The field of wildlife sciences came my way when I was actually looking for an opportunity to go for a Masters degree in any of the biotech branches. However, days after joining this field as a student of Masters program in Wildlife Sciences in the Department of Wildlife Sciences, Aligarh Muslim University, I cherished being close to nature. After the long theory classes, attending field tours was something out of the box which I started enjoying while becoming a responsible and an aware person with regard to nature and wildlife. Though challenging it was exploring various forest/protected areas of India, this journey of two years was a lifetime experience that grew in me a wildlifer. I completed the Masters Program form AMU with a Gold Medal and that was an achievement I owe to my beloved parents and my loving family.

After that I joined as a Research Fellow and an M.Phil student in the Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India funded project “Ecology of Common Leopard in Gir National Park”. Working on leopard and that too in Gir National Park was being extra lucky and I really enjoyed working there in a beautiful and only Lion area landscape. However, I left that project after a while because of some adjustment issues. Later I joined the prestigious institute for wildlife, Wildlife Institute of India, my dream institute that time. I got an opportunity to work on Asiatic black bear in Kashmir – my home place. However, with this amazing opportunity came other social factors, a girl working in forest areas and that too on bears! But the encouragement from my parents made me trust that I was no less than a guy to work in the forest and on a species like bear. I still remember people recognizing me at WII as the bear girl; at that time I was the only girl to work on bear species and was later joined by one more. Working in Himalayas- rugged and mountainous terrain days became a part of the journey and I started loving it. This project had multi facets like putting transmitters on bears, tracking these radio collared bears in their habitats, assessing their presence, understanding their ecology in natural habitats, and analyzing human-bear interactions. 

We as a research team did the first radio collaring of a wild animal in J&K, and first radio collaring of a bear in India in the wild, being a part of which makes me feel privileged. Though the hard work we put in as a team was the reason for this huge success, our team was lucky in getting encouragement and immense support from the Department of Wildlife Protection and Forest Department, J&K. We were able to radio collar more than 7 bears in the wild and track them on foot. Studying black bears in natural habitat was challenging but finally it was done. I also got the opportunity to present my work in the field of wildlife sciences at various national and international forums viz. Spain, Canada, Taiwan and Thailand. I also became a member of various conservation forums. 

My future was bound to be permanently in the wildlife field and I ended up joining the Department of Wildlife Protection, J&K as a Research Officer through the Public Service Commission. I feel privileged to have an opportunity working with the officers/colleagues of the Department and with the scientific fraternity of the Wildlife Sciences. At this moment I would like to acknowledge every person who encouraged and supported me to deliver in this field against all odds.