MY STORY

Born and brought up in Delhi, i was lucky to have lived in a house which was in the midst of greenery and was visited by a diverse species of birds. Almost all of my childhood was spent hanging upside down from trees playing with dogs and kittens and it was when I rescued my first mynah chick my family realised my love for animals and the outdoors. I was eight years old when my family undertook a trip to Kanha Tiger Reserve. My father says that he saw me transform as a person in the wilds and encouraged my love for it by planning every family holiday to a forest thereafter much to the despair of the rest of the family! 

As a student I wasn't very proficient academically, but i had an affinity towards writing, which led me to apply for a journalism course at the Xavier's Institute Of Communications , Mumbai. 

One year of studying at the institute, helped me hone my writing skills and I wanted to explore more opportunities at writing ( especially about people ) which is when at the end of the course, I came across a college placement. 

On enquiring further, turned out that it was the opportunity of a lifetime as it involved putting together a website about the various protected areas in India by travelling to them. This is when I met Nikhil Nagle, the founder of Last Wilderness Foundation (LWF) and my first ever mentor. His vision was to create awareness about our natural heritage via a solid presence. Once the website was ready, and shared with different Forest Department officials, they got in touch with Nikhil for further involvement in the protection of the said landscapes.

 It was in 2009, that Nikhil discussed with us on furthering the scope of work at LWF by founding an NGO which would help undertaking various conservation projects with the Forest Department in a structured manner while also continuing the main vision of LWF of creating awareness about our parks and its people. 

Due to the tremendous support of the  Forest Department LWF has, for the past decade,  instrumental in protection of landscapes in the Central Indian belt in tandem with the community members, and during my time at the NGO, my role has been diverse ranging from content writing , fund raising, donor management, community engagement and outreach in both the rural and urban spaces. 

Today after 13 years of working at LWF , my dream is to continue working with and for community members living around protected areas, using the acquired  skill sets. I hope to not only write about the brilliant conservation work being done across the length and breadth of India for the protection of our wilderness spaces, but play a small part in them too!