Abir Rashma Sushant

Bonding with nature

Hey there, my name is Abir and I am nine years old. I grew up in Mumbai, India but now living in the UK. Although in the heart of a big city, our home in Mumbai was surrounded by greenery. In fact, Mumbai has a forest right at the Centre of the city.

When I was about four years old, I used to sit outside of my house in India, enjoying the sun and observing plants. Sometimes, when I woke up early, there was dew on the leaves. I would pull the leaf back and try to catapult the dew. Surprisingly, the dew would remain intact like a crystal ball until it hit something. And when it finally collided with something, it would splat, making it look like a flower. Well, that’s what got me
interested in nature – the dew.

I’ve been working with nature from a very young age, starting with accompanying my Dadda for forest trails and his afforestation projects in India. I also explored parks, the Natural History Museum, and nature trails in the UK. And guess what? Because of one such visit, I became a member of the Young Batworkers’ Club of the Bat Conservation Trust. We went together for an event called the Sunset Survey organised by the National Bat Monitoring Programme from the Bat Conservation Trust at the Willesden Jewish Cemetery, where we attended an informative presentation about bats in the UK. Although we couldn’t spot any bats there, on that day, the event was awesome!

As a Sunset Survey Ambassador, I wish to explore the local nighttime mysteries around me. I also want to try out new equipment, like different bat detectors. I look forward to an opportunity of camping overnight in the wild one day.