Thanks for saving the fish

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Nandini Velho farewells Jairam Ramesh
Nandini Velho
Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011
Minister Jairam Ramesh

Jairam Ramesh.     Photo: Nandini Velho

As the Minister of Environment and Forests, Jairam Ramesh was known for the cases of Lavasa, BT Brinjal, Adarsh housing complex, Vedanta and Posco. Not known to many, Ramesh played a critical and lasting role in mentoring a young generation of students. During his tenure, the comfort of a lounge room was converted to a vibrant working place where students interested in environmental law, and young wildlife scientists like I were given the rare chance to be a part of the working of his office. The enthusiasm and energy at his office was contagious. The television in the kitchen was usually tuned into Animal Planet, and the channel was changed only to watch the proceedings of Rajya Sabha TV. There was a wedding that I had attended of one of our staff's son. There was no doubt that the gift we had contributed for would be signed from all of us as Team Jairam.

It didn't take more than a couple of emails to the minister, attached with curriculum vitae, followed by an interview to enable us to be part of Team Jairam. Ramesh inspired me when I heard him speak at the Satish Dhawan Memorial lecture on the September 28, 2010, at the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research. His speeches at several other institutions, such as the Indian Institute of Technology, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences and the Asian College of Journalism, would have had a lasting impact on students across the country.

By November 22, I had joined his office as an intern and spent six months working in his office. Being on the fourth floor of Paryavaran Bhavan was an extremely different atmosphere for a field scientist like me who spent half my time in the forests of Arunachal Pradesh, and the other half writing scientific papers. Although, I had engaged with in-depth on-ground outreach and conservation with local forest managers in Pakke Tiger Reserve, Arunachal Pradesh, this was a rare opportunity where I had the chance to scale up and engage with policymakers at the highest level. My on-ground field experience in Northeast India was put to good use, when I was assigned the task to submit a review of Tiger Conservation Plans for the three tiger reserves in Northeast India (Dampa, Pakke and Namdapha). The comments were disseminated to field directors and chief wildlife wardens to further improve these plans.

For the rest of this article: read the original on the Tehelka website

This excerpt from the original article is republished here by kind permission of Tehelka

Nandini Velho and Meghna Krishnadas

Meghna Krishnadas (l) graduate of the Wildlife programme at NCBS and Nandini Velho (r), research associate at NCBS. Photographed on the job in Jairam Ramesh's office.

Comments

I really dot understand the

I really dot understand the tittle given to it ... You have given it as "Thanks for saving the Fish " But describing something about Ramesh ( Ex Union Minister). Please stick to the Tittle given and mention as to what fish as been saved and by whom??? So that even get to no the information about the Fish that is getting reduced in numbers in case...
Submitted by MANJUNATH.J on Mon, 03/09/2012 - 16:12.

The title is an allusion to

The title is an allusion to the title of the book by Douglas Adams, author of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: "So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish ". Nandini tells me that she originally submitted that title to Tehelka, but they revised it to the rather cryptic shorter form seen here. We would have liked to change it back to Nandini's original, especially since I also feel it is confusing. But since the article was (kindly) shared with us by Tehelka, we did not feel at liberty to do so. cheers geoff
Submitted by geoff on Mon, 03/09/2012 - 16:53.

couldn't make out from the

couldn't make out from the article what exactly had Ramesh done to save the fish....
Submitted by purplesunbird89 on Wed, 28/09/2011 - 20:55.

The article seems to have

The article seems to have been hastily written/edited. For example, "There was a wedding that I had attended of one of our staff's son. There was no doubt that the gift we had contributed for would be signed from all of us as Team Jairam" sounds more like a casual conversation. Some editing here would not have been out of place ! A third person account would have resulted in a more sober tone, instead of the first person or conversational tone that pops up, glaringly so, in parts of the article. While it is good to be highlighting publications/accomplishments/awards etc., not doing so in the right (modest ?) manner can be jarring to the typical reader, thereby giving a negative impression instead of a positive one !
Submitted by someonefromncbs, bangalore on Fri, 19/08/2011 - 20:56.

On anonymity and

On anonymity and censorship We have had two comments on this article, one posted on the news site and an another anonymous, which has been held back. Comments on news posts are always welcome. Posts from within NCBS and our campus at large are not moderated. Campus members are bound by our honor code in their use of the internet. Please be as critical as you wish but please stay with the bounds of proper internet conduct. When in doubt on whether a post strays beyond these bounds or not, we would much rather err in the direction of allowing the offensive post to be displayed than censor it: You have your name to the post and you are welcome to defend or elaborate on your views. Posts from outside NCBS may or may not be anonymous. Sometimes, the identity of the author may cloud a debate. The author may be famous or infamous and the debate can focus on this rather than on the news item. Sometimes an anonymous post is useful in pointing out a delicate matter without causing hurt. Unfortunately, the positive flexibility that anonymity offers can be misused to mount a personal attack or by being grossly intemperate. Sometimes a strong personal view is acceptable when aired openly but not acceptable under the cloak of anonymity. The moderated post that is being held back falls in this category. We would urge its author to reformat his language in an acceptable manner and try again: He does have a point of view and than can be very readily and vehemently aired without personal attacks and innuendo clouding its effectiveness and displaying his pettiness. Anonymous commentators are reminded that while their posts are anonymous when posted, their identity is accessible in case of serious violation of acceptable codes of internet conduct. In summary, air your views without fear or favour and in a responsible manner! Cheers Vijay
Submitted by K VijayRaghavan on Thu, 18/08/2011 - 22:20.

What a stupid article! Is it

What a stupid article! Is it about Jairam Ramesh or the author? Also, what has Jairam Ramesh done to save fish? The articles on this site are usually so much more informative.
Submitted by amit on Wed, 10/08/2011 - 10:30.

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