STORM CHASER CHIRASREE ON CLOUD 9:

AN AMAZING PASSION OF A CITY GIRL AND HER DARING GROUP KOLKATA CLOUD CHASERS

Chirasree surely reminds me of Hollywood actress Helen Hunt, who played the role of University Professor Dr Jo Harding, who chased one of the greatest storms of the century along with her under-funded team of students in Twister. Chirasree might not have the sophisticated devices like the Westerners, but she has a burning passion that match the divine fury of the storms and the clouds that bring along the message of an incoming cyclone or a storm.

Since childhood Chirasree has been passionate about clouds and their different shapes and sizes. Their haunting mystery always attracted her. This passion of cloud gazing became more intense when she chanced upon Meghdoot of Rabindranath Tagore and Kalidasa's Meghdootam, while in college. Both these famous literary wonders carry the message of clouds and the stories of the thousand lands they float across. The need to know their stories and capture them through lens gave birth to Chirasree’s out-of-the world passion and she started chasing clouds.

Since 2012, she started viewing weather apps on smart phones. She teamed up with friend and fellow chaser, Debarshi Dutta Gupta, and the duo regularly used to check the weather apps and started tracking clouds, storms, cyclones.

In March 2014 her group Kolkata Cloud Chasers was born with a few photographers who preferred cloudscapes/stormscapes. Debarshi’s craziness about clouds was a sheer encouragement. Today, the group follows live streaming, photos, Vblogs by US Tornado chasers. But India's weather pattern is more interesting than USA. So Chirasree took up the task of studying reports on tropical supercell, monsoon, tropical cyclones in the Indian weather perspective.  
A typical cloud chasing exercise begins with IMD satellite images, IMD Radar Images that are regularly checked to see if there is any storm brewing. Tracking work begins when there is a chance of system formation - how it may form, direction, height etc. There are Spotters who are supposed to look at the sky from the office balcony, windows, house terraces etc to find out if there is a chance of storm formation. Then comes the Navigation part and finally Storm Chasing. All memebers of the group may not go for chasing at a time. But they provide guidance. Successful tracking is indeed an act of joy, pleasure & excitement and Chirasree doesn’t feel being a woman has been a limitation in this crazy pursuit of clouds ever.

Cloud chasing has its own dangers and rewards. She has individually and successfully chased different systems at places like Pedong, Puri, Shillong, Bolepur, Bakkhali and many other locales. Chirasree relives a particular chase in Puri where she experienced one of the best formation of supercell and shelf clouds. The system arrived from the opposite side of the sea. She had focused her camera and took considerable danger of being knocked off by the waves as the sea turned pretty rough. Besides such heavenly experiences, she has often been chased by cows while clicking at muddy fields, snakes passing by, other hostile flora and fauna threatening her ar every step.

Funding a passion like this is indeed another challenge. It’s purely arranged by the members of the group from their own pockets. Basic instruments are smartphones, laptops, good software, camera, lenses, filters, tripod and GoPro camera. KCC  members are not full time storm chasers. There are IT Professionals, businessmen, and freelance photographers.
Chirasree’s encouragement is none other than Tagore’s song Jhor ke aami korbo mitey, dorbo na taar bhrukutite.. dao chhere dao ogo aami toofan pele banchi (Nature’s fury is my kin, storm is my companion, I will dare its fury, not get scared off and will live for all the storms to come).

Those who are interested to follow the group can log on their their FB page and Twitter for exciting weather updates, photos, Vblog and documents.