Alternate Careers - Part-2
The story continues..I was in 8th standard when our principal arranged for a 7-day trip to Kanyakumari,Thirunelveli,Kalakkadu & Mundanthurai Wildlife Sanctuaries in Tamil Nadu. The trip cost us just Rs.300 (It was subsidized by the WWF & Forest office). I was mesmerised by the forests & wildlife. We had a great time when a bear started beating our guest house doors after smelling some Bananas & when a leopard jumped right in front of us almost 20 feat ahead when we were marching on the Main Road. A curious friend of mine cited some Agmark ( This guy confused pugmarks with agmark (famous thru Gingely oil ads) and came running to the principal telling them he cited a tiger's agmark to which the principal replied Tigers do not cook food amidst peals of laughter !!) . The forest life was fascinating with early morning baths in the river , Treks,wildlife & bird-watching , Camp fires etc. It was a whole new world and needless to say most of us fell in love with it. The forest ranger regaled us with incredible animal stories and that started a fascination in me to become a Forest ranger . I had vaguely heard about Jim Corbett back then and immediately after the trip was over , I was reading all his books and deriving inspiration. That my uncle was very closely involved in Wildlife Conservation also triggered a passion.
Now on reflection I realize the problem with pursuing dreams in India are fear of financial insecurity & the society. A Tam-Bram either has to be a Engineer (Preferably Comp.Sci ) or a Chartered Accountant .Its unthinkable to think of anything otherwise. The fascination continued with wildlife but it became a hobby instead of a career. Though I remain still very passionate about it (the interest having translated to Occasional visits to Sanctuaries,Reading books on Animal Kingdom,watching National Geographic/Discovery/Animal Planet, Building a collection of NGC Multimedia CD-ROMs ) , at best my knowledge could be termed half-baked and I will never remain a professional conservationist.
The story continues..I was in 8th standard when our principal arranged for a 7-day trip to Kanyakumari,Thirunelveli,Kalakkadu & Mundanthurai Wildlife Sanctuaries in Tamil Nadu. The trip cost us just Rs.300 (It was subsidized by the WWF & Forest office). I was mesmerised by the forests & wildlife. We had a great time when a bear started beating our guest house doors after smelling some Bananas & when a leopard jumped right in front of us almost 20 feat ahead when we were marching on the Main Road. A curious friend of mine cited some Agmark ( This guy confused pugmarks with agmark (famous thru Gingely oil ads) and came running to the principal telling them he cited a tiger's agmark to which the principal replied Tigers do not cook food amidst peals of laughter !!) . The forest life was fascinating with early morning baths in the river , Treks,wildlife & bird-watching , Camp fires etc. It was a whole new world and needless to say most of us fell in love with it. The forest ranger regaled us with incredible animal stories and that started a fascination in me to become a Forest ranger . I had vaguely heard about Jim Corbett back then and immediately after the trip was over , I was reading all his books and deriving inspiration. That my uncle was very closely involved in Wildlife Conservation also triggered a passion.
Now on reflection I realize the problem with pursuing dreams in India are fear of financial insecurity & the society. A Tam-Bram either has to be a Engineer (Preferably Comp.Sci ) or a Chartered Accountant .Its unthinkable to think of anything otherwise. The fascination continued with wildlife but it became a hobby instead of a career. Though I remain still very passionate about it (the interest having translated to Occasional visits to Sanctuaries,Reading books on Animal Kingdom,watching National Geographic/Discovery/Animal Planet, Building a collection of NGC Multimedia CD-ROMs ) , at best my knowledge could be termed half-baked and I will never remain a professional conservationist.
posted by Cogito at
Friday, April 02, 2004
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