Dr. Salim Ali, the Bird Man of India

The Bird Man of India , Dr. Salim Ali

….S. Balakrishnan

‘Nowadays killing birds even for the sake of research pains me’, so said a person who, as an eight-year-old, hunted down birds just for the fun of it with an air gun. Once, not knowing what kind of sparrow he had shot down was directed to the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS). Enamoured by the vast collection and encouraged by the Society, his interest in birds took wings and, later, took his name to the nooks and corners of the world as a famous ornithologist. That was Dr. Salim Ali , the Grand Old Bird Man of India!

It was sheer chance that I met him at 'Chidiatappu' (chidia in Hindi means bird)! It is a coastal village in South Andaman Island , near Port Blair, famous for bird watching. Dr. Salim Ali was camping there at the PWD Inspection Bungalow for his research work. He, along with his associate, was on the lawn, deeply involved in his work. With his permission, I captured him with my old-fashioned Agfa Click III box-type camera.

After the photo session, Dr. Salim Ali had a small talk with me. As I took leave of him not wanting to disturb his research work, he said he would be eagerly expecting copies of the snapshots. His eyes shone with expectation like an innocent child's. Later, he had promptly acknowledged them in his own handwriting. This was the first and also the last merit certificate for my photographic skill! It was a plesant surprise that such a great personality freely mingled with an ordinary person and took pains to acknowledge.

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Born on November 12, 1896 in Bombay (sorry, Mumbai) Dr. Sálim Moizuddin Abdul Ali , had struggled a lot initially. It was not an easy success for him. He was unemployed for some time and found unfit for a job for want of higher educational qualification. Later, he volunteered to undertake research on the birds of princely states. This led him to various parts of India and he slowly gained name and fame. He was honoured with Padma Vibhushan award by the Indian government; he has also won many international awards for his work in his chosen field of ornithology. He was nominated as a Member of Parliament ( Rajya Sabha ). He has written numerous books on the subject, particularly about the birds of India . Dr Salim Ali passed away on July 27, 1987 at the age of 91.

It was sheer coincidence that the same eight-year-old boy later wrote to the then Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, and saved BNHS from closure for want of funds. He also headed it for some years.

While stressing the important role the owls play, he had jovially remarked thus: `On an average, an owl hunts two or three rats in a night. This amounts to controlling the birth of 880 rats. Just imagine … working non-stop for 365 nights in a year without salary and without any holiday …and just not one owl but so many owls ...!'

The compassionate words of Dr. Salim Ali that "killing birds even for the sake of research pains" him, still ring in my ears. That is true ornithologist!

S. Balakrishnan

e-mail: krishnanbala2004@yahoo.co.in