The sixth in the monthly series by WWF-India that highlights niche and unconventional green careers through the stories of well-known personalities from the field of environment and conservation G rowing up in a small village in Assam, a connection with Nature was embedded in me from a young age. My grandmother had an immense influence on me, which led me to pursue Zoology. I also earned a Green Teacher Diploma from the Centre for Environment Education.
It was then that my path to forming the Hargila Army began. Purnima Devi Barman| Photo Credit:Carla Rhodes After my Master’s, I volunteered with the NGO Aaranyak and met many people in the field of conservation. I dreamt of pursuing my Ph.
D., becoming an academician, and studying the Greater Adjutant stork, called hargila , or bone swallower in Assamese. This scavenging bird was considered a bad omen leading to its global population declining to around 1,000.
My professional ambitions took an unexpected pause when I married and became a mother. While this period brought new challenges and responsibilities, it also set the stage for what would forever change my life: I saw a man cutting down a tree that housed nesting Greater Adjutant storks. Watching the helpless chicks fall, I connected with them as a mother and thought, “What is the use of my education if I can’t influence people?” I knew I had to change the mindset of those around me towards this beautiful bird.
This was no easy task. I began visiting homes and comm.