Social networking sites often claim to help one get in touch with friends and like-minded people. But businessman Guarav Mahajan and management student Neil Mehat experienced this first-hand when they first met on a 'Save Tigers' forum on a social networking website. They also realised that they were both interested in conservation issues, and together they started a youth-oriented organisation called the Tiger Action Farce, nearly a year ago.
"Our genuine concern for the environment brought us where we are today," says Neill Mehta, the president of the club. The organisation has a core team of 10 members and a large number of young volunteers from different schools and colleges.
They felt that though people talk about conservation issues, most of them don't take the initiative to do something about it. The youngsters wanted to make people understand how important each and every creature is to our survival and wanted people to realise that all of us have a part to play in saving our environment.
"Wildlife conservation is our priority because there are possibly are students in a school," quips Mehta. The primary reason why they insist on the conservation of the tiger in particular is because we depend on them for our survival. They are at the pinnacle of the food chain, and without them the ecological balance in the forests would go haywire.
What makes them different from other organisations is that they have a monthly newsletter that features not only local environment issues but also provides information on various species and other environmental issues and other environmental issues. "We were apprehensive in the beginning but now we have around 400 subscribers. It is encouraging for young people like us to realise that people are interested in our cause," says Mridula Vijairaghavan, member and editor of the newsletter.
These youngsters feel that if people want to bring about change, than their words should translate into action. The organisation conducts workshops and events conducts workshops and events to create awareness among people, especially the youth. They conduct programmes at different schools, and the Byculla zoo is one of their favourite locations. "We believe in showing people the beauty of nature by taking them to places that are under the threat of destruction. we want them to realise that if we don't act now, the future will be highly uncertain," adds Mehta.
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