PROFILE

Ms Aloka Bose has been teaching at Birla Vidya Niketan, New Delhi, for the last 21 years. She began her teaching career with the school in 1985 and has been with it ever since. She is currently Head of the Department of Biology in the school.

She studied at St Thomas School, New Delhi, and completed her Masters in Biology from Delhi University in 1984 with specialisation in ichthyology (the branch of zoology that deals with the study of fish). She did her BEd and MEd from Annamalai University.

Having devoted her life studying and teaching about plant and animal life, it was only natural that Ms Bose should get actively involved with environmental issues. Recognising her effort in spreading awareness about the environment, Ms Bose was conferred the Delhi Environmental Education Didactics Award by the Confederation of Indian Universities and the Indian Institute of Ecology and Environment on World Environment Day, 2004. She is also a recipient of the Dronacharya Award for Environmental Awareness instituted by the NGO, South East Association.

One issue that Ms Bose feels strongly about is the need to "educate the literates" as she puts it. "Enough literacy has spread. The literates have to (now) become educated," she says.

Ms Bose believes in the triumph of the human spirit and its ability to excel and rise above mundane concerns. This "invoking of the power from within" finds expression in her poetry, one of her myriad passions.