Bahar Dutt is an Indian television journalist, environment editor and columnist for CNN-IBN.
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Wiki/Biography
Bahar Dutt is an Indian TV journalist. She earned a bachelor’s degree in social work from the University of Delhi, later studying wildlife conservation at the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology at the University of Kent. He is deeply motivated by his love for the environment and his desire to do something for nature.
Family
parents and siblings
Bahar Dutt is the second child of Air India executive SP Dutt and Hindustan Times journalist Prabha Dutt. He has an elder sister, Barkha Dutt; Leading journalist. Both siblings, Barkha and he, were raised by their mother, who was a leading journalist. His father was fondly called (Speedy Singh) because of the first letter of his name. Bahar recently lost his father due to Covid.
Bahar Dutt’s parents
His mother was one of the earliest people to do war reporting. Bahar has an elder sister, Barkha Dutt.
Bahar Dutt’s sister Barkha Dutt
husband and children
Bahar Dutt is married to famous wildlife photographer Vijay Bedi. It was awarded Best Non-Feature Film and also won Best Non-Feature Cinematography. She and her twin Ajay Bedi are the youngest Asians to win a Green Oscar for their film The Policing Langur. The couple has a daughter.
Bahar Dutt with husband and daughter
livelihood
Bahar Dutt is a unique environmental journalist and writer. He has often been described as a lion-hearted passionate journalist with revolutionary revelations. Along with this, he has also written a book titled Green Wars, which has received appreciation from critics like Sujata Sen (Director East India) British Council.
“The book does not read like the first attempt. It is very beautifully written,” said Sujata Sen.
Dutt says that she grew up with an unwavering passion of wanting to do something for nature and wildlife. She jokingly recalls that she wanted to be Mother Teresa of Nature. He has done some incredible work to save natural resources because he has a keen interest in it. At the young age of 22, Dutt set out to cover the story of snake charmers as the government had banned them in 1972 because of animal cruelty. Here he remembers that he was chased away by the snakes in his bag. She persisted and eventually convinced them to talk to her, where she learned about the loss of their livelihood. Dutt wanted to do something for them because, she says, if we want people to follow the law, it is important for them to have alternative businesses. Soon Dutt devised a way to form a band called 100 Charmers by involving a theater director and others with expertise. The band not only provided livelihood to this community but also aided in the revival of their culture as children also started learning to play. The band has performed in Scotland, at a cultural festival in Rome, they have gone global, Dutt is particularly happy,
We have received half a dozen offers to present this show. Each presentation will cost around Rs 1 lakh,” says Dutt. The snake charmer has entertained people for centuries. Now is the time for society to pay its dues – by nurturing the rare musical talent of the community.
Following his success in restoring the livelihood of Delhi’s snake charmers, came Dutt’s first story, which became the greatest story of his life, The Story of the Saras Crane. He remembers being met with complete resilience. Mulayam Singh Yadav, the then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, had proposed building an airport on the wetland; Home to 2/3 of the total population of sarus cranes globally. Dutt says that when a Supreme Court committee came, people deployed by Mulayam Singh chased away the birds and covered the wetland with soil. She remained flexible and the airport expansion was cancelled. It was due to his efforts that Mulayam Singh Yadav had earmarked a sum of Rs 10 lakh for the state bird sarus crane. His most dramatic revelations involved a cement company of global repute that was operating illegally from the forests of Meghalaya along the India-Bangladesh border. Another revelation by Dutt, supported by Urgent RIT by the Goa Foundation, on the operations of a miner in Goa that illegally destroyed forest land, leading to the closure of the mine. He remembers that he received many threats and so did his team. He has traveled extensively from the origin to the mouth of river Ganga for 4 to 6 months. As a conclusive statement, Dutt says that we need to go easy on the hydropower projects that we have already installed, going to install on the river because all this adversely impacts the ecological balance.
A map of the hydrological basin of the Ganga River flooded by hydropower projects
His career is about raising awareness and creating awareness about the environment. Despite having no formal education in journalism, she has brought environmental journalism to prime time and into our homes. He has started the Mitti Project site, established in Manoli village of Sonipat, which provides a practical form of environmental education.
In an interview Bahar Dutt talks about motherhood and appreciates how relaxing the Indian landscape is compared to other places. She further adds, that we get help at almost all points, be it domestic help which is cheaper in India or our parents and in-laws. Dutt says she knows that seeking help from parents and in-laws comes with its own problems. She is seen further saying, I think a happy mother is a better mother, so it is not important to leave your work and she describes herself as a full-time writer and part-time mother.
Bahar Dutt with daughter
- traveling with your child
Dutt and her husband, renowned wildlife photographer Vijay, decided to take their two-year-old on a travel expedition to show him the migration of animals from one place to another, from one region to another . She tells how the joy she saw in her daughter’s eyes after seeing sea lions and butterfly flocks made their long journey worthwhile. When asked why she wouldn’t wait for her little one to grow up before seeing it all, she explains that nature is moving at a very different pace than humans and says,
For humans, travel is mostly a matter of entertainment. For the animal kingdom, it is one of reproduction and survival.
She seems to admit that the journey is tiring and financially draining, and she wouldn’t want to do it any other way. She is thrilled to be able to share her passion with her two-year-old daughter.
Bahar Dutt traveling with his daughter
controversies
- Environmental writer Janaki Lenin had accused Bahar Dutt of plagiarism, who later accused Dutt of removing paragraphs from her book. To demonstrate this, he tweeted excerpts from his book comparing it to Dutt’s work. However, Dutt denied the allegations, saying that whatever he had written was credited at the end of the book and was given to Dutt via email and by Romulus Whittaker, who is Janaki’s husband. It was on record. The latter had asked Dutt to share the emails claimed by him.
Benefits of three endangered Indian crocodiles – the crocodile, the saltwater crocodile and the gharial. It demarcated 20,000 square kilometers as sanctuaries and established several captive rearing projects.”
Compare with this- pic.twitter.com/vdeig3viqs
– Janaki Lenin (@JanakiLenin) 23 December 2019
Awards, Honors, Achievements
- She is a recipient of the Green Oscar for her reporting on environmental issues related to India.
- Dutt received the Wings Award for raising the standards of environmental journalism (2009)
- He has also been awarded the Sanskriti Award (2009).
- She is a recipient of the Ram Nath Goenka Award for Excellence in Environmental Reporting for Last Dance of the Storks (2006), an investigative news story about the drainage of wetlands in eastern India.
- He has been honored with the Young Journalist Award. (2007)
Facts/General Knowledge
- Bahar Dutt is an animal lover.
Bahar Dutt’s pets
- He recalled in his book Green Wars that he helped a depressed Hoolock Gibbon find love.
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn