Savarkundla is a small village in Gujarat. It shares the border with Gir forests, which is the only home to Asiatic Lions. Duly, Lions aren’t uncommon in the area. But, there are a lot of open wells. There are numerous reported cases, where lions have fallen in these wells and have died during hunting. We went there and made a cover for a well in an attempt to minimise the deaths.
During the course of 3 days of making the cover, I was exposed to many new skills and techniques which primarily included: cutting off the Aluminium rods, shaping them if necessary, welding them together and graining them to create a finished look. I hadn’t done any of these things, and doing these first-hand was a very knowledgeable experience. I have a phobia of hot things and sparks. I can’t really light the stove without flinching, so I must admit these things were particularly intimidating for me. To rise above my fear, I did each and everything multiple times, especially cutting and welding. I haven’t got rid of my phobia yet but I am confident I can do these things again if asked to.
We had to work in teams and it was a challenge for me. I prefer working alone and I think I can create better things alone. I always avoid working in groups, so this was definitely challenging. Working together with other people also meant that I did not have to do everything, which was sort of a relief. This also helped me work on my social skills and helped me interact with others professionally. Working well in teams is a quality that is becoming very useful and precious nowadays, everybody works in teams and groups in their offices, so this experience was helpful.
Savarkundla also gave me a taste of what is it like, living a simple, rural life. Savarkundla is full of farms, chief means of transport included bullock-carts and tractors and people still wore traditional dhotis and turbans every day. Savarkundla is simple and rural in every way, untouched by urbanization in India. Living in a big city, this was a rather new encounter. I remember sitting in the birdhouse for a long time and listening to all the birds and insects and feeling the cool countryside breeze. It was relaxing. We went on numerous treks and explore the village. I slept on a treehouse and it was a wonderful experience. We slept stargazing and woke up to a beautiful morning. We travelled on a tractor and that is one experience that I will never forget, that swaying and falling on each other and screams and alerts and bending when trees came, though not entirely pleasant when I recollect of it now, I am happy that I did it, it was one hell of a new ordeal. We were surrounded by experts and so there was shed load knowledge thrown at us, a session on snake handling and rescuing and any random questions have answered right away.
The con to it though, working under Sun directly in summers was a bit harsh. Indian heat did get us on our head.
By covering the well, we helped with conserving Asiatic lions. This is an endangered species and is only found in the said region. Only 512 Asiatic lions are left in the whole world. I feel proud to be a part of helping save this precious part of Earth.
