Born on April 8th, she was the most hardworking, straightforward, warmest, and the brightest flower in our garden. The youngest sibling, selfmade scholar, studied in a govt school, tutored students to fund her college. Worked at NIIT then joined Greenpeace, trained many, opened new offices. Got her Masters at NCBS in the first batch of Wildlife Conservation. Research in coffee plantations of Chikmaglur. Chosen for the first George Schaller scholarship to pursue PhD at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.

In a bike accident, tore her ACL just a few days before leaving for Alaska, got urgent surgery done by a Padmashri Doctor in Delhi. Reached Fairbanks on a wheelchair. Next 7 years, made it her home. Most of her friends, family and colleagues visited there, experienced Denali, moose, enjoyed the Alaskan hospitality, Aurora Borealis and the 24 hours day during summer.

January 8th, 2013 during winter break home visit in Chennai, got diagnosed with Ovarian cancer, given 3 months. Went back to US, got surgery done in NewYork Presbytarian, fights all possible infections and side-effects, completes her PhD. Lives for 20 months. Her family, childhood friends and cousins arrive to be with her. Took her last breathe in their presence on September 8th, 2014.

Her skills, resilience, determination, adaptability, intelligence and personality set her apart. That is what we want the future generations to learn and imbibe. This social impact initiative is to empower and make lives better, just the way she would have loved to. Honouring the memory of our beloved sister, Dost and BFF, Itti’s Skill School for Climate Action is our humble step towards that lofty goal.