Asad Rahmani is one of India’s foremost ornithologists. He recently came out with his memoir Living With Birds, which traces his early years that set him on the road to becoming an ornithologist and conservationist.
The book is more than just a memoir. It captures an India in transition from its beginnings as an independent nation to the present. In these 78 years, the country—and its environment—have undergone drastic changes. Rahmani’s book is a chronicle of this journey.
Down To Earth caught up with Rahmani and put forth questions on how his life as an ornithologist evolved, in an India that itself was constantly changing. Excerpts:
Rajat Ghai (RG): Let us start from the beginning. What, in your childhood, attracted you towards birds and ornithology?
Asad Rahmani (AR): As I have mentioned many times in my autobiography, my father was a judge and used to get transferred every 2-4 years to a new town. In the 1950s and 1960s, the compounds of judges’ residences used to be large. They used to have lots of trees, bushes and large lawns. Therefore, I grew up in the lap of Nature. Some houses, for example in Rampur and Badaun, were on the edge of town (please remember these bungalows were built during the British Raj for Englishmen who used to live away from crowded towns). So, I had opportunities to roam around in orchards, crop fields and open areas. I also learnt many lessons of ecology, plant growth, use of natural manure, natural recycling, etc., from my maalis (gardeners). We had flower beds and kitchen gardens in almost every house, looked after by maalis with whom I used to spend my spare time. Their knowledge was amazing.
I used to see many birds in my gardens that attracted me towards them. I remember Ashy Prinia (Prinia socialis) nesting in a large potted plant kept in the verandah of our Badaun house, making a beautiful cup-shaped nest and laying three blue eggs. Similarly, for many days, I watched a tailor bird make a nest by sewing three large leaves with cobwebs and thin plant shreds, fascinating me for many weeks, till the chicks fledged.
My first sighting of a pair of Brahminy Ducks (Tadorna ferruginea) on a river in 1968 is still etched in my mind.
RG: You note in the book that you faced opposition from your father while taking up ornithology as a vocation.
AR: No, I did not write that. Like any father, he wanted all his children to study and succeed in life. I was a rebel child. My father wanted me to take up engineering or appear for the civil services. But I wanted to study biology. I rebelled, losing one year, but took up biology in Grade 12. Doing BSc with a background in biology was easy. At the time, I did not even know that there is a subject known as ornithology.
RG: What are your memories of your interactions with Dr Salim Ali?
AR: I started corresponding with Salim Ali in the late 1960s and early 1970s but met him for the first time in the mid-1970s. By the time, he was already 80 years old. I think he came to Aligarh three times to attend functions of the Nature Conservation Society of Aligarh, that was established by me and AH Musavi. When I joined the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) in 1980, he was the President. I worked with him till he died in 1987. I mention all this in my book.
Salim Ali was a thorough gentleman, but was known for his outbursts as he could not tolerate charlatans. He was loving, considerate and kind with most people but did not like to be unnecessarily disturbed.
A day before he died, Ali asked J C Daniel, curator/director of BNHS at the time, to send me a message to show him the bustard photos I had. At the time, only I had the best pictures of this rare bird. He was very sick, sitting on his armchair. But he enjoyed the pictures in a slideshow that I carried to his house in Bandra, Mumbai.
He was meticulous and tidy with his notes, books and manuscripts. All are now a valuable asset in the National Archive, New Delhi and BNHS.
Ali, according to me, was also gentle, honest, and a bit naïve. Hence, some people used him to promote themselves, claiming all types of ‘personal connections’ with him. Daniel was a bulwark against such people.
In BNHS, Ali had some close friends/colleagues such as A N D Nanavati, P V Bole, C V Kulkarni, Dilnavaz Variava, Erach Bharucha, P B Shekar, J S Serrao and a few more. Fortunately, Dilnavaz and Erach are still with us and whenever we meet, we invariably talk about the “Old Man”, as he was affectionately called by his friends.
RG: You also write about Indira Gandhi. What are your recollections of her interest in birds?
AR: As I have written in my books, and many others have also written (for instance, Khushwant Singh, Karan Singh, M K Ranjitsinh and Jairam Ramesh), Indira Gandhi was genuinely interested in Nature conservation. She was one of the founder members of the Delhi Bird Watching Society, established in 1950. She used to carry Salim Ali’s Book of Indian Birds with her during her tours.
As I wrote in my book, she spent almost a whole day in 1983 at the BNHS Centenary function. Like her father, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, she was a personal friend of Salim Ali and supporter of BNHS all her life. Her son, Rajiv, was also supporter of BNHS.
RG: How do you remember the time in the 1990s when vultures started dying due to diclofenac?
AR: It was sometime in the second half of 1996, when I realised that vultures are disappearing. At the time, I was the Chairman of Centre of Wildlife (now Department of Wildlife Sciences), at Aligarh Muslim University. I went to Bharatpur where Vibhu Prakash was working on BNHS projects and we both discussed this issue, not knowing what was killing the vultures. In May 1997, I rejoined BNHS (now as Director) and came out in full support of Vibhu to investigate the vulture decline. It is to Vibhu’s credit that he did incredible work on the vulture issue. It is a long story, so I cannot write about it in this short interview. I suggest readers to read my book and also the Hornbill magazine of BNHS where I have written the backstory of the vulture decline.
RG: What is the state of bird diversity in India today, compared to when you started your work as an ornithologist?
AR: There is no change in bird diversity. In fact, it has increased due to taxonomic changes and discovery of new species. In the monumental 10-volume Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan, by Salim Ali and Dillon Ripley (published between 1969 and 1974), about 1,200 species were reported from the Indian subcontinent (not subspecies). But now, in J Praveen’s new book, 1,375 species are reported just from India. This includes many stray records, as there are many recorders with better camera and binoculars. Therefore, the diversity of Indian birds has increased, but the numbers of more than 250-300 bird species are declining. Actually, most of the Indian birds are on decline, some to critical levels. The greatest decline in seen in grassland and wetland birds, as these habitats are less protected.
There are multiple reasons, ranging from poaching, pesticides, habitat destruction, hitting high tension wires to the menace of free-ranging stray dogs. On top of this, is government apathy towards taking measures to protect birds (and other fauna).
RG: What is the status of ornithology as a discipline and career choice today as compared to when you started?
AR: When I started, the word ‘ornithology’ was not even heard of, except in ecology books. No parent could even think of their son or daughter taking it up as a profession. But in the last 50 years, the situation has changed. I think more than 20 universities and institutions teach wildlife either as a paper or a full course.
As a career choice, there is much to do, though many non-profits employ ornithologists. Corporates need ornithologists (and wildlife scientists) to do environmental impact assessments. Ornithology as a fulltime occupation is not still common in India. But we now have hundreds of thousands of birdwatchers, mostly amateurs. But they do contribute to the development of Indian ornithology. It will not be proper for me to name them (the list is too long), but I am extremely happy that the younger lot is dedicated and serious. My only request to them is that while they enjoy bird-watching, they should contribute/work for the protection of birds’ habitats. There is no use being members of a local bird club when you cannot save a neighbourhood wetland or forest. Speak up on behalf of birds.
RG: How do you think you should be remembered?
AR: Difficult question. It is for people to judge my work, not me. But I want to be remembered as a totally rational, modern, science-loving atheist, who believed in humanity, and spent his life for the protection of Nature.