A cardiac surgeon with a heart for wildlife: Dr Ramakanta Panda’s photo exhibition kicks off in Delhi

Straddling between the contrasting worlds of cardiac surgery and wildlife photography is not an easy feat to accomplish. But renowned cardiac surgeon and founder of Asian Heart Institute in Mumbai, Dr Ramakanta Panda swiftly manages both. 

Panda's wildlife photography exhibition 'HEARTBEATS' was inaugurated by union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari in New Delhi today. Environment minister Bhupendra Yadav and BJP leader Dinesh Trivedi were also present during the inauguration. About 200 wildlife photographs clicked by Panda are on display at Bikaner house till September 30.

Panda, who runs a trust for the welfare of the community, says he has been doing photography for about 25 years. “It started as a hobby. It started off with regular photography and then I moved to landscape photography, and during the vacations I used to take out my children to wildlife areas, where I used to do photography. But slowly it grew on me,” Panda tells Fortune India.

“But now it has become a passion. I am doing serious photography for the last seven years. And ever since I set up the trust six years back, I have been spending half the time during the trip doing photography and half on charity work with the community dwelling near the forest areas, and reserves,” shares Panda.        

“Each of the trips gives me a lot of satisfaction. It is a kind of relaxation for me. I go out twice in a month. That is a fixed calendar. I work for two weeks at stretch and go out for three to four days,” Panda says.

Panda says it is his passion for the cause that helps him find time for photography. “Actually, I really enjoy doing it. Photography is a relaxation time for me. I also spend time with the children at schools where the trust is working,” he adds.

On the idea behind the trust, Panda says when he used to go for the photography in the forest and wildlife areas, he realised that almost half the forest workers are temporary workers.

“My idea was to provide sustainable living to the people in those areas. We set up a petrol pump near the Kanha National park, which is being operated by the staff welfare association. Similarly, we are setting up cottages for visitors to be operated by the staff association, who will in turn get a steady source of rental income,” says Panda.   

He says the trust has set up a parking lot at Bharatpur bird sanctuary. “Recently we have upgraded and improved the eating area, as the sanctuary did not have an eating area. So everywhere we are trying to create something which will give sustainable income to the people at the reserves, sanctuaries and forest areas,” Panda adds.  

The trust is also facilitating education of the tribal children and children of the staff living near the wildlife reserves. “We are trying to upgrade the government schools near those areas. Similarly we tying up with the NGOs for empowering the local women,” says Panda.