Mumbai: You thought that dentists are only bothered about teeth. But here is this dentist couple which has taken its passion for wildlife to another level altogether. Sarita (56) and her husband P.V. Subramaniam (58) have made it their life's mission to care for wildlife. Former residents of Chembur, they have now relocated to a farm in Karjat to be close to nature.
Installing Solar-Powered Water Pumps Across Forests
Till date they have installed 193 solar-powered water pumps in 28 forests across the country so that animals, including tigers and lions, get water to drink especially in the summer months. Each pump costs between Rs 4 lakhs to Rs 5 lakhs and they plan to install 200 more.
Dr P.V. Subramaniam and Dr Sarita | File Photo
How It All Began
How did all start? Subramaniam aka Kumar was always interested in wildlife. Even as a student he used to attend camps organised by the World Wildlife Fund and stay away from Mumbai for several weeks at a stretch. After he married Sarita in 1994, his passion for wildlife rubbed on to her and the couple would make it a point to visit the jungles across the nation.
In fact, there is hardly any forest in India which they have not visited. Their love for bird watching was kindled by Nirankar Yadav whom they met in 2006 at Corbett nature park. This took them deeper into the jungles.
Challenging the Idea of Man-Animal Conflict
It was during these treks through the jungles they understood the truth about the narrative about man-animal conflict. According to Sarita in Indian tradition there was nothing like man-animal conflict. In fact, Hindu gods and goddesses like Durga and Ayyappa were depicted as travelling on tigers.
Millions of tribals had traditionally stayed in harmony with wildlife. It was the British who introduced this concept so as to clear dense forests for plantation purposes, according to Sarita. Labourers were brought in from outside to work on these plantations which were traditionally the home of wildlife earlier.
Turning Tragedy Into a Movement
Even as their life was surging ahead, tragedy struck in 2017 when Sarita was down with a severe attack of dengue every 45 days. She was completely bed-ridden with chronic weakness and brain fogging. But that did not dilute her passion for the jungles and wildlife.
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The same year the couple formed the Earth Brigade Foundation. The first solar water pump to be installed was in 2018 in Bandipore. A Jaipur-based company supplies these pumps.
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