The photo essay above is a chronological documentation of the wild to wild rhino translocations undertaken from Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary to Manas National Park in Assam under the IRV 2020 program. A complete reportage of the translocation process can be read here.

Indian Rhino Vision 2020 (IRV 2020) is a joint programme of the Department of Environment and Forests – Government of Assam, WWF-India and the International Rhino Foundation (IRF) with support from the Bodoland Territorial Council, US Fish and Wildlife Service and the local communities. The programme’s vision is to increase Assam’s rhino population to 3000 by 2020, which will be done by wild-to-wild translocation from Kaziranga National Park and Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary to Manas and Dibru Saikhowa National Parks as well as Laokhowa and Burachopari Wildlife Sanctuaries.

Assam accounts for the largest population of Indian rhinoceros. Though rhino numbers in the state have grown from 2000 in 2005 to over 2200 in 2009, more than 90% of these live in just one Protected Area, which is the Kaziranga National Park. The IRV 2020 programme aims to secure the long-term survival of wild rhinos in Assam by expanding their distribution to reduce risks like disease, in-breeding depression and mass mortality.

Under this programme, the first phase of wild-to-wild translocations was carried out in April 2008 when two male rhinos were re-introduced into Manas National Park from Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary. The current translocations are a part of phase two of the translocations. During this second phase, a total of eighteen rhinos are proposed to be translocated from Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary and Kaziranga National Park to Manas National Park in batches.

An unfinished series on the children encountered on different photo shoots. ‘Chote Nawabs’ roughly translates as Little Kings.

A selection of architecture photos

We might as well be strangers in another town
We might as well be living in another time
For all I know of you now

-Keane

A video edited for WWF-India’s Cities for Forests campaign.

A selection of graphic design material designed and edited.

Red Nose Clowning. Shot using three different media- a TLR, a rangefinder and a DSLR.

A selection of landscape photos

A short film made for WWF-India that looks at how the technique of camera trapping is used to estimate tiger numbers and how this aids in tiger conservation.

The Lambadis also known as Banjaras are a community spread across different areas of India. They are thought to be descendants of Roma gypsies from Europe who migrated to India. A significant percentage of their population is based in my home state of Andhra Pradesh. They mostly live in rural areas in small hamlets called ‘thandas’ practicing small scale agriculture. They have their own oral language and have a unique culture and associated traditions. One such tradition is centered on the celebration of the spring festival-Holi. The Lambadis celebrate it in a unique way which is different from the way it is celebrated by the rest of India. For the Lambadis, the Holi festival is the time to pray for and celebrate fertility and prosperity in their respective thandas.

This particular thanda where these photos were shot is famous for the large scale celebration of the festival with many people from nearby thandas attending the final celebration. The preparation for the festival would start with cleaning of the village, making of special Sorghum rotis, preparing poultry for the feast and then preparation of the logs for the night fire around which the celebratory dance is held. Everyone in the thanda would participate in this process reinforcing the community nature of the event and all expenses for the event would be met from a fund collected from all households’ before the festival.