
Fath-ji always had a broader perspective about conservation, which included relocating hamlets from inside the park to other locations; provide the villagers with a source of income and their children with state-of-art educational facilities. He believed that only then would the man-tiger conflict reduce, which in turn would help reduce the number of tigers being poisoned or killed. Before I left for Mumbai, Fath-ji asked me very casually, “Humare school me bachhon ko computer sikhane koi nahi hai. Tum sikhaogi?” (We don’t have anybody to teach computers at our school. Will you teach?). And he gave off a booming laughter when he saw the look on my face. Such was the man, so casual, who threw opportunities to work with him when least expected. He said, “Tum khoob padho, apni life banao aur jab bhi chaho, jaise bhi chaho, yaha aana apna yogdaan karne” (Study well, make your life better and do come here to contribute your share whenever you feel like). Just before leaving, he asked me, “Since you are a maharashtrian, what is your native place?” His expressions when I told him I was from Konkan left me puzzled. As if an answer to the puzzle, he said, “Send me Devgad hapoos this season!”, which I did send. From then, he named me Aam-wali, asking me for mangoes every season. And I was more than glad to send him those! For the Tiger Man of India, that was one thing he loved most after the Tigers and wildlife. It is very sad to know that the man who inspired the likes of poachers, tribals, kids, school teachers, journalists, and so on, to spread awareness about nature and its importance for the survival of mankind, is no more. Adios to Fateh Singh Rathod, the Tiger Man of India.
-Shrutika Kalgutkar
