Meet J.C. Daniel

Reminiscing about life, conservation and a better, stronger India

- Bittu Sahgal

Spanning a lifetime, Jivanayakam Cyril Daniel's tryst with nature began as a young boy. Born in Nagercoil and brought up in Trivandrum, his childhood memories include jackals howling into the night, to the accompaniment of the haunting calls of Hawk Owls. His mother's empathy towards animals and his father's scholarly pursuits encouraged him to frequent Trivandrum's excellent public library, where books on African wildlife whetted his budding curiosity for the natural world. Influenced early in his life by Dr. Salim Ali, "JC.", as he is universally known, has been a part of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) for four decades. When he retired as its Director in 1991 he was promptly elected an Honorary Member and is now its Honorary Secretary. He reminisces here about life, conservation and a better, stronger India.

You are a repository of natural history knowledge now, but what triggered your interest?

Where do I begin? Perhaps I should credit Juliet, Brownie and Butter, my mother's favourite cows that were a part of my childhood! Also our four dogs Tess (part terrier), Luxy (whose whiskers suggested Airedale blood), Silky (a cocker) and her daughter Toby. A cat lurks somewhere in my memory, caterwauling after dark. But seriously, my mother, barely educated, but so very literate, was probably most responsible for instilling in me an earthy respect for things natural. And my father, an educationist who obtained his Ph.D. from Columbia, taught me the value of systematic contemplation.

You have influenced the direction of scientific field biology in India through the BNHS. What were your own earliest natural history influences?