National parks across the country are employing more and more female safari guides who are slowly carving successful careers for themselves
Swati Sonwane, just 19, was visibly enthused, a tad more than the guests themselves on an evening safari in the Telia buffer of Pench National Park in Madhya Pradesh. The pugmarks the contingent was trailing could have led to her first tiger sighting that month since she joined the forces of trailblazing local women forest guides. Her colleague, Dipali Murkhe, has a calmer disposition, but her eyes sparkled while talking about her first tiger sighting with guests as a forest guide. “I am going to complete my B.Sc this year but joining the forest department as a guide happened based on my 12th standard results so I didn’t hesitate to sign up”, she shares.
In Indian national parks, it is no longer uncommon to have a spirited woman confidently guiding the vehicle on winding forest roads. Across Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan, including women in the forest guide category has been an important focus for the State Forest Departments to improve diversity since 2007-2008. For instance, in 2007, Narendra Modi, then Chief Minister of Gujarat, created a 33 per cent quota for women in Gir, the only female forest guards team in India then. However, the idea has percolated to other forests only recently, with Corbett Tiger Reserve announcing the appointment of seven women guides in 2020. Madhya Pradesh has trained and employed over 100 women since 2020 and continues to add to the pool with women taking up gypsy driver roles in Kanha National Park. Chhattisgarh, too, has introduced women guide positions across its tribal belts in 2018. Manisha Kumari, 21, belonging to the Gond community, is the sole woman guide in Kanger Valley National Park. On a morning safari, she pointed to the many varieties of medicinal plants that serve the tribals and accompanies guests, if they so wish, on a fascinating hike down the depths of Kotumsar Cave, a rich repository of limestone formations within the forest.
/established/media/post_attachments/theestablished/2023-05/3f840941-6a92-4d98-9d30-aae4b825ae25/Women_guide_at_Khawasa_Pench.jpeg)
Women guides at Khawasa Pench
/established/media/post_attachments/theestablished/2023-05/5ef0acfa-8387-4549-9df4-21b469e2ca23/Madhuri_and_Priyanka_with_Ratna_and_team__1_.jpg)
Madhuri Thakur and her team at Kanha National Park. Image: Chandreyi Bandyopadhyay
Breaking the barriers
Ratna Singh, a trained naturalist and owner of a reputed safari lodge in Mukki in Kanha, inadvertently explains the challenges that have for so long discouraged women from playing an equal role in the protection of forests. Born and brought up in the vicinity of Bandhavgarh National Park, Singh knew from a young age that she would be associated with the forests. After spending years working with Taj Safaris in India and Africa, she now helms a personal mission to empower the locals to become trained naturalists, travelling far and wide by invitation of the MP Forest Department to host workshops. “There is no reason why women should be considered any less when it comes to being in the wild. In Kanha, we have women drivers as well as forest guards and guides who play an equal role in conservation,” Singh adds.
Tadoba’s Kajal Nikode decided to join the growing force of women guides in the core zone in 2008 when her husband Ajay, a licensed safari driver, told her about the guide entrance examination notice the same year. “From being a housewife, it changed my life completely. Today I am one of the 16 women guides for the core zone and I am proud to be one of the first nine who joined in 2014,” says Kajal. She is on duty often for both morning and afternoon safaris but is fortunate enough to have a supportive family that takes care of her two children while she is away at work. The guide positions are usually filled with residents of villages from the peripheries of a national park itself, informed Vejayanantham TR, the Deputy Director of Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh. Regarding the five women guides inducted at the Panna Tiger Reserve, he said, “Geographical knowledge and technical training apart, these women have shown great resilience in participating in census and camera trapping work. We have noticed their perseverance in accepting the challenging task of becoming a forest guide." To be a forest safari guide, one only needs a Higher Secondary Certificate, with the positions largely meant for those belonging to low-income groups in the area.
/established/media/post_attachments/theestablished/2023-05/c3d1cbdb-b23f-474a-a93a-e3fd4bf1e747/Rina_Edbachi_on_safari_at_Khursapar_Pench.jpg)
Rina Edbachi, 20, has been a guide at Khursapar Gate of Pench National Park on the Maharashtra side since 2017. Image: Chandreyi Bandyopadhyay
The challenges
However, the reality of holding such a job in lesser-known parks is not yet widely accepted. Rina Edbachi, 20, has been a guide at Khursapar Gate of Pench National Park on the Maharashtra side (the park is spread across Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra) since 2017. “I am not yet married but a couple of my colleagues had to stop working as guides after their marriages, especially when they had babies. I hope to find a home that allows me to continue my job as a guide because I really love it”, she confesses.
Dipali from Khawasa has a similar thought about the situation of women guides, “Out of 60 guides at our gate, only six are women and that [number], too, will drop as they get married. I am very happy that no one in my family has forced me to get married or not come to work because of my gender, and I will not accept any proposals from any such families in future either.”
/established/media/post_attachments/theestablished/2023-05/42a8e43a-8b9c-4f47-bc2a-ba9d1cdf71d1/Untitled_design.jpg)
Kajal Ajay NIkode, a safari guide at Mohurli Tadoba
/established/media/post_attachments/theestablished/2023-05/50751720-8433-4554-a1a7-fe8aada600f5/Untitled_design__1_.jpg)
Tadoba’s Kajal Nikode with her colleagues at Mohurli. Image: Chandreyi Bandyopadhyay
Murkhe also notes that away from the popular core zones, the facilities for women staff could be improved. “Our toilets are often dirty and unhygienic, and sometimes we deliberately drop off duty to attend night safaris if the guests are intoxicated or are all men. Safety is very important and in that regard, we have the complete support of our seniors.”
Madhuri Thakur, 25, has been licensed to drive a gypsy jeep in Kanha National Park following in the footsteps of her retired father who was a forest guard. “I completed my education and wanted to come back to my forest and contribute to its development. I have not felt any discrimination from fellow drivers and they have always been very encouraging and helped me learn tricks of forest driving,” she shares.
A prodigy of Ratna Singh, Thakur is one of the very few women drivers in India and she, along with her fairer counterparts across other forests, are harbingers of a change that improves the opportunities for rural women to earn a suitable income.
Also Read: How can powerlifting empower women?
Also Read: Why the growth of femtech in India can transform the way we look at women’s health
Also Read: Why financial literacy should be of paramount importance, especially among women