M Krishnan (1912-96) wrote about elephants and tigers, pythons and butterflies, insects and even the common buffalo. His attitude to all of Nature was reflected in his words, "Study the elephant for its own sake. Don't expect to get anything out of it." He was one of India's greatest naturalists and ecological patriots, a Chennaivasi till his death. Remembering him was occasioned by the release of "Nature's Spokesman: M.Krishnan and India's Wild Life", a compilation of his essays edited by Dr.Ramachandra Guha and published by the Oxford University Press, in Chennai last weekend.

"Krishnan was the kind of person," reminisced one of his friends, "who was more enamored by the print of a black buck than by the trail of a supersonic jet." Krishnan served as a member of the Indian Board for Wild Life for over three decades and as a member of the Steering Committee for Project Tiger. He believed, "If we can save India and her magnificent heritage of nature for the generations of Indians to come and safeguard the physical and organic integrity of our country threatened today, only then can we give them a country to be truly proud of." Words extremely significant in our times when endangered birds and animals find their way to politicians' dinner plates.

No one seems to have studied better the rich wild life of India. And Krishnan's eagerness to carry forward his knowledge to coming generations is seen in his short poems used as page breaks between essays in the book. They were written for the benefit of his granddaughter and covers rare and threatened species in alphabetical order like Aardwark, Binturong, Eland and Gnu. The essays in the book include "How Elephants Die", "Jullicut", "Python" and"Vedanthangal".

Krishnan was firmly of the opinion that the laws of nature sustain the universe, that nature's equipoise should be maintained and that Man should do nothing to upset this equipoise. Mr.Gopal Gandhi, Indian High Commissioner-designate to Sri Lanka, who released the book, spoke of Krishnan's unorthodox views and his spirit never to sit idle and content with what he had achieved. This writer asked Krishnan's son, Harikrishnan, who retired recently from the Ministry of Forests, what influence his illustrious father had had on him. He said the influence was evident from his choice of career. But whether he had been able to implement or further his father's vision as a naturalist through his career, he confessed, "I was part of a system and whenever there was a conflict between that system's views and my own, you can guess who would have won."