'She was the embodiment of knowledge, kindness, and compassion.'
Dr Sabyasachi Mukherjee, director, CSMVS, remembers his meeting with the pioneering wildlife conservationist who passed into the ages last week.
"Who doesn't know Dr Jane Goodall?" asks Dr Sabyasachi Mukherjee, director, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sanghralaya, CSMVS, Mumbai.
Her sudden passing has come as a shock to him. Especially so, because less than a year ago, she was at the museum to deliver a powerful talk.
"What I remember most are her compassionate eyes and the warm smile that never left her face."
Dr Mukherjee was fortunate to have a brief conversation with Dr Goodall before the start of her lecture.
"She mentioned that, on her way from the airport, she noticed how few trees there were, but upon entering the CSMVS campus, she felt uplifted seeing so many trees and birds," he remembers.
"'Humans grow as humans when they live in harmony with nature'," she said. That moment stayed with me."
Dr Goodall whose name has long been synonymous with the preservation of chimpanzees and as the voice of voiceless animals first visited India in 2007 when she came to Calcutta and visited the Alipore Zoo.
Subsequently, she delivered several lectures in Delhi and Mumbai over the years.
The lecture at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS) was organised as part of the first-ever edition of Ocean Literacy, in collaboration with the British Council and the Hope Foundation.
The dialogues, which were part of her Hope Tour in India, were supported by the UN Ocean Decade Campaign.
"She was genuinely delighted to visit the Children's Museum, where young minds eagerly awaited her presence. While meeting the children and their parents, she gently reminded us: 'Care for the ocean, care for animals, and care for the planet we live on," Dr Mukherjee says in an e-mail interaction with Rediff.
"Her hour-long 'Great Talk' was nothing short of an eye-opener. She spoke about her life philosophy, her beloved dog, and her years of living in the African forests with chimpanzees -- sharing stories of their intelligence, their emotions, and their unconditional love."
Dr Goodall, an animal lover since her childhood, was devoted to wildlife. In her early 20s, she left England for Africa where she looked for and found her dream job.
She worked as secretary to famous palaeontologist Louis Leakey and became among the pioneers to study chimpanzees at the Gombe National Reserve in Tanzania in the late 1950s-early 1960s.
She was one of the first human beings -- man or woman -- to observe chimpanzees by getting close to them. Her discovery that they could use tools just like humans, express emotions and use their intelligence was revolutionary.
Dr Goodall gave her life to conservation and advocacy. She spent most of her later life travelling and spreading her message around the world.
At the time of her passing, she was on a lecture tour in the United States.
"Meeting Dr Goodall was an enriching experience,' says Dr Mukherjee in his tribute.
"She was the embodiment of knowledge, kindness, and compassion. To me, she will always be an inspiration."
She had planted a sapling of an Ashoka tree in the museum grounds during her visit -- a fitting sanctuary for birds, animals and insects that she loved most dearly.
Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff