Kunj Trivedi

(1931- 2021)

Patron of the Himalayan Club

I met Kunjbhai, as we called him,  rather late in his long illustrious life.  As they say, it was long enough. I spent wonderful two decades of association with him.   He was friendly, generous, and open person to know and introduced many of us to his family and friends.

In 1999  we went to Bhutan together.  Two of his brothers accompanied us,  elder Jagdish and younger Nalin. Each had different interest but same generosity. Our groups got on well and we travelled to some rare parts of Bhutan, covering it thoroughly. I could  see his interest in mountain photography and excellent techniques.

After three years we were travelling across the Tibetan plateau. Starting from Lhasa we cut across the Plateau to the western end, covering is exhaustively. Generally Indians go to Manasarovar and Kailash, which we did, but went much beyond. It was to Guge and Tsaprang where Adi Shankracharyya had built a temple at Tholing Math. Finally to  Shinquen (old Ali) for a fantastic view of the Indian mountain ranges of Ladakh and Spiti from the  east, from outside the Indian Himalaya.  Kunjbhai was at his best  photographing these rare places with enthusiasm and techniques he had mastered. His pictures were stuff of legends and were highly appreciated when he held an exhibition.

Two of his pictures I cherish the most.  From Darchen at foot of Kailash  he photographed the Himalaya which was appearing in right to left reverse direction as were north of the Himalaya. Due to the curvature of the earth and the distance we were, these high Himalayan peaks looked in miniature!   These  pictures were a great lesson in beauty as well as geography.

His panorama of Everest from the Pang la ahead on Tingri is the view that all pre-war Everest expedition had. But now in colour, sharp focus and its entirety as photographed by Kunjbhai was view of rare collection. He sent this to the Alpine Club who  made it an important part of their  exhibition for the 100^th Year of Everest. In a rare honour it was displayed with pictures of legendary Vittoria Sela collection and also featured in the exhibition book.  This was in 2021 and he was lucky to be alive to enjoy it.

His life story tells how hard he had worked to enjoy the later life as he did. And about his major interest- wildlife photography.

Kunjbihari Kantilal Trivedi was born on 20th May, 1931 in Mwanza, situated on the shores of Lake Victoria in Tanganyika. Both of his parents were teachers who had migrated to Tanganyika in 1929.

He was educated in various places in Tanzania before he came to Baroda in 1946 and graduated in Commerce from M.S. University in 1951. He then came to Mumbai and was articled to Shri G.P.Kapadia, who was then the Founder President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. He was enrolled as an Associate Member in the year 1954, at which time he migrated to Mombasa, Kenya, to practice his profession as a Chartered Accountant. In 1972 he moved to Hong Kong, invited by his older brother, to join the family business as a co-founder of a finance company. In 1986 the two brothers acquired a controlling interest in The Indian Card Clothing Co. Limited in Pune, India, of which he became the Chairman in 1988.

His interest in wildlife began during his school years in the forties. His first visit to a Game reserve was to the famous Serengeti National Park in Tanganyika in 1945, as a member of a group from his school in Mwanza. It was an Overland trip in a refurbished surplus World War II military truck; a one night stay at Seronera, sleeping at the back of the truck listening to deafening Lion roars amidst many other wildlife sounds in the night. That thrilled him. He also remembered reading a book in the early Fifties, “Hunter” by J.A.Hunter, which left a very deep impression on him about the excitement and adventure of nature and wildlife. His father gave him a used Kodak folding Camera with bellows which used 120 film. He recollected bringing this camera with him to India to continue with his experiments in photo technique while at M S University, Baroda.

Whilst back in Kenya, he would regularly visit Tsavo National Park on weekends and holidays. He also remembered visiting Ngorongoro Crater in Tanganyika way back in 1958. This interest in wildlife remained dormant during the time he was in Hongkong and while he was actively engaged in business. However, his passion for Wildlife Photography revived in 1991 when he joined a tour to East Africa, organized by the Financial Times of London. This was the beginning of the second phase in this latent hobby. However, now, with more time and resources on hand, he developed an almost obsessive interest in merging the two hobbies into one; Wildlife and Photography.

After that trip in 1991, he visited many nature reserves within India, Eastern and Southern Africa, parts of Europe and America to photograph wildlife and natural landscapes. His favorites being India and East Africa, he considered himself fortunate to be able to have the resources, time and energy to travel extensively in search of the perfect photograph! Fascinated by the predators mainly the Big Cats – Tigers, Leopards, Cheetah and Lions, in that order, his many trips were to their favoured habitats. He particularly enjoyed photographing them in action. In addition, he also loved to capture animal behavior amongst Elephants, African Wild Dogs, Polar Bears and Brown Bears. He found bird photography challenging but enticing enough to photograph. He has also perfected Landscape photography travelling to the Canadian Rockies, New Zealand, Antarctica and Namibia.

He ventured into Heritage photography inspired by Kakubhai Kothary whose companionship was a strong foundation for most of his photography trips in the last three decades, be it to a Tiger reserve or a Temple complex.

His interest in Conservation was deepened after meeting Dereck and Beverly Joubert in Mombo, in Okavango Delta in Botswana. He was enthralled by the impact their work was having on bringing awareness about the disappearing wildlife and the importance of regenerating natural habitat. His resolve to contribute towards this initiative through his own photography, particularly in India became even stronger.

The question that arises is what kept him going for such a long time, especially because these activities are not for profit, purely voluntary & not free from physical discomfort and effort. He felt his passion for both Wildlife and Photography and over time realised its importance in Conservation. The onset of Digital in the realm of Photography gave him freedom to experiment and considerable control on the final outcome of his effort. It also encouraged him to keep learning especially since this fast developing technology always presented a challenge in keeping abreast of new methods and ideas including in computers, editing software and printing technology. This all-consuming interest in technology and its impact on Photography perhaps kept him going until he was 90 years old.

Harish Kapadia

(with inputs from  Shveta Trivedi)