‘Sleep peacefully, like the forest…’: Remembering wildlife photographer Vasudha Chakravarthy

Kozhikode: As usual, one of the Karnataka news items that appeared on the feed this morning caught my attention. The reason was a photograph. Those cat-like eyes were unforgettable.

It was one of those suicide reports we often read without emotion. But I was shaken when I saw those eyes and the name, Vasudha Chakravarthy. News of the death of one of India’s first female wildlife photographers, and a dear friend.

I was reminded of the days I spent with Vasudha 13 years ago. Dashing, bubbly, charming, bold… Photographer NM Pradeep and I had gone in search of a woman photographer who lived alone in the forest, for a feature in 'Mathrubhumi Yathra'. Vasudha was then living in Sophia Bungalow, deep in the forest beyond Ooty Kalhatty Ghat Road, unknown to the outside world.

The forest house could only be reached by travelling 7 kilometres off the Mysore–Ooty road, past Sholur market, winding along the mountainside through a narrow track that barely qualified as a road. It was a place where tigers, bears and elephants would appear at sunset. There, we found an energetic young woman who rode a Bullet and a Mahindra, kept a Rottweiler named Sultan, held a black belt in kickboxing, and had fierce eyes like a tiger. We spent two days travelling through the Nilgiris with her.

A documentary on clouded leopards had inspired the Iyengar origin girl, then working in a corporate bank, to change her life. After completing her studies at the Light and Life Academy in Ooty, Vasudha had decided: “The forest is our way.”

Our feature appeared in 'Mathrubhumi Yathra'  under the title 'Kattile Penkutty'. Many people came looking for her after that. For a time, she often told me I had destroyed her privacy. Gradually, the relationship faded. I remember her once saying she was cutting off all external ties.

It is a heartbreaking loss. I am deeply shaken. Sleep peacefully, like the forest itself, Vasu…

Vasudha Chakravarthy, a 45-year-old professional photographer known for her work at religious sites, went missing earlier this week. Her body was recovered from the Souparnika River in Kollur on Saturday.