Special Circumstances

The Fall of a Sparrow by Salim Ali

Salim Ali is the most famous ornithologist in India. He has won almost every science award in India and quite a few from outside the country as well. He won the J. Paul Getty Wildlife Conservation Prize in 1975 for seminal contributions to natural history. His "Book of Indian Birds" is perhaps still the best resource for birdwatchers in the Indian subcontinent.

This book is his autobiography along with a few essays where he expounds on the marvels of birdwatching. I am used to reading only biographies of scientists, so it is a strange experience to listen to Salim Ali's exploits in the first person. I was amazed at how interesting this book was to me, since I have never been interested in ornithology. Apart from the science, this book intersects with an interesting part of Indian history as well. From his birth in 1914 to his career as a professional birdwatcher in the post-colonial 1950s. His memoirs move from Bombay (Dhobi Talao!) to Burma, from Germany to Hyderabad, from Afghanistan to the Himalayas and from Central India to motorcycling in Europe.

Here is an excerpt:

In my later days it has somehow been generally taken for granted that because I like birds I am bound to be revolted by the thought of anyone killing a bird, leave alone thinking of killing a bird myself. This assumption is far from correct, and it sometimes puts me in embarassing situations. It is true that I despise purposeless killing, and regard it as an act of vandalism deserving the severest condemnation. By my love of birds is not of the sentimental variety. It is essentially aesthetic and scientific, and in some cases may even be pragmatic. For a scientific approach to bird study it is often necessary to sacrifice a few. I do not enjoy the killing, and sometimes even suffer a prick of conscience...

%T The Fall of a Sparrow
%A Salim Ali
%I Oxford University Press
%D 1985
%G ISBN: 0195621271
%P 265
%K science, ornithology

Review written: 1999/08/04