A couple of days after Ajith passed away, a message on the WhatsApp group for his memorial enquired about his cat. But Malli would be fine because she inhabited many homes. Much like his beloved cat, Ajith had many institutional homes, and each one thought he belonged to them. As did each of the hundreds on the WA group and innumerable others. Ajith had a special place in everyone’s life.
Many encomiums have and will be written, as they should be. Ajith was an extraordinary person, in the true sense of that word. He was a passionate primatologist and exceptional wildlife biologist, but so are many others. He had an unquenchable thirst for travel to India’s wildest places, but he shared that with his brethren. He was a fine scientist, but he was not alone in that. He was a kind mentor and colleague, but some others are too.
Ajith was more than all that. His endless charm, the constant wit, an almost inexplicable calm in the face of all the slings and arrows of life such as it is, endeared him to just about everyone he encountered. To his academic colleagues, government officials, forest officers, students; to his own mentors, his peers, the next generation, the one after that, the list goes on and on. In a community where success is measured by individual brilliance, Ajith was the finest of collaborators. In an ecosystem where conservationists hold vitriolic, polarised opinions, Ajith walked the tightrope with ease, as if it were a stroll in his favourite forest. In a field where conflict is common, Ajith was unflappable. In a world where pettiness is all too common, Ajith was generous to a fault with his boundless enthusiasm. With his stories, his ideas, with his affection.
To have your (strong) points of view, and yet accommodate a diversity of others, in fact to embrace them, is a very special skill. Ajith was thus uniquely positioned to be the founding director of his Master’s programme which he led and advised for 20 years. He also brought that particular flavour to the many faculty positions and advisory roles he held in institutions across the country in his professional career.
Above all this, he was the teller of tales, a purveyor of odd ideas, a connoisseur of cheap rum, a fine fryer of fish (!) and an irresistible wave of merriment. Words will fail to capture all that was Ajith, his ineffable aura. Ajith Kumar may have passed away, but he will live long in all our memories. What better tribute can we pay than to try to be just that little bit more like him.
