An Engineer by Chance and Nature Enthusiast by Choice
hello everyone
for the next few minutes i’ll try to
take you guys to my journey of being a
nature enthusiast
during my childhood days i was a very
active kid who’d like to go out and play
but due to some of my health issues i
wasn’t allowed to play
outdoors which luckily turned out as a
starting point of my nature exploration
i started observing nature with
more keenness be it an ant
a lizard or a spider i just used to
simply sit outside
and observe their behavior at this time
i realized that there is so much to
learn and know more about these lovely
creatures
which are all around us fortunately
there was a pet shop close to my house
every day evening i used to visit the
shop
the owner of the shop mr nitin peter was
my first mentor
with whom i started discussing about
various species of
birds fishes and of my own native
i remember used to tell me the stories
of snake rescues
one such incident which stuck in my mind
when he rescued
and injured vitika bowa back in 2010
he was tweeting it and he asked me to
assist him
it was for the first time i’m seeing a
snake at such
close distance typically
we all are expected to do well in
academics rather than exploring outdoors
as i used to score decent marks in
academics my family supported me
especially my mother
all such explorations and observations
helped me become
a naturalist good afternoon everyone
i am umkarpai an engineer by chance and
a naturalist
by choice all these things started with
a cobra rescue
the owner of the shop mr nitin peter got
a call to relocate a cobra which took
shelter
inside the house as i was interested
he just asked me to join him
with a mixed feeling of excitement and
nervousness
i just went with him it was for the
first time
and it’s a cobra the cobras are the
mythological heroes which are known
for their hood and hissing
now i was inside the house i saw a cobra
which took refuge under the court mr
nitin peter
asked me to place a pipe and a rescue
bag near the court
he just went forward and handled it very
gently
but i was so nervous that i planned to
escape
if the snake ever hit but to my surprise
the snake didn’t do anything it just
went inside the bag
very calmly i was blank
and at this instance i understood that
the information told to us
about these snakes are not at all valid
so i decided to study them
thus these snakes started fascinating me
i’ve always thought that nature around
us is like an open library it should be
introduced to us in
such a manner that it sparks an interest
towards us
only this way we can be introduced to a
new subject
and this cobra rescue instant was that
spark
in my life i graduated from sgac in the
year 2017.
yes i am a mechanical engineer
but being an engineer like i
i questioned my myself being an engineer
was i happy
with it no
but i had to attain my degree as well to
earn my bread and butter
i remember my friends would go out
during weekends or study during
internals
at that time i would be busy exploring
the college campus
i just knew i love nature and it has
become a strong passion of mine
but i had to attend my degree as well so
somehow i decided to
complete this course growing up i spent
most of my time studying observing
the one one of the fascinating creatures
that have ever come across
snakes well some people are drawn to
snakes while others are terrified
throughout the course of time snakes
have been portrayed as the dangerous
slimy creatures
which is actually far from the truth
for whatever the reasons snakes are the
subjects of countless rumors
and stories most of which are actually
fictional
stories and rumors of such snake can
leave
indelible impression on the tender minds
of people
so indelible that no matter how plain
and obvious it is that not all the
snakes are harmful
it is still attacked by the people who
spied them
hence i published a book called snakes
of uttara kannada district
which i used as a tool to to spread
awareness among the local people of
uttarakhand district
about these lesser known creatures one
particular snake species which puzzles
my mind
even to this day is malabar pit viper
this beautiful venomous snake is endemic
to the western ghats
of southern india they are known to
exist
in various color forms such as yellows
greens
orange and brown one speciality of this
kind of snake
is they are only found during
monsoons frogs frogs are
another such species of animals which
are highly disregarded
they can be as amusing as any other
creatures
which is found which are found in the
wild
one such frog specie which i love to
watch
is jog night frog they are known
for their whistling sound and the eggs
which resembles
diamonds
if you truly love nature you’ll find
beauty everywhere
i find beauty in geckos and even in
toads
for rest of the people they are the
ugliest of animals
but trust me they are equally amazing
creatures
of this universe finally
at the end of the day my main goal is to
set up
a nature based educational center for
students
from any background can come and study
about nature and its extensive diversity
this is actually driven by the fact that
if such resources were present at
my time i would have done even better
obviously there are risk risks involved
while changing into any career path
so such educational centers will guide
those who want to pursue their part
towards nature
right from the beginning
always remember one thing always do what
you love
follow your bliss and listen to your
heart
the success will have no other choice
but to follow
i am happy because every day of my life
i get to learn something new mother
nature
and all its creations still fascinates
me
it’s been almost nine years since i’ve
started understanding her
seeing her at her full glory since then
i’ve never regretted it this journey
has had so many ups and downs but
when your love for something turns you
turns into your passion
and your passion become your profession
despite all the odds
you’ll end up being happy and satisfied
thank you everyone
you