Snake rescuer-turned-painter brings forest to canvas

Beneath the tough exterior of an avid wildlife rescuer beats the heart of a passionate painter. He nearly died after being bitten by a Spectacled Cobra in September 2014, has been attacked by civet cats and sambars, rescued over 8,000 snakes (and countless other animals) and has created hundreds of watering holes for summer-parched animals in the Shivaliks.

But through decades of his adventurous escapades across the jungles of Punjab and Himachal, wildlife conservationist Nikhil Senger’s best-kept secret has remained his prolific collection of paintings — a collection he has long protected with care.

His works feature prominently in the wildlife art collections of former Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankar, the Chatbir Zoo, Takhni Wildlife Sanctuary, the Bagh-e-Adab dedicated to the memory of poet Surjit Patar and in countless hotels and resorts such as the Kikar Lodge and Barota Farm.

His paintings also adorn cafes and the private collections of wildlife art connoisseurs across Punjab and the country. Some of his works even find place in homes in the US, New Zealand and Canada.

True to his wildlifer spirit, Senger’s preferred canvases are wood logs, stones, slate planks, and even large walls. Years of driftwood collections from forests now serve as lamps. His canvases are adorned with vivid depictions of the wild — from the rare Lesser Floricans (Sypheotides indicus), Great Indian Hornbill, and Common Sparrow, to Plum-headed Parakeets resting on the flame of the forest, Hoopoe, Sunbird, Kingfisher, Paradise Flycatcher, Cheetahs, Tigers and Snow Leopards — all painted with shining plumes and fiery eyes.

Every morning, the little fern garden in his home lights up with a hand-painted wood platter — used as a tray for his tea and rusks — depicting a bird, tiger, leopard, or snake.

Interestingly, Senger’s decades-long passion for the jungle owes its roots to painting. As a graduation student, he first ventured into forests to study the behaviour of jackals — so he could paint them.

“My mother and maternal grandfather (Nana), Ayodhya Prakash Pathak, were both music teachers. At age eight, I painted figures from the Ramayana, which my nana asked me to paint more of — promising me money for every canvas. So I painted 400. My first earnings,” Senger laughs.

As he grew older, his art shifted focus to the relationship between man and the wild. “It started with paintings of dogs being man’s best friends. While painting that, I wanted to study wild dogs and jackals. That’s how I began going to the jungle,” he says. Addicted to the wild, there was no looking back.

His big break as an artist came in 2017 — painting nine snake enclosures for the Chatbir Zoo.

“For rescue and relief work, I kept frequenting Chatbir. Some people there knew of my art. The authorities had earlier planned to rope in a corporate firm but they wanted all snakes removed first — a tedious process. I instead removed the snakes temporarily with my own hand and put them back in safely when the work was done. The nine enclosures were revamped with natural habitats with their own pond and greens, and I painted the walls to mimic the wild,” he shares.

A few years ago, one of Senger’s paintings from his leopard series was selected by Chatbir Zoo as the artwork gifted to then Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankar during his visit.

“I never commercially marketed my art. There’s no tag, no sales pitch, no shop. All my works have been picked by word of mouth. People have randomly approached me because they saw it somewhere else — at a zoo, resort, or friend’s home. And my work is not for sale to those irresponsible with wildlife. I sell it to those who respect wildlife as much as they want it to decorate their walls,” he adds.