“The wretched thing about being a naturalist is that one is so handicapped in one’s expression,” wrote M. Krishnan, a pioneering wildlife photographer and writer, in one of his essays published in the collection Nature’s Spokesman, edited by historian and author Ramachandra Guha. This sentiment of Krishnan will undeniably be shared by anyone desirous of chronicling him.
To call Krishnan a naturalist would be inadequate. Perhaps, he was best described by his sister, Muthu, when Mr. Guha met her as someone interested in knowing more about Krishnan. She asked: “Which Krishnan? The artist, the writer, the photographer, the storyteller, the scholar, or the naturalist? You must know all the Krishnans if you wish to understand the man.”
