Issue Nº394 – In Memoriam

On 19 March, Eric Ramanujam passed away at the age of 58 in PIMS, where he had been taken due to advanced jaundice. Many of us know his beautiful and educative wild life stone paintings placed in Pitchandikulam, at the visitors walk way to the Visitors’ Centre, as well as at the toll plaza of the East Coast Road.

Eric had a background in the advertising industry, which he left because of the drudgery and deadlines which he, as junior staff, had to endure, and in 1997 took to autecological / behavioural studies of the Indian Eagle Owl and associated nocturnal predators and prey. He authored In Achilles’ Footstep – Adventures with The Indian Eagle Owl with brilliant illustrations showing his in-depth knowledge of the owls of India.

He came to Auroville’s Aranya wildlife resort in 2000, where he studied, drew and wrote about the Indian Horned Eagle for several years. Since 2002 he has undertaken field studies of the Kaliveli wetland complex near Pondicherry, the Adyar wetland complex in Chennai and the Sheavroy Hills of the Eastern Ghats. He later moved to Pitchandikulam where he was employed as a wildlife biologist. In Pitchandikulam he created an ‘Art Collective’ – a group of wildlife nature artists and illustrators working together to manifest outputs on a commercial scale. The collective has been successfully working with various government departments (such as the Chennai Rivers Restoration Trust on the Adyar Eco Park and the Gulf of Mannar Biodiversity Reserve Trust), corporates like WIPRO Technologies and many NGOs. His detailed, gentle drawings, combining black and white ink with colour, are found in scientific articles, books and papers all over India. His contributions to nature art, science and his love for owls will live on.

On February 14th, 2022, Axel Björnsson passed away in his home in Vilcabamba, Ecuador at the age of 59, after a long struggle due to a failed surgery. His body was cremated on the 19th of February in Loja, Ecuador, in the presence of his girlfriend, his sister, and oldest daughter. His funeral will take place in July, in the presence of his entire family in his home country, Iceland.

Axel joined Auroville in 2005 and was not only an enthusiastic actor in the Auroville Theatre Group but also a math teacher at Transition School. He left Auroville in the beginning of 2013 for a new adventure in Ecuador, South America. This is where he built up his own business, a restaurant, which quickly became the place to be in town.

Axel was always a joyful and happy person and there are many moments of laughter he will be remembered by.