Sorabh Kumar did his graduation in Agriculture from University of Agriculture science, Raichur, Karnataka. Post IIFM, he worked with Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP), Andhra Pradesh for 2 years as a young professional. In 2015, he joined a Central government PSU, Agriculture Insurance Company of India Ltd. as Administrative officer and worked for 7.5 years before joining Rajasthan Forest service as Assistant Conservator of Forest in 2022.
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Q. How has been your journey from IIFM so far?
A. After a great learning exposure at IIFM, I joined SERP, the pioneer organization in our country for SHG movement as a young professional at Hyderabad. There I got the real insight of development sector like working with tribal people for livelihood promotion, creation of rural retail chain and value addition for coffee growers. There I got the opportunity of working with the World bank team under Andhra Pradesh rural inclusive growth project. Things changed with the creation of new state i.e. Telangana which led me to write Competitive exams. I got selected as administrative officer in a Central government PSU, Agriculture Insurance Company of India Ltd. I had a great stint of almost 7.5 years here while implementing flagship scheme of Central government- Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, handling establishment and business development department at regional office of Rajasthan.
I was having a very smooth career progression here but then I decided to step out from my comfort zone and try for my dream career in life which had stayed with me right from my IIFM days. I had started preparing for IFS exams in 2012 when I was in second year of PGDFM course at IIFM.I prepared well for the mains exam but unfortunately, they surprisingly changed the complete pattern of the exam by introducing prelims along with Civil Services Exam. It was a huge setback for me as all my efforts went down the drain…..I still remember going to the top of the iconic India Gate at our campus for the first time and spend hours contemplating about my future. Days passed and I soon got engrossed in my studies at IIFM and started preparing for the campus placement. Although the dream stayed with me, and I decided to opt for an organization where I could get some time for UPSC preparation, but I got it completely wrong as working with senior IAS officers in SERP left me with no time for anything else!
In 2015, after getting the central government job in AICIL, I restarted preparing for IFS exams using all my free time post working hours till late night and on holidays. I tried my best during the next 3 years but as luck would have it, I could not clear the mains twice in 2016 and 2017 by a small margin. History repeated itself again in 2018, I got dejected with the failures and finally gave up leaving it to my destiny.
To vanquish the failures and refreshing myself I decided to go for Europe trip along with Kiran- my better half. And by God grace, just after 2 days Rajasthan government published the notification for Rajasthan Forest service for Assistant Conservator of Forest (ACF). Without losing further time, I started preparing for state forest service with full focus and concentration and finally got Selected as ACF in 2022 😊 It is very hard to express, but only one who has gone through failures can understand my feeling of success. Currently I am undergoing 2 years training at CASFOS (Central Academy for state forest), Coimbatore in my ACF service.
Q. What were some of the key milestones/learning in this journey that you would like to share with us?
A. It took me so many years to fulfill my dream and reach my goal and the most memorable milestone of my life. The habit of persistence is the only way to victory and that is also my biggest learning. We do the job, we try to justify our salary wherever we work but I feel we wholeheartedly give our best service to the organization where we get attached to our job role and get satisfaction so the key in life is to find it for oneself.
Q. What is the most satisfying part in your career?
A. Getting into my dream job in the forest services, after overcoming failures for almost a decade, is the most satisfying part of my career. I am now all set to give my best by deep diving into forest service for the remaining 25 odd years here.
Meanwhile I got married to Kiran and then got blessed with twin boys. Balancing my responsibilities at work along with my family in between corona was a herculean task but by God’s grace things went in my favor. Forest service gives you lot of opportunities of travelling, exploring new things amidst nature, developing new hobbies, learning by experience and the best practices from all over country, reach and explore inaccessible area, serving the tribal people residing deep inside the forests and above all conserving nature and wildlife and then get paid for all of it- a dream job for sure 😊It gives work life balance which you can cherish forever in the service.
Q. Has your learning at IIFM helped in shaping how you approach your professional roles?
A. The F factor in IIFM helped me a lot in my career progression in all my previous jobs and interview in state forest service.
My summer internship with Chhattisgarh Minor Forest produce federation gave me immense learning and opportunities working with micro enterprises managed by tribal community group under European commission project. In IIFM I learned many things like PRA techniques, people management, event management skills while being an active member of EDC club, enterprise development and marketing of handicraft and handloom products prepared by rural artisans. These things helped me a lot while addressing forest officials, bankers, political leaders, and officials of other line departments in my professional journey.
Q. Who (or what) are the biggest influences or drivers in your careers? What would be your advice to freshers and IIFM graduates who are looking to choose similar sectors/roles.
A. For young IIFMítes, first and foremost is the intensity of the fire inside for achieving your dream job and then comes the sincerity in your efforts towards it so be truthful to yourself and what you are doing as that is paramount in life. At the end of the day, you must justify what you are getting from a particular job. If you are persistent your efforts will be recognized sooner or later so stay at it without worrying much.
My family is my biggest influencer and motivator who believed in me and supported me at every juncture of my life. In IIFM, I used to get inspiration from then IFS officers who were teaching us like Prof. Dharni, Prof A K Khare and Prof. Abhay Kumar Patil Sir. Some of our alumni and batchmates were key drivers in my career who helped whenever I needed any help. Just to name few: Richa Ma’am(PFM 2009-11), Varun Sir(PFM 2010-12) and my classmates- Arvind Gerimella, Kunal Kapse, Abhishek Doodwal, Nitish Kumar, Sheikh Parvej & Komal Preet.
Q. What are your favorite memories during your IIFM days?
A. Every day which I spent at IIFM gave me fond memories so to put my favorite memories:
a. All the tours which we had undergone during our course gave me immense knowledge and a collection of photos which I still cherish while recollecting IIFM days.
b. Organizing EDC club events and celebration of all the festivals on the campus with full zeal.
c. Walking through Andheri gali and going to river flowing beside our hill in early morning.
d. Running for samosa in between classes at IIFM canteen and fighting for cake during celebration of birthdays in front of Vindyachal hostel!!
e. Friday nights after hectic schedule of classes for 5 days and running for Sunday biryani in mess after getting up late!
Q. In hindsight, what was the biggest contribution (courses, faculty, library, friends, alumni.. Anything else!!) or take away from IIFM that you think played a critical role in shaping you as an individual or professional?
A. Almost all the courses which were taught at IIFM are still relevant for my service. I still refer to forest certification slides of Prof Manmohan Sir, Research Methodology slides of Prof Advait Sir, Project management & GIS content of Prof Dharni Sir. I even go through the articles written by Madhu Verma Ma’am, Bhasker Sinha Sir and CP Kala Sir. IIFM is an amazing ecosystem which helped me a lot.
I made great friends at IIFM like Kunal Kapse, Kapil, Arvind Gerimella, Nitish, Paritosh, Ankit, Narendra Mohan, Ravi, my roomie Subranshu, Agriculture fellows like Shekh Parvej, Komal Preet and Shivin Shankya to name a few.
Q. The best buddies / seniors /faculty at IIFM? Some memorable tidbits that you like to share?
A. Naming a few buddies would be unfair as I found all of them amazing and interesting in their own ways. I still remember celebrating Friday nights with my great friends in the room and our royal balcony of hostel; it is still so fresh in my mind like an incident of yesterday 😊.
I would also like to narrate a very touching incident here of my friend Arvind Gerimella who kept his K & S Prabhu Manikandan book for my preparation of Forestry subject (IFS exam) outside my room while leaving IIFM campus on the last day of completion of our degree which I discovered when I got up in the morning on my doorstep with best wishes message. You find very few buds like him in life. Faculty like Prof A.K.Khare made me realise the importance of punctuality in life. I still remember him keeping a tab of his time where he also had a “me” time from 2 to 2:30 pm where no one was supposed to disturb him in his cabin. He also taught us the importance of team management in forest areas. He deliberately made the whole batch walk up and down for 3 kms in Kukar Khamla valley at around 7 PM in search of one of our classmate whom Sir had asked to hide for giving us team building lessons!
Q. As an alumni, what’s your advice to freshers or those are joining IIFM to get best out of the 2 years there?
A. IIFM is one of the best places for your personal and professional growth. I would like to advise that apart from grades in classroom, overall grooming is the need of the hour. Our campus has very good sports facilities, but the issue is most people don’t use them on a day-to-day basis. I feel we must engage and play one or two games during our stay at IIFM by taking out time every day. I missed this opportunity which I still regret.
All the freshers must join one or two clubs as members and later as coordinator; it will help you in future in people management as well as organizing and managing events.
There are some emerging fields in forest, conservation, and environment sector in which freshers can put efforts for growth in their career like:
a. ESG reporting frame work
b. Emerging Carbon market
c. Advance excel is very helpful in most corporate jobs
D. GIS and Remote sensing
e. Use of Macro for data analysis
g. Methodology for environmental economics
Q. What was your typical day at the work? And how does it look like while you are on a break?
A. Currently I am undergoing training at CASFOS, Coimbatore so I have a fixed routine. My day starts with Morning PT from 5:45 am to 7:00 am followed by classes from 9 am to 4:30 pm. And then the sports classes are from 5 pm to 6:30 pm. We are then free to use our time productively.
Q. And how about weekends, hobbies, family and anything else you want to add?
A. In CASFOS, on weekends we go trekking and engaging in events at academy, playing cricket match, going to GYM, and just catching up with friends and family.
Once I am back from training then would love to spend time with my family which includes my wife Kiran who is working as Chief Manager in Bank of Baroda and twin boys Pranjay and Praveer.
Q. Favorite Books, movies, authors?
A. I am not that fond of reading books! Movies are close to my heart; have spent many Friday nights in theaters!!
Q. IIFM is driven by alumni’s passion and commitment towards its goal. How would you like to contribute to IIFM or IIFM alumni, students? Your engagement with IIFM Placement or OT/SI?
A. Currently I am undergoing training but once I will be posted in the state then I would do my best to convince the higher ups for giving opportunity to our students for summer internship projects in areas like biodiversity conservation, economic evaluation studies in protected areas, tourism management mechanism, migratory bird species habitat management, Grassland management and other areas.
I would also try to look for SI and Project opportunities in biodiversity boards and pollution control boards along with consultancy opportunities for IIFM. I will always be available for any guidance required by young IIFM’ítes who want to make a career in this field.
Q. What do you think is different at IIFM now vs when you studied there?
A. I visited IIFM very recently; 2 months back and was mighty impressed by improvements in our beautiful campus in terms of infrastructure and maintenance. Now IIFM is providing capacity building training to diverse groups, sectors, and departments which is a really a great initiative towards building a strong brand image in the market.
The best part was meeting our dynamic Director- Ravichandran Sir. He visited CASFOS, Coimbatore a few months back. He showed a lot of intent and impressed everyone by his commitment and a simple announcement “If CASFOS needs any expert opinion and faculty input for state forest officers, just inform him 1 hour before and he will ensure to arrange good resource person”. I have been traveling to different parts of the country in forest and wildlife areas and IIFM is recognized with respect everywhere along with the faculty members who have contributed to one or the other studies. It makes me a real proud IIFM’íte 😊.
Q. Any suggestions on who you want to get profiled /interviewed here?
A. IIFMIGHT team is doing a great work in covering across many batches so I would just like to add:
Richa singh (2009-11)
Narendra Mohan (2011-13)