What does one have to do to create a successful career in wildlife conservation? Looks like Nirit Datta is on his way to figuring out the answer. Datta graduated from Tula's Institute, Dehradun and bagged one of the highest salary packages (10 lakh per annum) and went on to work with Byju's, an edtech company. But the call of the wild still had a strong hold on him. He quit his job in six months, took back with him all that he had learnt — visualisation and techniques of holding the attention of children - and applied it to a cause which has been close to his heart since he was a young boy rescuing bats and injured migrating birds in his hometown, Kolkata, animal conservation. He started conducting wildlife conservation workshops for children in schools. Or shall we say continued? "Actually, I've been interacting with students and conducting these sessions since my third year of college," says Datta, who is confident of his public speaking skills. The 22-year-old has conducted around 23 workshops till now and aims to finish 40 by 2019.
"Environmental Science is a subject present in curriculums, but there is no sense of responsibly towards wildlife that is included in students," says Datta. Each session that Dattaconducts is an hour and a half long, sprinkled with jokes, it is an all-out interactive talk. He ends the session by showing a video called Snakebite by Madras Crocodile Bank Trust. "One drawback in this profession is that it doesn't pay well," says Datta, who leaves the decision of fee payment the session upon the school management.
Next up, Datta is preparing for the UPSC exams so that he can play a greater role in conserving fauna. He is also passionate about working in the field of waste management. He is in talks with some international architects for it, but the project is at a nascent stage and is a conversation for another day.
Datta's sessions
Some of the sessions he conducts are:
- Serpmate
This session spreads awareness about snake conservation and snake bite mitigation
- Eco Penthouse Project
This project is specifically for sparrows which encourages students to build nests for them
For more on him, click on facebook.com/nirit.datta.7
