Rupin Dang '94 is not your average college student. In the next year, the author, filmmaker and naturalist will publish his second book, work on a 52-episode television series, begin to think about his first feature film and continue to write newspaper articles.
"I'll be very busy next year," Dang said in a recent interview.
Dang wrote his first book, "Flowers of the Himalayas," during his sophomore year. Released by HarperCollins Publishers, the book is a collection of pictures and descriptions of the various flora that inhabit Tibetan mountain range.
Dang describes the book as "a handbook for the amateur or serious amateur, not the professional."
"Birds of the Himalayas and the Himalayan Foothills," a companion volume to his initial book, will be published later this year, Dang said.He added that he will compile four "coffee-table" books of Himalayan mountain scenery for HarperCollins to be published this year.
Born in India, Dang attended the St. Paul's School in Darjeeling, India, and then finished his education at the Army Public School in New Delhi, before he came to Dartmouth. Dang said his unique upbringing gives him an interesting perspective on education.
"The education one receives in India is very rigorous, very math- and science-oriented," he said. "If I had gone to a university there, I would have had to continue with the studies I did in high school."
"I would spend four months out of the year on expeditions and on field trips while I was in grade school," he said.
An avid photographer, Dang said the photos for his book on birds will come from the approximately 25,000 slides in his collection.
All of Dang's books feature his slides. He said the slides depict the Himalayan wildlife in the mountains surrounding his native Darjeeling, an Indian mountain town "where the best tea in the world comes from."
Dang, who will graduate with the Class of 1995, is majoring in film studies modified with environmental studies.
"I wanted a different experience and I think Dartmouth gave me that," he said. "It allowed me to study different disciplines with really the leaders in their fields."
Dang described the film department as "a good department to get your feet wet in, but it's highly theoretical, not practical enough and I've already gotten my feet wet."
Dang is not exactly a novice to the world of filmmaking. He said he has produced about 20 nature documentaries for Indian television and was involved in the founding of Business India Television, which is the largest cable provider in the nation.
At the end of 1996, Dang will begin work on his first feature film. The film will be like "Crocodile Dundee, Indiana Jones rolled into one, but with my own spin on it," he said. "Maybe even a little autobiographical."
The film will be shot partly in Hanover and partly in India, Dang said, although the specifics have to be worked out.
In addition to planning his film and finishing his books, Dang said he will produce, write and direct 52 episodes of a half-hour adventure sport documentary next year for Business India Television.The series, called "Wild Adventure, will be shown weekly, he said.
Dang said he has been writing nature columns in two of India's daily national newspapers since he was 12 years old. According to the jacket of his book, Dang has contributed more than 400 articles to Indian newspapers and magazines.
