‘Royalty today is a confused mess’

Saad Bin Jung’s first encounter with big game became a moment he’ll always cherish. It was with his aunt Sharmila Tagore (he is the nephew of Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi). “I was just 11 then and we  were going from our estate to a machaan when we came upon a herd of elephants who were screaming. To protect me she held my arm so tightly, it bled. We recall the incident to date; it gave us a high...being with big game without guns was pure,” he adds.

Later, with 20 years of work closely connected with the forest has given him his passions — a bison resort and prize-winning angling camp — preserving the eco-system…one of the few erstwhile members of Indian royalty to do so. “Look, royalty today is a confused mess. Quite a few royals, being their usual  ego-centric selves, do little to save our forests and wildlife,” he states.

Saad is taking the powers that be to Africa to look at how people there have resolved the man-wild conflict, as he believes that if no steps are taken sooner in India, it will spell disaster for the environs. “They (in Africa) have managed to implement a successful conservation policy there, but in India we have failed miserably. In 10 years we’ll have states which have no forests evolving as front-runners but Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh are on a self-destructive path.  Plus, the new law that’s coming in says you can’t do anything within 5 kms of the forest. Now, how will you give revenues to the people in this radius? It’s a regressive law and a huge conflict is bound to arise!” he says.

As part of the next generation of the family, Saad says there has to be a shift in beliefs and process. “For instance, Saifu (Saif Ali Khan) and my other cousins have held on to family values but we would never fight or take each other to court. My wife Sangeeta and I have taught our kids to follow their conscience and never to run  after money,” he smiles.