Tara Gandhi - Session 02, 2025-01-15

Tara Gandhi talks about her childhood, her beginnings in conservation, and her work on Sálim Ali’s writings and interviews. She discusses her application for a Master’s in field ornithology with BNHS after her undergraduate and the reasons for the rejection. She applied for the same Master’s program 15 years later and this time she was accepted for the position, she reflects. She elaborates on her research during the Master’s course, specifying the challenges she faced, the skills she learned, and the mentorship she received from Sálim Ali.

She discusses conservation projects with INTACH, WWF, Commonwealth Secretariat, and WTI. She notes how these projects created a growing awareness of the complexities of environmental issues and allowed her to travel to regions in India and globally to work on conservation from different perspectives. She elaborates on when WTI was founded and her involvement as a founding trustee.

She elaborates on how she began working on compiling a book of Sálim Ali’s interviews and essays. She recalls her experiences searching through libraries and the material sent over by people who once knew Sálim Ali. She also speaks about her experience working with MSSRF which led to her writing a book on the interaction between wild animals and our agricultural practices.

(00:00:00) Family history, education from school to an undergraduate degree in microbiology and zoology

(00:04:20) Work experience at a pharmaceutical research organisation, applying to BNHS for a Master’s in field ornithology, and rejection from the program

(00:10:30) Trip to Europe for a microbiology course and life during early marriage and reapplication for Master’s in field ornithology from BNHS

(00:16:49) Master’s research work at Guindy National Park, experiences doing research with limited guidance

(00:22:32) Fieldwork and research techniques learned during master’s research and thesis completion for master's degree in field ornithology

(00:29:44) Documentation work with the Natural Heritage Division, INTACH, growing understanding of the environmental movement

(00:34:08) Career progression in environmental conservation, and working for SPWD and WWF, Delhi

(00:39:08) Move to Europe, work for the Biological Diversity and Genetic Resources Department in the Science Department of the Commonwealth Secretariat, UK

(00:43:43) South Africa and volunteering with the birding group at Transvaal Museum, all-India surveying national parks project with IIPA with Shekhar Singh, and BCPP

[Archivist’s note: Gandhi refers to the Transvaal Museum in South Africa. The museum is today called the Ditsong National Museum of Natural History.]

(00:55:20) Founding and acting as founding trustee of WTI, with emphasis on rapid response to crises, move to Sri Lanka

(01:00:03) Move to Norway, the beginnings of collecting Sálim Ali's writings and scientific research

(01:06:00) Balancing collecting Sálim Ali’s writing and family commitments, publishing the book in 2007

(01:11:45) Conservation projects as a trustee of WTI, joining MSSRF, and agricultural education in rural India through the foundation

(01:16:46) Birds and wild animals impacting agriculture, with conflicting views on control methods, and research for the Birds, Wildlife and Agriculture book

(01:22:56) Nature writing, conservation, and the importance of observation