A former city dwelling couple give their land to wildlife in Rajasthan.
After quitting his job as a civil servant in New Delhi in 1998, Aditya Singh and his wife moved to Rajasthan, where they opened a tourist resort. Soon after, they bought a piece of land from farmers, who were afraid of the tigers living nearby in the world famous Ranthambore National Park.
The couple decided that they won’t plant crops and let vegetation regrow on its own. Slowly buying more land, now, 20 years later, the Singhs have 35 acres of green forest patch, with two large watering holes, where wild animals come throughout the year. Wild animals that visit his land, like nilgai, wild boar and deer, now arrive in large numbers from March onwards each year and these, in turn, attract predators like tigers.
Mr. Singh says that he often gets offers from businessmen and farmers to buy his property, but because of his love for nature and wildlife, he has never accepted any of the offers. And, in even better good news, Aditya and his wife, Poonam, also get a lot of questions from people who want to follow in their footsteps.
Let's hope they've started something that other nature lovers will emulate.