Most people know the story of why I became a nature and animal communicator, but they don’t know how it all began.

In 2012, I was leading the fast-paced life of a broadcast journalist with NDTV 24X7, one of India’s leading English news channels. On a relatively quiet day in the newsroom, a colleague and I swapped stories about our childhood pets. I told her about my life in Nigeria (Africa) and my dog Rhea who was my sixth birthday present. She and I were inseparable and had so many adventures together! I told my colleague how much I still missed Rhea and what I wouldn’t give to just know how she was doing.

Later that afternoon, I stumbled upon a fascinating YouTube video while doing research for a story. It was about a black leopard named Spirit and how his behaviour transformed after Anna Breytenbach communicated with him. The video caught my attention because it was presented by Swati Thiyagarajan who was also NDTV’s Environment Editor then. At the time, I thought spotting the video was a coincidence, but now I know better.

Spirit’s video introduced me to a whole new world. I realised that I could communicate with Rhea even though she had dropped her physical body! In 2016, I went on to learn interspecies communication, connected with Rhea and got my closure. People slowly started asking me to communicate with their pets and help them. Today, I am lucky that I get to follow my passion and work closely with a community of animal lovers and aspiring animal communicators.

After seeing Anna’s post about Spirit passing away, I wanted to pay tribute to him for guiding me towards the life that I love and lead now.

Thank you, Spirit. This wouldn’t have been possible without you.

Also, gratitude to Craig Foster, Swati, the Jukani Wildlife Sanctuary and Anna for sharing Spirit’s story with us.

Are you an animal communicator as well? Share your story with me in the comments section below.