Impressions are etched, more often than not, by the people in it.

In 2017, I joined WTI as a field officer in Chhattisgarh. After a few days at Raipur for my briefing by our project head Mishra Ji, I headed to Udanti Sitanadi Tiger Reserve (USTR), the last stronghold of the wild buffaloes in Central India and my new field site. During those three hours of drive from the capital city, a lot of things were going in my head. I have always liked worked with fringe communities and people who are closely connected to the soil. These are simple people, with little needs and big hearts. They talk less, do their job and sleep happy. Unlike us from the cities, who lecture about sustainable living, these are the people who grow their own food, toil in the earth; eat their fill and live in harmony with nature.

This was exactly who Daulat was.

Daulat was already waiting for me to reach our field station at Jugaad. Our field attendant since the start of the Central India Wild Buffalo Recovery Project in 2007, Daulat’s roles were varied. Though belonging to the Kamar community of Chhattisgarh, who are well known for their hunting skills, he had hung up his bows. He now used his field skills to help us track and monitor the few remaining wild buffaloes in the jungles of USTR. As a former hunter, Daulat’s  legwork and field craft were that the project relied on.

Heads bowed, eyes shying away from direct contact, Daulat greeted me in a low muffled voice.  A lean guy with a green t-shirt clinging onto his skeletal frame and a thin white towel wrapped around his neck, he offered me a seat at the field office and stood in the corner awaiting a conversation to start. I immediately knew this was someone I need to befriend! We spent the rest of the day talking about the project, a visit to the rescue center and the work that was expected of me.

Over the next three and half year, those shy greets did transform into a full wider smiles. Over the next three and half years, the muffled conversation transformed into friendly chats. Over the next three and half years, Daulat opened up to me like a family. He was the first person I could lean on to, whenever I needed company or just someone to sit by the river and see the sunset with.

Thanks to Daulat, I have trekked the length and breadth of the tiger reserve today. In this period, we had been able to win the trust of the locals and Daulat had been the perfect spokesperson for both them and us.  The wild buffaloes of Udanti are safe today and a lot of the credit goes to foot soldiers like Daulat.

In 2020, Daulat was diagnosed with a clot in his brain. It started as a headache and soon graduated into a paralysis that made his left body immobile. We tried our best but couldn’t do enough. A few hundred meters from our field station was his small hut, where he lived with his wife and three kids. In the better days during his treatment, I can still picture him resting in the wooden chair and smiling away. We lost him on the 20^th of May 2021, after his long and tough battle.

Daulat’s job has now been taken up by his nephew since he resigned but we will never be able to replace his presence. We can only thank Daulat for sharing a part of his life with us. I will remember him for being both a guide and friend, whenever I needed one.

 About the Author: Madhumay Mallik is passionate about photography, travel and documenting his exploits, not necessarily in that order. He spent more than 3 years working with the Wild Buffalo project in Chhattisgarh and is currently an enthusiastic member of our Communications team, raring to travel and document stories from our field projects.