Techies turned conservationists: A film on Save the Macaques

The Hindu

18-06-2025

The Malabar Whistling Thrush, a glossy black bird, sings beautifully at dawn in the forest. A series of mystical whistles that go 'tseee', 'tseee' resembling a whistling school boy float out of rainforests in Valparai as the documentary Save the Macaquesplays on the big screen. We are at the Bosch Global Software Technologies campus in Saravanampatti to meet the members 360° Pixtures, a photography community formed by engineers with a love for Nature and conservation.
They are out with their first production — a film on the critically endangered lion-tailed macaques, a primate that can be found only in the rainforests of the Western Ghats. 'This entrancing melody of the thrush takes over the valley and follows you wherever you go,' says Harigokul Shanmugham, a software engineer and one of the core members of 360° Pixtures. Other members include Samuel Victor from Udhagamandalam, a birder since his childhood while Shakti Bala Krishna, a new entrant to the community, has shifted gears from street and portrait photography to wildlife. Srikanth Santhinathan is fondly referred to by his colleagues as 'man of the forest' and Periyarmathi Mahalingam is considered an encyclopedia on birds of Coimbatore.
Says Samuel, 'I started a Nature Club and introduced birding at campus. As part of CSR activity, we documented slender loris in Dindigul over a period of three years. We trained tribal people in plumbing, carpentry and electrician work, helped women formed self-help groups.'
Constant awareness brought down the number of road kills and the lorris population increased considerably. 'It was heartening,' explains Sam adding that icing on the cake for the team was when the Tamil Nadu Government declared the Kaduvur slender loris sanctuary covering 11,806 hectares in Karur and Dindigul in 2022.
'People are happier,' says Naved Narayanan, Center Head of Bosch Coimbatore, adding that such communities initiated by people connect people to the physical world. While the FitForFuture — Fit.Kovai Strategy steered by Naved drives home the message on staying fit, the 360° Pixtures community uses photography as a tool to keep the buzz around environment, conservation, and biodiversity protection. Started in 2022 with nine core members, it has grown to accommodate 1200 members. During workshops at the campus on photography techniques using DSLR, mirrorless cameras, and even mobile devices, they share compelling stories from the wild, fostering a deeper appreciation for nature and the need to preserve it.
'Outings in the jungle can be addictive,' chips in Rekha Varma who heads the community, adding that the company of her team makes a perfect setting for travels in the wild. 'During our Valparai trip, it was raining and the leeches were out, giving us a hard time. While we followed an elephant with our cameras, we almost missed a sloth bear. After a few anxious moments, we spotted the bear walking towards the elephant. And sambar deers grazing on the hills went on an alert mode after seeing the predator approaching. It was a perfect goosebumps moment, a frame any photographer would love to capture.'
The team also puts together an annual photo exhibition titled 'Avni: Our Mother Nature' where they display wildlife and nature-centric photos of members for sale. The proceeds, routed through CSR, are used to publish a bilingual booklet on wildlife of Tamil Nadu for students of Government School in Keeranatham.
Naved reasons that at times when people are consumed by the digital space, especially the AI world, such activities help them spend productive time away from the screens. 'We have communities on gardening, where we have earmarked a space to grow vegetables, fruits, and greens. We have communities that go cycling and running. A lot of people who wanted to get back to reading came together and that's how our book club community came into being where they read physical books. These communities thrive on meeting people physically. It helps build confidence in leading. At work, they showcase this capability.'
The documentary was shot over three weekends. It involved 10 field visits across eight months to capture three different seasons and the changing colours of the landscape. It highlights the challenges and threats faced by the primate. For example, increasing human interaction is a growing concern in areas where roads and plantations continue to encroach on natural habitats. The macaques at Puthuthottam in the Valparai Hills offer a unique, decades-long record of such interactions. Initially, these macaques avoided human food even when accessible, but habitat disruptions and tourism have drastically altered their behaviour.
The closing shot of the film shows the canopy bridges in Valparai that help lion-tailed macaques safely cross roads. The roadmap ahead for the team also lists a trip to observe fireflies in Anamalai. The team in collaboration with Arulagam, an NGO that works towards vulture conservation will soon document challenges and threats faced by critically endangered Red-Headed, Long-billed and Oriental White-Backed vultures. 'In field trips, each one is assigned responsibilities and they own it from end to end. It helps develop leadership and project management capabilities. The learning is immense,' says Rekha, adding, 'When we come together it's magic.'