“For as long as I can remember, I was keen on getting to pursue medicine as my career. I dreamt it and visualised it and let all my efforts go to my goal of practising medicine. But then, life threw in a sweet surprise, which now in retrospect has been a wonderful blessing in disguise. I couldn’t get through to pursue medicine as I missed the seat in a narrow slot and in that split second, I chose my veterinarian course.
Growing up in Parel, a quaint town in Bombay, my house overlooked the Mumbai Veterinary college and I was always filled with curiosity about the kind of work the vets did. It was probably this general interest that, I gave in and my life right there, took the most spontaneous turn for the best.
For the next five years, I spent every waking moment learning about the different treatments for animals while also researching about them. This also presented me with the opportunity to intern with different species of animals after which, I ended up choosing wildlife. Flying down to Madras for my specialisation in wildlife to work as a wildlife vet, I worked with the animals in the Guindy National Park and also the Anna Zoological Park as part of my course. One of the most surreal moments here was watching the birth of a baby tiger cub and holding that precious newborn in my hands; that momentous occasion made me so immensely grateful for the life I was gifted with and the opportunity I was blessed with – to learn and care for animals.
Shortly after my graduation, I landed at the Madras Crocodile Bank as the chief Wildlife Veterinarian for the reptiles here and there has been no looking back since then. Each and every day is a new learning experience and I consider myself so privileged to be in the midst of such powerful creatures. For my research, I connect and stay in touch with vets from different parts of the world and their passion and zest for the animals rub off on me all the time.
In my honest opinion, I feel we should all be immensely proud of co-inhabiting a world with these beautiful creatures. Part of the work here revolves around conservation while the other half works on dispelling the myths surrounding wild animals. They are largely misunderstood and we as an evolved species, owe it to our mother earth to create a safe and healthy environment for the animals. Just like how we don’t entertain strangers inside the house, animals have their own personal space and we should respect that. Co-inhabitation doesn’t necessarily have to come at the cost of a huge revolution but just with education. Empathy begins at home and I feel we should take it upon ourselves to educate the upcoming generation about what it means to share this beautiful world with our evergrowing wonderful collection of species because we owe it to them to let them thrive in their natural habitats.”
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