From Classroom to Classroom

she’s a girl

she’s dark she’s thin

she’s a tomboy she likes snakes

she’s crazy she left the country

oh she’s crazy she’s back already

she lives in a tent now whoa

she’s totally crazy she has animals for

company

and she’s completely crazy well

she’s speaking to you right now very

good morning to everybody

these are some of the labels that i’ve

been given since i was really little

since pretty much that i was born and

crazy as you learn

is one of the recurring ones crazy is

something i wear very proudly now

however it wasn’t always like that so

today let me take you back

to my 36 something life yes now you know

my age

there i was born to be a boy just like a

lord of indian families

and i was a little darker than my

cousins and siblings so you can imagine

what that means in the indian

indian front i’ve spent most of my

childhood climbing trees

eating a lot of mud playing under the

sun

i can’t complain i’ve had an extremely

privileged life

well supported with loads of exposure

but right since i was young i knew that

i was really different from those around

me

i knew that i didn’t fit in i never did

understand that then

i just struggled to keep up with all the

a-listers in school all the front

ventures you know

i kept being asked to behave myself

i kept getting into trouble for not

adhering to the norms

that seems to be a theme that’s remained

throughout my life

i was usually the kid in class that

didn’t listen to the teachers much

that was always caught for being naughty

or asking a question

that i actually should have been known

the answer to was i paying attention

i was never the teacher’s pet far from

it actually

and a lot of you might actually relate

to that i was mostly the nightmare

the unruly talkative below average in

academics kind of a girl

i was popular though for my courage

right since i was really young

i would pick up fights and speak up for

how i felt i would i would pick up

fights with people bigger than me

i felt very deeply for the earth and the

animals and for nature

i believe i must have been around 11

close to your age

when there was a road widening plan that

came up in pune

it meant that some of the old trees in

my neighborhood were going to be cut

down

it meant that i had a choice i had a

choice

and we always are faced with a choice

right i had a choice to either

participate or run away and accept what

was happening

so my friend back then and i hand wrote

some awareness slogans we drew a small

green triangle

and called our campaign the green alert

campaign

we walked around our locality and

distributed these pamphlets and that

evening

some of us kids got together and we

stood around the trees much like the

chipko movement

and we hugged them the trees that we

hugged are still there

and i would like to believe that the

kids played some role in that

i would like to believe that that was

the start of a movement

well this stuff was a lot away from the

classroom i was doing fun stuff in the

classroom i had support of my parents

however back in school let’s just say i

was an outstanding student

outstanding meaning standing outside the

class by the way

on most days some teachers would in fact

ask me to leave the class even before

they entered they were so sure of my

capacity for disrupting the class

the one place so that i was always

wanted in the school

other than the principal’s office was

the sports ground

i was on nearly all the school teams and

i was even a metal wiener

winner for the track and field events i

went on to represent school for

basketball badminton and even track and

field events

at the state level that was nice it

allowed me to be outside right

nature outdoors sports and animals had

my heart right since i was really really

young

my parents actually sent me on my first

nature camp as young as seven

it was at this lovely little place near

pune called

well it was run by a family called mrs

broome and mrs groom is actually one of

the first people i remember one of my

earliest memories as an educator

she’s a childhood shero you know what

she royal is right heroes and she rose

well i also obviously had to take two

shrinks since i was mostly

outside class while at school and there

too i was more interested in the stuff

outside the room

but my tuition teacher mrs mandloy was

really kind

she used to allow me ever so often to go

out and study the birds that i saw

enamored

and you know the little line of ants

that used to walk around that i prefer

to watch rather than how the british

ruled

india well i made it to school just

about

in fact the school principal called me

you know around about my ninth standard

something that i was used to by now

and told me listen kid i’m going to pass

you because i cannot have you in school

for another year i just need you to go

on

so that’s how school looked for me well

little did i know that a few years later

the same school principal would actually

invite me to school

for a talk with the students as one of

the outstanding alumni if you know what

i mean

well many camps and treks continued and

helped my first

snake at the age of 13. i was bitten by

one at the age of 16 by the way

and many times after and since all

non-venomous don’t you worry

that’s a funny incident actually the

first snake bite i remember bunking

college obviously

and that was normal stuff and i was

volunteering at the local snake park

and something the parents did not know

that i was bunking college and doing

this

and while learning to handle snakes a

big checkered keel back it’s a

non-venomous water snake

one of these big checkered keel bags

beat me nearly 12 times

now those guys give a really nasty bite

and my hand was looking like a war field

i promised you my whole forearm was like

full of like a war feat so i go full

sleeves and hid my bites

but i’ve never been good at not getting

caught so i was caught pretty soon by my

parents

so here’s the scene that played out okay

i was 16 years old i just discovered the

world of boys so i even had a

so-called boyfriend so i’m sitting at

the dining table dad and mom in front of

me

dad extremely stretched and angry and

trying to ask me did a boy hurt you

and me sitting there all of 16 wondering

what would be easier telling my dad it

was a boy or telling my dad it was a

snake bite

guess what i went with i went with the

snake bite and ever since then with the

unfailing support of my family

i’ve gone on to get a bsc honors and an

msc in wildlife conservation and animal

biology

so though i was not not your perfect

academic student

i still got the opportunity to do

something that i loved to do

well nature sports and outdoors remained

an integral part even in my life in

england

which is where i studied i spent more

time

inside the class there because i loved

what i was studying i

enjoyed the learning and i was even part

of the women’s basketball team there

i had a part-time job to earn pocket

money and a bunch of like-minded friends

life looked pretty good back then

when i returned from england six years

later and took on a job in delhi in 2008

i was doing an awareness session in a

posh school up in delhi

i was passionately talking about saving

the tiger and saving the jungle and this

little kid

that’s how i must have been in class i’m

sure this little kid

raised his hand stalked me midway

and asked me well ma’am all that is true

what am i supposed to do boom it got me

off guard

i didn’t really have an answer i gave

some kind of a makeshift answer but i

really really didn’t know

and there that was where the inner

search began

what can we as an urban population

really do

how do we create impact soon after

i quit my job i decided to blow up some

of dad’s money

and travel the world for some time and

introspecting the entire time learning

from cultures

how do we empower people to be change

makers

pretty soon after protected our

ecological foundation was born in 2010

and incredible opportunities came along

you know one

i mean there were so many so many

opportunities that came along but one

that always remains with me

is this time when i was teaching at a

local school and

um are you paying attention me the

unruly talkative mischief maker student

had gone from a classroom back into a

classroom but this time as a teacher

so imagine what i was telling the kids

right i was telling all the kids listen

all you guys in the back there

whatever you’re doing i probably

invented it so don’t try to pull a fast

one on me

so there i was standing in class and i

get called to the principal’s office

and i’m like now what did i do but as i

went to the principal’s office she told

me that there was a guest speaker that

who was going to come to my class that

day

while i was standing there i was like

sure no problem guest speaker brilliant

while i was standing there little did i

imagine that the guest speaker that i

was going to host that day was none

other than mrs broome my childhood shiro

it was so overwhelming it was so

overwhelming to stand beside her

and teach me this mischief maker this

crazy girl who has never really been

great at school

was standing next to who i looked up to

as my childhood hero

imparting nature education

that was humbling and it was incredibly

encouraging

to know that you know what i might have

just got it a little right

fast forward to many incredible stories

that took me across

the length and breadth of india into her

heartlands

meeting incredible people and animals

and learning

every day that i had a huge

responsibility on my shoulders

why well i was privileged i didn’t have

to worry about where my meals were

coming from or

whether i had a bed to sleep in

something i saw across

india i didn’t have to worry about these

things so i had an even bigger

responsibility

to make change to actually make choices

and to ask the question every day what

choices am i making for the planet what

choices

am i making for the planet that i so

love

well i was talking about change in

conservation

i was talking to children and adults and

communities i was talking about raising

the bar of awareness

i was talking about ecological

behavioral change amongst people

but at the same time i was leading an

extremely opulent life

an extreme life of so much waste

of so much luxury and i was not walking

my dog

i actually felt like a hypocrite i felt

extremely untrue

i knew that i had to live the life that

i was talking to people about

i knew and in the words of robert swann

the greatest threat to our planet is the

belief that somebody else is actually

going to go and save it

i knew that i had to do my bit

so as late as 2015 at about the age of

31 32

i shifted to protected campsite project

which was there from earlier

the farm i shifted into what was an old

tattered tent

completely clueless about the future

completely clueless about how my life

was going to look

i was choosing against the comforts of

luxury

a lifestyle that was not only

challenging but minimalistic

and tough i was choosing challenge over

comfort

i was choosing a total revamp of my

lifestyle

over the ease of living that i could get

at home

believe it or not people in pune so when

you asked crazy as many people talk

about you right

people in pune i heard were betting

against the fact that i wouldn’t last a

single monsoon in the tent and that i

would run back to daddy darling

well guess what it’s taken talking about

the theme for today

what it’s taken out of me is a whole lot

of resilience

it has taken a lot of learning from the

animals and the earth

loads of self-love because there was so

much criticism and a whole new awareness

of how life can be lived

it has taken resilience well i’ve had

the support of all kinds of animals

plants the shining sun the torrential

rain even

i’ve had the support of a handful of

people who stood by me in my darkest and

toughest times

there was a lot of people who left a lot

of people who couldn’t handle that this

one’s going to go live in a tent now

with a bunch of animals

but those who stood by me stand by me

even today

i remember the night not too long back

actually recently the last monsoon that

passed

i remember the night that my home

flooded and i was standing there in

ankle deep water

in the middle of the night watching the

whole watching my tent

you know have water coming in

and my knees buckled that’s not

something that happens to me very often

and i stood there completely defeated

and lost not knowing what to do

and while i was standing there wondering

how am i going to handle this tomorrow

morning because there’s nothing i can do

at midnight

i was standing there and while i was

looking around on my laundry basket one

of the resident cats was curled up

and she was looking straight at me her

eyes literally piercing through my soul

she was looking straight at me almost

like a reminder that mom

this too shall pass whatever comes

tomorrow morning

you mum have the courage and she was a

reminder

she was a reminder that you know what

when the sun came up the next morning

i’d figure this one out well i’ve had

elephants that have stayed with me

i’ve had cats that keep my lap happy and

continue to purge me to sleep

i have dogs that keep my bed warm and

are still there

there is just so much to learn from

nature if you’re paying attention

the trees when they stand in the

torrential rain or when the sun is harsh

they’re a reminder they’re a stoic

reminder of the fact that this will pass

that the rain will come

or the sun will shine they are a

reminder that you know what

everything changes i have learned from

the animals and i’ve learned

from the trees and nature i’ve learned

patience i’ve learnt resilience

but most importantly i’ve learned

unconditional love

and an untiring faith terra

latin goddess of the earth she is the

ultimate teacher i promise you

well alongside nature and animals the

one constant in my life has been sport

sport has remained steadfast and i

encourage all of you to play at least a

sport in your life

well sport has remained steadfast and

continues to be the other space of

learning for me you know it humbles you

when you play in a team when you’re

pushed to your limits

having always been a sports woman

learning a new sport at 31 was not too

difficult

i was unceremoniously not selected on

the team the first time i tried out

but i came back it broke me down but i

came back fitter

faster and stronger to actually make the

maharashtra senior women’s rugby team

yes i said rugby yes me all of under 50

kg

body type not meant for rugby yes i play

on the women’s maharashtra rugby team

and i’m usually mocked for my size i

still play the stateside

i usually get mocked for my size for a

sport like rugby

but i get out there and i play because i

love it and it makes me

happy and even though i come back with

many bruises and aching muscles most

days

i still know that i’d rather be out

there playing

and you know enjoying myself than

worrying about what people think

of me it has not been easy

let me kill you not it has not been easy

it has taken criticism

it has taken failures it has taken

feedback it has even given me anxiety i

have had

depression i have had i’ve literally

shed my blood

sweat and tears and it has taken running

around

in soaking rain ensuring that the goats

are dry even if i’m soaked to the skin

it has taken mistakes some of them which

is cost which have cost us

the lives of our animals it has taken a

lot of struggle

it has taken floods and droughts it has

taken falling structures and termites

staff issues and fights breakups and

breakdowns you know

it has taken a lot out of us a lot of

struggles have come our way

and it is it is you know it’s been it’s

been tough

and i know there’s a lot more of this to

come however

the one thing that i can share that

though it has not been easy

it has been extremely rewarding it has

been extremely humbling

and it’s been full of love i can’t

explain to you

the love that animals can give in nature

can give

none of it would have been possible

without the support of the animals and

the people who believe in our work and

the vision that i hold close

my family who’s allowed me the freedom

to be me

completely go live in a tent okay we’ll

deal with it

i make it sound simple but it wasn’t

well

through it all 36 something strong what

has still kept my passion unwavering

and my faith intact are some of these

life lessons that i learned along the

way

and some i wish i were told when i was

your age some i wish i were told when i

was younger

but right now since i have a choice and

i have the opportunity

i’d like to share some of these with you

with you

the future of this planet the planet

that i so deeply care about and so

deeply love

the planet that we call our own number

one

in the end people are going to judge you

anyway wake up

every day and be true to you

every single day wake up and impress

yourself

number two remember the spider

and the fly well what is normal for the

spiders building a web

and what is chaos for the fly is going

into this web

so normal is an illusion people will

call you you’re so abnormal you’re so

different you’re so unlike us normal is

an illusion

choose what is your normal it is okay to

be different

i wish i was told this younger on that

it is okay to be different

when we make such choices we are then

faced with the question of what if i

fall

what if i fall you ask me well my

darlings

let me simply ask you what if you fly it

just takes a little bit of courage for a

little bit of moment for something

incredible to happen

if you’re scared it is testimony to the

fact that you’re ready for the adventure

that you’re ready for what is coming

your way you have it in you

you have the resilience you have the

courage and you have what it takes

to ride this thing called life just

believe that

remember at the start of my talk those

objectives remember that

those objectives that were used for me

for so long well today the objectives

that i hear most

tend to be she’s wild

she’s true she’s real

she’s passionate and of course she

is still totally crazy

thank you so much