“My name is Mallanna and I am a shepherd. I have been in this community practice for almost 32 years now. I studied only till class 5 because education wasn’t a priority back then. I thought education isn’t going to fetch me a job immediately and thus stepped into my community profession. Reddypalem is my native place and I love my hometown. In my free time, I take part in his plantation drives conducted by Vanajeevi Daripally Ramaiyya garu who’s a noted environmental activist and belongs to the same village like mine.

I am currently juggling a busy routine of being a shepherd and farmer. My son has completed his graduation recently and he sometimes helps me to guard the sheep, however, he doesn’t want to continue our community profession.

One thing I am concerned about at the moment is unemployment. Even highly qualified professionals are losing their jobs nowadays, because of the pandemic situation. But my son is confident about his career and also want to venture into business shortly. I don’t know what his future goals are but I will try to support him in every way possible. I wish to see him become successful in life and provide employment to many others in the future.”