08 March 2021, 12:00 am
ANTARCTICA - THE LAST FRONTIER
Programme Type
Films and Exhibitions

A photographic journey to Antarctica with Dr. Ajit K. Huilgol, ARPS

The online exhibition is on view from 1st to 14th March 2021 on www.iicdelhi.in


About the exhibition
There is possibly no place on earth more remote, more forbidding, more harsh than the continent of Antarctica - characterized by high winds, rain, snow, ice and cold temperatures that make anyone planning to visit it, have second thoughts. 
    
It is no wonder, therefore, that very few people have actually set foot on this remarkable place. I have been one of the fortunate few. I spent a month photographing the iconic landscape and the animals and birds that inhabit this wilderness, and came back with over 30,000 photos, some of which I would like to share with you. So, join me as I take you on a photographic journey to one of the last, relatively unexplored frontiers on earth. 

On this journey, you will see penguins, seals, icebergs and other wonders, and also learn about the whaling industry and some of the early explorers and adventurers.  

 
Dr Ajit K. Huilgol is a man who wears, or has worn, many hats – pioneer kidney transplant surgeon, hypnotist, cricket commentator, and wildlife photographer.
He was in the team that did Karnataka’s first successful kidney transplant in May, 1983. Since then, in these 37 years, he has done almost 2500 transplants, both in India and abroad, and specializes in doing multiple artery transplants and double ureter transplants. He started transplant programs in several hospitals – MS Ramaiah Hospital, Wockhardt, Yellamma Dasappa, Ashok Nursing Home, Columbia Asia Hospitals in Bangalore and Mysore, to name a few. He has also established transplant centres in Jalandhar, India, and in Dhaka, Bangladesh. He has been a consultant for Nigeria, Uganda, Ethiopia, and other African countries.

Dr Huilgol was a cricket commentator in English for All India Radio from 1972 to 2005, and has been a commentator for Doordarshan for a few cricket matches, including some One Day Internationals.

An image that he took in the Nagarhole Tiger Reserve in Karnataka of a leopard descending vertically down a tree won him the coveted Runner-up Award in the highly prestigious BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year Award in 2009. He is also an Associate of the Royal Photographic Society since 2008, and now proudly wears the suffix, ARPS, after his other medical degrees.

Dr Huilgol was given the title of Hon Special Police Officer in the Karnataka Forest CID wing for his courageous role in nabbing over 40 tiger, and other rare-animal, poachers who were operating in the Nagarhole Tiger Reserve.

Dr Huilgol is married to Dr Medha, Anesthesiologist, and has two sons (both reputable lawyers in the Karnataka High Court), and two grandchildren.

Contact: ajithuilgol@gmail.com