Sálim Ali (1896–1987)

I had read this before - but couldn't recall much except that for the purposes of study birds were hunted, stuffed and mounted by ornithologists. On the second reading as adult, I now know the reason why. Due to work as well as tedious writing - book was a slow read. Moreover, there aren't many riveting highlights and those that are somehow lost in drab, matter-of-fact way of telling. Humour appears briefly on and off - not enough to keep it engaging. Yet book is not devoid of content.

You learn a great deal of history of ornithology in India, Indian rulers-cum-'hunters' of yesteryears, personal interactions with British bird-men/officers who were chief bird-watchers, how bird studies were conducted, history of his association with Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) - and above all passion of a man to know his birds so much that he traveled to Kutch, Hyderabad, Bastar, Kailash, Burma, Afghanistan and later Europe for pure pleasure of knowing birds. Some of best of his work has been conducted at his own expense, initiative even when he was jobless. Not a passing fad as people of our generation treat it. Most of incidents recorded in his book are clearly associated with the name of the bird that led him to it.

Some enviable things he did was bike on a Harley around the Europe, watched Derby in England on charabanc, laid the foundation for a fellowship for first ornithology course in the country, was friends with Sarojini Naidu and group and lastly his road trips to Mansarovar, Afghanistan and Bastar - none of which would be conceivable in a similar manner today.

My favorite passage in the book is about the behaviour of polygamous Baya weaver bird. This golden-brown, weaver bird, builds a nest which is inspected by a bevy of females while it is work-in-progress. When a female likes it, she takes over the nest and allows advances from the male who finishes the build of the nest meanwhile. This is how a family is started - onus of family is now on her. Male bird moves on to building other nest, and the process continues. If a nest is not liked by any female, it is abandoned mid-way and efforts are applied to build a new one that can be liked by a female weaver bird.

Another of memorable passage is diary excerpt of his companion ornithologist Meinertzhagen (later his very close friend) on a tour of Afghanistan about himself - I am very disappointed in Salim. He is quite useless at anything abut collecting. He can not skin a bird or cook, nor do anything connected with a camp life, .....He tells me he has never had to fend for himself in a camp and always had masses of servants before. He is inefficient and can not bear being told how to do and must do everything in his own way, which is often wrong...

This book is purely read for information, for pleasure there are others. A better, well-written profile on Salim Ali can be read here in this Open magazine article written by his grandson Rauf Ali - http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/arts-letters/my-grand-uncle-s-lim

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