With improved technology and a much greater appetite among the young for books to remind them of the wonderful biosphere in which they live, it is heartening to see how many new, high-quality publications are emerging from within India. Here are three books that Sanctuary believes should be in every public library and in the homes of all those whose hearts beat to nature’s drum.
Scaling Up
By Zai Whitaker
Published by Juggernaut Publication,
Paperback, 344 pages,
Price: Rs. 599
First published over 30 years ago as Snakeman: The Story of a Naturalist, Scaling Up is a revised edition of the story of Zai Whitaker and Romulus Whitaker, the eponymous ‘Snakeman’. The book follows Rom’s life starting from his early years to his return to India, determined to do work related to his passion for snakes, when his and Zai’s paths cross.
Zai is a distinguished conservationist and writer in her own right, coming from a family steeped in wildlife, including her father Zafar Futehally and granduncle Sálim Ali. Scaling Up (the title is inspired by a pun Sálim Ali once made) details the story of the trials and tribulations of setting up India’s first snake park, what is well known as the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust in Chennai, in a bid to tackle the rampant misinformation and lack of awareness regarding snakes and snake bites, and the prevalent fear towards the reptiles. The stories are a first person recounting of Zai’s own involvement in the Snake Park over the decades, with vivid, informative and fascinating descriptions of landscapes she and Rom visited in search of varied herp species. One memorable chapter details Zai’s journey to the Andaman and Nicobar islands, and a brief history of the colonisation of the islands and the Indigenous people.
The book features more than snake conservation efforts – it covers lizards, crocodiles, tortoises and turtles – all vital work done by Rom, Zai, and the many people in their orbit – researchers, conservationists and herp enthusiasts. Over the years, as the scope of their conservation work and various collaborations grew, it resulted in the setting up of organisations such as the Andaman and Nicobar Environment Team (ANET) and the Agumbe Rainforest Research Station (ARRS), which Zai chronicles. She also shares precious natural history knowledge gleaned from the Irula, a Pandora’s box, as she describes them, not available elsewhere. These rather adventurous tales are a great read, leaving you itching to travel to these far-flung biodiversity-rich forests!
The book offers a back-stage view of the nitty-gritties of conservation beyond the glamorous ideas of field work – data collating and report writing, applying for funds, and most crucial, awareness and nature education, Zai’s special interest, as she notes in the last chapters.
For anyone interested in herpetofauna conservation and the development of herpetology as a field in India, this book is a must-read, and if you have read Rom’s memoir, Snakes, Drugs, and Rock ‘N’ Roll: My Early Years (Sanctuary Vol. 44, No. 6, June 2024), then Scaling Up must not be skipped!
Reviewed by Bhavya Iyer
