Naaz Rizvi is a government officer who advises the youth to be good citizens of the country and to work hard for it.

Naaz Rizvi was born and brought up in Aligarh. Her complete education took place there itself.

Naaz says that she was from the science stream initially. However, once she and her family were visiting Delhi and came across the National Museum of Natural History. It intrigued Naaz and she wanted to know more about the same. She talked to the curators and scientists and grew interested in it.

Naaz shares that she was preparing for medical entrance but could not clear it. It was then that she changed the course of her life and decided to do B.Sc. in Botany and then M.Sc. followed.  Then she researched about the ways to get into the field of museums and came to know that her university itself has a separate Department of Museology and Naaz enrolled into a Post M.Sc. Diploma in Museology.

After completing this course, she came to know about various scientists’ post openings in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and got selected for it.

Naaz says that her first posting was in Mysore in 2002. It was a difficult task for her as she had to convince her family that she could  go there alone and no one needed to accompany her. Naaz did this to develop a sense of courage in her. Despite cultural and language differences she managed her stay there and learned a lot.

Naaz shares that she was then transferred to Bhopal and then to Delhi. Naaz is currently working as a Director of National Museum of Natural History.

Naaz says that challenges have been many in her life. Firstly, being a woman and traveling to far off places and then adjusting to new culture and languages was a task for her. Also, adjusting and proving her mettle in a predominant male surrounding was also a challenge to her. She also adds that overcoming all these fears and challenges is her biggest achievement in life.

Naaz says that her inspiration is her mother. Her mother did everything possible to achieve her goals and also instilled the same quality in her three daughters.

Naaz advises the youth to take good education and learn from each and every source. She says that they should not get trapped in the nexus of ‘marks’ and should think beyond just scoring good.

In her free time, Naaz likes to appreciate nature and spend time in its beauty. She is also fond of cooking and considers it a de-stressing activity for herself. She loves reading Urdu poetry as well.