We are pleased to introduce Dr. S.V Narasimhan, who has just joined our distinguished panel of advisors. It is not everyday that one gets to meet individuals like him, though we are sure the world is full of such hidden gems. He is certainly a man of many parts - a successful medical practitioner, conscientious community worker, amateur astronomer, hobbyist photographer, classical music aficionado, concerned environmentalist and a gifted hand card painter. He is also a self-confessed computer nerd who prides himself on having introduced Coorg to the first computer in 1988. Having anticipated the dawn of the ‘new computer age’, he taught computers to young local students and even wrote pioneering software for Carnatic Melaragas for computer-musical buffs like him. He is an avowed conservationist and voices his opinions and concerns from numerous platforms that include talks and slide shows in local schools, nature camps, magazine articles, hand painted cards and radio shows. He is the celebrated author of a bilingual (English/Kannada) book called “Feathered Jewels of Coorg”. It is an illustrated 300-page field guide to 310 species of birds found in the district of Coorg. The Coorg Wildlife Society first published it in 2004, followed by an enlarged edition in 2008.

The medium and the message
Since 1983, Dr. Narasimhan has been carrying out a silent but signature awareness campaign of his own. He makes hand painted cards with illustrations of various animals, birds and butterflies and a little message to go with it. He sends these out to various people around the world. It started out spontaneously in 1982 when he hand painted a few cards for some locals to mark the World Wildlife week that year. It soon caught the attention of many people as well as the local media who bestowed upon it a popularity he had not expected. He has been making these beautiful cards ever since and has completed nearly 25 years doing so. As of 2009, Dr.Narasimhan has designed, hand drawn and sent out 51,820 such cards in the cause of conservation. He uses white index cards made of recycled paper and makes his drawings upon them with pencil, ballpoint, sketch pen and watercolors. The accompanying messages are sometimes personal and inspired by his reflections or fitting quotes taken from various sources. They are pleas to care more for a fragile ecosystem and vanishing wildlife.

Dr.Narasimhan would love to have you join his network if your interests and concerns align with his. Feel free to email him at drnsimhan@yahoo.com or call him on (08274) 257484, 94807 30884 to interact for a common cause.