Story and Photo By Krysten Maier Canada
A lover of knowledge - Dr. P. Kumarasamy displaying his extensive library
Paramasivam Kumarasamy: the Batman of Madurai. A loving nickname invented by friends and colleagues for this bat enthusiast. While he is fond of his unofficial title, the man told me I may simply call him Kumar, as he graciously accepted to speak with me about his life, work, and many passions. An academic with a doctorate, a professor and wildlife enthusiast, Kumarasamy is a fascinating individual. He may not fight crime, but this “batman” is fighting against the crimes of animal injustice through his education about conservation. Kumar has been a lecturer at Madurai’s esteemed American College since 1996, where his father actually taught in the Tamil department for many years. While he has followed in his father’s teaching footsteps, he branched off in a different area of study. Studying zoology for his undergraduate degree and masters, the man went on to write his PhD on the biological clocks of vertebrates. He certainly is proud of this second generation workplace, showing off photographs of the campus from season to season.
A person of many talents
Kumarasamy eagerly launches into an explanation of his two current areas of research: siddha medicine and the immune system of bats. His reputation as a jack of all trades precedes him, and I immediately see why. Kumar is such a lover of learning that he’s bound to be a student of life forever and a scientist first and foremost. Fascinated by astronomy and the origins of the universe, Kumarasamy is naturally inclined to educate himself in all things living, with a curious mind that yearns to know how things work. Testing the medicinal effects of herbal plants in the model system of fish (which is comparable to the human immune system) is just a flavour of the week, so to speak. Bats, on the other hand, will be a lifelong obsession.
An abiding interest in bats
Kumar’s interest in bats started rather innocuously and by sheer happenstance. As a zoologist, the man has made it his business to take up interest in creatures from all of the animal kingdom, though he has always had a particular penchant for mammals. The bat certainly is an exceptionally fascinating mammal, as Kumarasamy discovered when he was asked to photograph the critter as a service to one of his professors and mentors at the Madurai Kamaraj University where he studied. Photography is yet another skill Kumar has up his sleeve, although it remains just a hobby for him. Though he has photographed birds, elephants, and tigers among other animals on treks or in sanctuaries, “professional wildlife photography,” he admits, “takes too much time.” This time, he would rather devote to scientific study and teaching. He is proud, however, of the photography he does do, avidly displaying us beautifully bound collections of photos from his various travels. He even shows us a viewfinder with two slides, shots of his campus taken from slightly varied angles, creating a three-dimensional image. This innovation, experimented with by Kumarasamy years before the popularization of 3-D technology, just further proves how intellectually adventurous his spirit is.
Batty about bats
Photographing bats, though, presented a challenge for even the most innovative of minds. His professor and department head, Dr. G Marimuthu, was studying the behaviour of the false vampire bat, a species native to the Madurai area and the goal was to capture the bat catching a frog from the water. Capturing a split-second moment of nocturnal predator and prey under the cloak of night? No easy feat for an amateur photographer. But Kumar has a mind for problem solving, and he rigged up an infrared lens to his camera with a clamp to create “noctovision.” He then had to learn about the bat’s habits in order to know the correct moment to shoot. “I would throw a stone into the water, or I would throw a frog, but eventually the bat only came for the frog,” Kumar recounts, showing the sensitivity of the bat’s perceptions. He learned all about their echolocation and how it can distinguish the difference between the different ripples created in the lake. After tireless efforts and study, he got the money shot, and was hooked on bats forever. He will always remember the first encounter he had in a bat cave. It was in a well-like cave of Nagamalai near Kamaraj University that delves into Elephant Rock on Madurai’s outskirts. The entrance is very narrow, a vertical descent of five meters before one must take a right angle to come upon the six chambers of the roost. He explains that they had to keep a rope tied to a tether outside just to be able to lower themselves down into the cave. It sounds like an incredibly claustrophobic experience, but Kumarasamy was in his glory. “I liked it,” he says. Clearly, he had found his calling.
For Nature’s sake
The money shot - Kumarasamy’s stunning image of the Indian False Vampire Bat catching a frog out of water
There has been a co evolution between plants and animals, postulates this firm student of evolution, so conservation in the region must happen in an all-encompassing way. Native plants are important to conserve the bird species of Madurai and it is pollinators like bats and butterflies that preserve the longevity of these plants, so really, conservation issues are intrinsically linked. Kumarasamy hopes to start a trend of people coming forward to plant more local flora, at the same time protecting the habitat and food source of the local fauna. A recently inaugurated Wildlife Club of Madurai, Friends of Nature, marks the joining of forces of the Batman with other conservationists and nature lovers in the city, which includes Madurai Messenger’s very own Nandini Murali. Their first and so far only meeting was a photo shoot of a Flying Fox roost; from here the sky’s the limit, as the group hopes to promote awareness of conservation issues in Madurai. Meanwhile Kumarasamy lances the first charge in this campaign for Madurai bats. Last year, to commemorate it being the International Year of the Bat, he made a series of lectures about the creatures, which he delivered to various school and colleges. Additionally, he has filmed a two-part television program about the different kinds of bats in Madurai as well as their importance which aired in March this year. “Maybe after my retirement I will take this matter seriously and make more efforts to conserve bats,” he muses and jokingly adds, “That’s my future retirement plan.”
Kumarasamy’s kinship with nature and zealous engagement in the world of science, is simply infectious, just like anyone who gets the chance to meet him long enough. By the time I have finished speaking with him, I have a laundry list of things I want to do: visit a bat cave, glimpse the PANSTARRS comet that was to grace the Madurai sky for several days in March, learn more about the native plants in India that I probably walk by every day, photograph animals in their natural habitats; the list goes on and on. He is an inviting character, and he certainly ensnared me into his world of science, as I’m sure he does anyone who gets the chance to talk to Kumarasamy for long enough.
http://www.maduraimessenger.org/printed-version/2013/may/passion-03/
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