When you have the intent, Universe makes it happen”, this is what Dr. Sarita Subramaniam strongly believes in.

Dr. Sarita, a dentist by profession, a wildlife conservationist by passion, and the founder of Earth Brigade Foundation (EBF), in a conversation with HULAHUL Times shares her experiences and mentions about her early life and simplistic upbringing in a middle-class family in Mumbai. She blissfully recalls her early days and touches upon her childhood vacations to Kerala that built her love and affection for animals. Moreover, she says that her fondest childhood memories included reading books even if those were random English textbooks of her cousins.

Dr. Subramaniam shares that her love for animals is a gift that her father had given her in early childhood when he taught her not to treat animals as toys but as companions, who need our companionship as much as we need theirs. She always had a philanthropist soul in her which motivated her to wholeheartedly study biology and pursue medicine so that she can help people in need. However, she also expresses her disappointment when she couldn’t make it to MBBS and had to join Dentistry. But, as she believes, “when you have the intent, Universe makes it happen” and so does her admission in dentistry did. “My admission in dentistry gave me the time I needed for my cause of wildlife conservation”, added Dr. Subramaniam. Also, she gladly shares that she is probably the only Dentist in the country who has been doing root canals for dogs and cats consistently.

Dr. Sarita also talks about her most organic and voluntary entry into the field of wildlife conservation. She has always been a person who had a keen interest and inclination towards social work but she never had the formal intention to work in the area of wildlife conservation. It was only after her consistent root canal procedures and famous Kanha Tiger Reserve story that motivated her to start an NGO – “Earth Brigade Foundation”, for wildlife protection.

She remembers regularly visiting Kanha Tiger Reserve for more than a decade or so and shares how she saw a sub adult Tigress in 2017 who came out in evening to drink water from a small puddle but struggled a lot due to shortage of water and that’s when it struck Dr. Sarita’s mind to do something about the issue and help these wildlife species. And from thereon the strings of successful solar installation started, one after other and continues till date.

She precisely remembers coming back to Mumbai on a Thursday after her visit to Kanha Tiger Reserve and managing to solicit a fund of rupees 4.5 lakh by Sunday with the support of her family and friends. It’s truly said that when you believe in `the right cause, things fall into place naturally, and that’s what happened with Dr. Sarita who got immense support from people who actively supported her and showed trust in her.

She shares that it took almost one year for her to formalise everything and to get the paper work done. And, then finally in January 2018 they got the solar installation done in Bandipur National Park which were three at a time.

Her wildlife conservation journey is a very inspiring one. She not only talks about conserving animal species but also the forest habitat. Her wildlife conservation theory is based on two aspects ‘compassion’ and ‘larger benefit’, to wildlife and forest.

She is truly passionate about wildlife conservation especially when she says that “time is running out for our wildlife” and “there is no end to satisfy human needs”, underscoring her proactive approach towards life in general and her cause in particular. In an answer to a question about the name of her foundation she says that ‘Brigade’ in ‘Earth Brigade Foundation’ means an actionable community which is truly guided by one cause i.e. wildlife protection and a good understanding about the people around. She also gives due respect and credit to people with whom she managed do 189 successful installation which otherwise wouldn’t have been possible.

Dr. Sarita Subramaniam practices what she preaches, her vision of active ecosystem conservation finds a beautiful place in her house as well. She shares that not even a single tree is cut to make her house and every corner of her house has some part of the tree including her bathroom which has a Jackfruit tree. This vision of hers is a true definition of wonders being created when passion meets innovation.

Though her cause today has achieved major milestones with several successful solar pump set installation across India, yet she faced a lot of challenges initially. She mentions that initially nobody would take them seriously because of the lack of formal wildlife background and had some amount of scepticism but somehow, they always manged to get permissions from the senior forest officials because their intent was pure and they delivered what they said they would do. Also, she says that like any other NGO in the country, their foundation too faces funding challenges sometimes which they try to manage skilfully and rise above those challenges.

Dr. Subramaniam has a team of extremely committed and passionate people who make the work happen along with her in most efficient way and that’s how they helped people especially the forest staff during the COVID 19 pandemic by providing good quality oxygen concentrators at the right time and were able to raise a fund of 18 lakh rupees solely for oxygen concentrator supply.

When the world was suffering massively during the pandemic, the quick and right actions of Earth Brigade Foundation acted as an active system to count on. Despite of all the praise worthy work that EBF continues to do, its founder and the visionary Dr. Sarita doesn’t label herself as an altruist and says ‘that true altruism doesn’t exist’ as we all get something in return from the work that we do, not necessarily in tangible forms but probably in form of some heartwarming experiences that one gets during the course of their work which makes their life worth living.

Besides, she also shares that her organisation works through three initiatives – Green Brigade, Pink Brigade, and Street Brigade. On asking about some heart touching stories from each of these brigades, Dr. Sarita communicates that Green Brigade is dearest to her and story of solar installation from Gehri Ghat in Panna Tiger Reserve is closest to her heart. She further shares that it was a prime location in Gehri Ghat where they managed to put the solar pump 150-200 feet along the Ken River. And, finally their efforts bore the most positive results with they being able to supply water to a nearby chowki that barely received water for years as well for the wildlife species. And she shares how overjoyed she was when the forest staff members thanked them for their efforts and also told them that a Tiger pair was mating around the water bodies, created by the solar pumps.

Furthermore, she also sheds light on her Project Aquarius which she labels as synonymous to EBF.  She further talks about the mechanism of this flagship project. “Solar energy pump sets are submerged in the borewells or naturally occurring water bodies then water is drawn out to grounds and then supplied to different water bodies”, clarifies Dr. Sarita.

Her foundation not only gives importance to wildlife species but also to people and communities around forest which is exemplified through this mainstream project that aims to solve the water availability issue for the anti-poaching staff members inside the forest.

To add on, she shares stories from her Pink and Street Brigade that were humbling. During the Manipur riots, their Pink Brigade initiative made constant efforts to supply sanitary pads to the women in Manipur. And, she felt quite grateful when the women, who have already been through a lot, made some time out to thank her through a video message. “It is hard to find such grateful people in today’s world”, says Dr. Sarita.  Another experience that made her feel optimistic about humanity was when once a Tata Institute of Social Science’s student adopted a street dog, who was wafer-thin and cared a lot for him. She recalls seeing visible differences for better in that dog after being adopted and blessed that student who took exceptional care of Wafu (the dog), as she would call him.

Dr. Sarita Subramaniam is the most selfless social worker who focuses only on working right and not thinking about the rewarding aspect of it. However, when finally, their work started being recognised from April 2024 they felt a surreal relief that now more people were able to connect with their cause which grew bigger with EBF’s recognition in the Water for All category at the Sustainability awards which is a most endearing and a cherished memory for life.

Lastly, on being asked what message a 66-year-old Dr. Sarita would like to give to her younger self, she replied with utmost serenity, “be kind to yourself, start forgiving yourself for all those things you blame yourself”.

She is truly an inspiration for the humanity and an entire generation to come. Her words, “charity begins at home” are truly motivating and makes one realise that one doesn’t really need huge resources to be kind. Kindness begins at home and spreads on its own through good purpose, degree by degree.