MUMBAI, Nov. 23 -- Cardiac surgeon Dr Ramakanta Panda is in his scrubs - he has come straight from the morning rounds for this interview, and will get into back-to-back surgeries later. He has done 30,000-plus heart surgeries over 40 years. That's serious business but Dr Panda isn't your straight-faced, brooding doctor. Beaming with excitement, he says, "My exhibition of wildlife photography has over 100 photographs shot in the last two years." He then holds forth about his adventures with the camera in forests, curated into a show titled Heartbeats: Wildlife, Our Shared Future, to open at the Jehangir Art Gallery next week, and inaugurated by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. The showcase features Dr Panda's photos of wild animals and birds shot in Mumbai and wildlife sanctuaries across India, including Bandhavgarh, Panna, Tadoba, Satpura, and the Masai Mara in Kenya. There are frames of a fearless tigress with her cubs, tiny birds mating, and a group of cheetahs goofing around with giraffes looking on, and many more pictures of the wild. This is his third show, money raised from which will go towards wildlife conservation. A cheerful addition to this showcase are pictures of birds seen in Mumbai and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). "More than 400 different birds can be spotted in and around the city; the sheer variety is fascinating," he says. During the birding season, Dr Panda frequents the Karnala Bird Sanctuary and other birding spots in Navi Mumbai to photograph the winged creatures. It requires serious commitment, he says. After almost 50 5-am visits to Karnala over the last three years, followed by a full day's work, he got a rare shot of Oriental Dwarf Kingfishers mating. "They are usually hidden in the bushes, but this one time they were out in the open, and I was lucky to be there and get that shot," he adds. The picture is one of the highlights of the exhibition. "Wildlife photography requires patience and persistence, and as a surgeon I am good at that." Dr Panda has also helped conserve these birds that were dwindling in number. They dig burrows during the mating season, but people were destroying them at night. Seeing this, he donated and installed five to six camera traps in Karnala, which put a check on the destruction. "I am happy to report that now there are many more Oriental Dwarf Kingfishers in the region," he says. Born in Damodarpur village, Assam, the doctor's love for wildlife photography took a leap nine years ago when he operated on Madhya Pradesh's then forest minister Gauri Shankar Shejwar, who invited the good doctor to visit many forests in MP, which stoked his interest in wildlife conservation and conservationists. Over the years he has also supported the rhino, lion and cheetah conservation in Masai Mara. A picture from one of his many trips there is displayed in the exhibition. Another highlight of the exhibition is a series of photographs on the tigress F2, also known as Gothangaon Express. The famous tigress of the Umred-Pauni-Karhandla Wildlife Sanctuary rose to fame when she gave birth to five cubs in February this year. Since then, the six have been often spotted in the grasslands of the region together, walking, playing and hunting. Dr Panda has tracked the cubs' growth and their behaviour over several visits since February, captured in his photographs. "It's hard now to spot them together as the cubs have grown and started venturing out on their own, which makes this series special," he adds. The heart doctor is also helping set up a tiger rehabilitation centre in Gothangaon, and widening of the grassland cover, so that the tigers have enough place to thrive. "Our wildlife is crucial for our planet and human race's survival. They must be protected, and my pictures are a step towards that mission," he says....