by Elsa Joel 8 June 2020
This is a story of a boy born in Kenya to indulgent parents, fell in love with the wilderness, journeyed through England and America, kick started his passion with a Brownie a Kodak box camera- 7th birthday gift, transited through Bollywood and went on to become one of the most sought after wildlife cinematographer the country has ever known. From improvising a room in his treetop house for developing and printing the negative to setting up Riverbank Studios in 1973, this jungle lover has always gone in for the kill. With hundreds of awards, both national and International in his kitty, there is no stopping this man. A UK citizen by birth, he relocated to his ancestral land of India on hearing “We need a man of your talents in India” from Rajiv Gandhi and became an Indian citizen. “Earth matters’ to him and he proves it through his documentaries that bagged him the Green Oscars as well.’Shores of silence’ ‘vanishing giants’ and ‘The Last Migration’ bothered him, stirred his conscience to make hard-hitting films, which led to the conservation of a global heritage – the Whale Shark, the ban on cruel and outdated techniques of elephant capture in India and guaranteed the presence of expert vets, scientists and NGO staff so that the welfare of the captured beast is warranted.
Awards inspire and motivate this crusader as much as they offer a humbling experience. More than acknowledging the path he treads, these awards come with great responsibilities and expectations. The first ever Green Oscar given to an Indian production was a pride to this wildlife champion and motivation to all aspiring wildlife cinematographers to work on their vision and passion, pull many others along and change the way they thought and worked.
Yes, Mike Pandey literally lived a life any child would dream about. The British type rambling wooden structure amidst the Golden savannah grassland and wild acacia trees 3 feet above the ground with wooden steps going up to the veranda’s entrance was his commodious dwelling. Generous rooms, a basement attic and a large veranda offered the twists and turns of every season. No creepers and crawlers invaded their privacy. Threat of any kind was unknown to the family as the police headquarters and the national park was quite close their dwelling. Waking up to calls and whistles of the Masai and sounds of their cattle thrilled the entire family. First and important lesson Mike learnt was that wild animals were part of nature’s design jungles-their home and ‘Each life form created by nature has a purpose, do not obstruct them or harm them’.
Evenings were no less exciting as the family of four went for exhilarating drives through the national park and surrounding areas. Beside his younger brother Ishwar, Mike always felt like a super hero especially when they watched jungle scenes, up close. Lions at a kill, rhinos browsing, herds of wild buffaloes wallowing in the shallow river and the elusive leopard with the classic kill on a tree- unable to pull away in time! Back home, kids continued to observe the scenes in their heads. Images and sounds got etched on Mike’s mind. Not once had Mike’s mother coaxed him into doing anything by mentioning a wild animal. In many ways, his parents created the affinity, understanding and an invisible unbreakable bond with the wild and unknown, somewhere deep down.
First and best encounter was on the Nairobi – Mombasa road during a school holiday when they stopped for a break. A huge tusker appeared from nowhere, slowly ambled towards them, sniffed around the vehicle snaking his trunk through the open window and the huge moist nostrils let out strange sounds. The animal sniffed mike and his brother, the hair, face and jacket and left the appalled boys to themselves pulling out his trunk to move away as gracefully as he arrived. “I could hear my heart pounding between my ears” Mike says. Lesson learnt was not to pull over vehicles unnecessarily in the wild and to keep the windows rolled up.
In Sarguja, Ambikapur, while filming “The Last Migration” Mike experienced a rebirth. Eager to get a shot of a sedated tusker’s tongue and signs of revival, Mike inched closer to the animal that was breathing deep with its mouth open. Deeply engrossed in his work, Mike lost count of time. With great rumbling sound and a shrill trumpet, the tusker revived, lashed outwards with its powerful trunk and scooped up Mike. THUD! The man with his camera landed in a huge thorny bush, 10 feet away. Still groggy and heavily sedated , with only 10% of his strength the tusker then hurtled towards Mike but fortunately the ropes attached to his legs and the 3 Kunkis prevented a disaster. Back at camp, with colleagues pulling out more than a dozen acacia thorns that had sunk deep into his back, shoulders and legs Mike realised that he must not get carried away and always work with a partner.
Armed with caution and knowledge of animal behaviour, forest craft and instincts, Mike has never feared anything as he discovers the wild. He always earns his infallible guides too. He believes that animals are sensitive to our intentions, in a way they sense our thoughts, they communicate. So, a breach into their comfort zone will mean inviting trouble. Not ruling out unexpected encounters with animals in the wild, his team tread cautiously looking out for nursing mothers who are undoubtedly ferocious. Uncountable dicey situations are part of his travels but slow retreat defuses all situations. According to Mike, in unexpected encounters, winning a mental battle with an animal is the difficult part. According to him, a forest guard or a local guide is handier than arms or weapons. The Maasai of Maasai Mara in Kenya, The Kurumbas (honey hunters) of the Blue Mountains or Todas of the Nilgiris were crucial in adding authenticity and value to all his films. Through Mike’s journeys he has come to know that to gather details scientifically and factually correct and to not get lost, jungle natives are indispensable. Mike has always cut the mustard as a wildlife cinematographer with inputs from locals. But for the Gujarati fishermen who knew the Arabian Sea like the back of their hand or Ladakhis who could smell out snow leopards or wolves, Mike couldn’t have got the whole nine yards.
Every time he ventures out of the wilderness, Mike feels he is far away from home. His love affair with nature evolved over the years, intensified during magical moments- watching a she-cheetah rearing its offspring never get carried away in the Maasai Mara, millions of flamingos in lake Nakuru rising into the sky in unison shutting out the sun, majestic elephants of Amboseli almost half a mile long in a line crossing against the snow-capped mount Kilimanjaro and many more. Respect and love for wildlife and everything therein has been engraved in his mind for as long as he can remember. Even the tastes of the jungle produce still linger on his taste buds. In addition to the universal edibility tests, Mike and his team rely on birds and monkeys for the good sign.
Unexpected twists, unending journeys and interminable waits have balanced out Mike’s good and bad luck. Insomnia, hallucinations and a dull headaches have been Mike’s constant companions when working under extreme conditions, totally cut off from civilization. He can’t count the number of times he consciously escaped the stupor and dragged himself to reality.
It was in Ranthambhore, while waiting at a cross road in the park with a group of friends from Wildscreen and the BBC, a tigress appeared from nowhere and headed straight for Mike’s jeep -3 cubs in tow. Mild maternal as she seemed to be, stopped about 5 feet from the vehicle and gave away a searching gaze as if to show her cubs what humans looked like. Silence of the jungle, a heavily breathing tigress staring at them, her wet tongue hanging out gave the entire crew a sense of awe, trepidation and exhilaration. After making some little sounds to the cubs, the seemingly savage walked away and the cubs obediently slinked into the undergrowth behind her. Though the beautiful encounter lasted only for a couple of minutes it felt like a lifetime and the crew relived it in silence till they drove out of the park.
Both his parents’ exemplary lives and good grace can be summed up in these, viz, their faith and patience. To Mike, faith comes as a cause and patience as the consequence. As patient as a vulture, Mike would go on for days, to get what he wanted. At the completion of any project Mike was sure of one thing- With faith and patience, nothing is impossible. Throughout the making of Gyamo- queen of the mountains by his son Gautam and daughter-in-law Doel, Mike saw the many faces of faith in his children. Depicting a scene as it is needs a very high patience quotient. It’s all about watching, waiting and waiting in the hide and sustaining the attitude. With a gleam in his eye Mike says “Parents set forth the path that makes virtues like faith, patience and resilience attainable”. Gautam pushing boundaries in a hostile, unforgiving environment for days in -20 to to -40 degree C with nothing but miles of snow around, at an altitude of 18,600 feet to capture the exquisite cat gave Mike a satisfaction he has never experienced earlier as a patient and faithful parent. Moreover, feral dogs in Leh was a serious concern while shooting Gyamo as they attack and hunt in packs. Anybody, anything in their ‘territories’ for that matter, be they bears or leopards or humans. Fortunately the government in Leh is already addressing this issue on a war footing and bringing it under control by clearing garbage dumps on the outskirts of town and cities.
Thankfully, Mike hasn’t encountered professional poachers while on his mission. But has spotted indigenous hunters who take to their heels on spotting a jeep. Many communities are closed to outsiders and apprehensive about cameras. It takes days and weeks to befriend tribes of the jungle. Mike and his team take a lot of care to work safely around them without upsetting them because they always come about as the best thing since sliced bread. Whatever, whenever, going into the jungle have always felt like entering a sacred place and everything he sees looks like a divine symbol.
At times, the best way to capture animal behaviour in its entirety is to leave camera traps out in the wild for days. The sensors kick in the minute some movement is registered. His team has always improvised technology. Making contraptions during the course of work has always been fun for Mike. He vividly recalls early days when long telephoto lens were unavailable and he had to work on a lathe machine to fashion a tubular cylinder from a block of aluminium to adapt a still photo lens on to a 35mm arriflex motion picture camera. Struggle against odds confirmed and enriched bonding in the team. From using multiple optics and magnifying crystal lenses for super close-ups of the miniature horseshoe crab embryos to building special rigs and platforms for travelling shots, he has done it all. Like father, like son. Unavailability of resources never stopped the duo. Gautam laboured for weeks with bits and pieces of electronic outlets resulted in an octocopter drone and a sense of achievement. Scenes that are meant to astonish require specialized equipment that had to be designed from scratch and built by hand is Mike’s take.
Movies on bears, dolphins, the world of insects-Cockroaches, the damsel fly, spiders and the magical world of ants are on the front burner. His is a genuine passion to see and to portray the unfolding of amazing behavior. Since several projects with international agencies and TV networks stand suspended, this crusader is making an all-out effort to share his thoughts through talks and papers, trying to bring animals and places to people in order to help people love nature. Constantly, his movies are about Conservation and protection of endangered species. Deciding to turn on or off the camera at the right time, Mike has only one agenda, that is, to protect the web of life. Despite huge challenges, his stories genuinely told in a clear and entertaining fashion, deter vested interests that tend to play foul and their sustained efforts to discredit the truth. Greed, stone walls and buck passing to cast doubt on Mike’s conviction has only smoked out the missing political will.
It won’t be easy for Mike and it has never been but with patience, perseverance and dogged persistence he goes into overdrive because the planet is in great peril, climate change is real and so are plunder and consumption. This man will continue to wield a veritable arsenal of equipment may be from a precarious platform high up in the forest canopy or from a well-concealed hide or put up with heat, cold, dust, rain, snow, mosquitoes and death stares or smile through plans that go awry and sometimes turn off his human side to capture the beautiful, distressing or nastiest thing ever. Truly serious about preserving what’s left of our natural heritage, Mike does everything up brown to ensure that certain places and all that live in it are kept inviolate.
All Cinemas are not just made to entertain their audience, win awards make their money and slide away only to be telecasted now and again on some TV channel. Many move beyond to support an environmental vision of the proper conservation path, or champion a particular wild life, bring important environmental issues to mainstream cinemas, spark a debate or a global protest on the exploitation of earth’s natural resources, push legislators to rethink and translate into political action. Powerful wildlife documentaries with a gripping storyline must facilitate the jump from awareness to action. Films that aim to sustain earth must suggest that the planet really needs a larger seismic shift brought about by changes in economic policy. Only when champions make a compelling case, law makers cross political and other divides to arrive at real solutions for protecting everything that defines our planet and are also crucial to our survival. Forget legislations, films can have an impact on humans far greater than imagined, as catalysts for change. Huzzah! Mike’s films have had the power to persuade even the most influential, albeit, stubborn personalities. Documentaries on wildlife must be part of school curriculum to train young minds to think on the lines of saving themselves by saving earth. All such films can be a moral success because they change the way in which the public view themselves in the net of life and time; rekindles the debate over environmental crisis and how a chain of irresponsible behaviour pose a global risk to the planet we call home.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever does.”
Dr. ELSA LYCIAS JOEL- holds a doctorate in biotechnology. worked with the new Indian express as sub editor for a year. She writes for quite a number of children’s magazines since 2004 in addition to contributing to The Delhi Press, I Quote, Women Exclusive (WE), infinithoughts, couples magazine and other national and regional dailies. She has authored a children’s book named “Perfect Endings’, the author’s copy of which was signed by the former president of India Dr. Abdul Kalam