I vividly remember the day when I secretly filled out the application form. I got selected for the training.
Initially, my brother would help me sneak out of the house to go for the training. Then he confronted my other family members and convinced them. I never looked back after that.
But my problems did not end there.
The all-men group during the training was taken aback to see a 15-year-old girl in their midst. Many made fun of me. They would taunt, “Why did you accept the licence and take away a deserving candidate’s seat?”
Tolerating their mockery was surely difficult. However, the bigger challenge for me was to overcome the language barrier. I spoke no English.
I began accompanying senior forest guides to safaris and began learning their lexicon. Also, my brother gave me an old dictionary. At times, he would write the pronunciation of English words in Hindi. Some tourists also helped me with English words and sentences.
It took me a year to learn and pronounce the names of birds, animals, and rivers, etc. Meanwhile, I also tried my hands on a camera, gifted by a wildlife photographer, who taught me how to operate the equipment.