<p>MUMBAI, DHNS: In a unique initiative, the radio broadcasts of the late Dr Salim Ali have been compiled in the form of a book.</p>.<p>Salim Ali (12 November 1896 – 20 June 1987), the legendary ornithologist and naturalist, was the first Indian to conduct systematic bird surveys across India and wrote several bird books that popularised ornithology in India.</p>.<p>Salim Ali was one of the pillars of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS). The book - “Words for Birds” has been edited by renowned author Tara Gandhi.</p>.<p>It’s the first, and only, collection of all of ornithologist Salim Ali’s radio broadcasts.</p>.<p>Salim Ali has long been synonymous with the scholarship, appreciation, and conservation of Indian birdlife.</p>.<p>It is not as well known that he was also the most engaging raconteur about birds. This aspect – the great ornithologist as an enthralling storyteller – is most apparent in this, the first and only, collection of all his radio broadcasts.</p>.<p>The 35 talks that comprise this book were broadcast between 1941 and 1985 and show Salim Ali’s exceptional skill as an oral communicator and bird propagandist.</p>.<p>He described the purpose of these radio transmissions: “The object of these talks is really to interest listeners, in the first instance for the healthy pleasure and satisfaction bird watching affords rather than for its intrinsic scientific possibilities.”</p>.<p>The talks cover many topics – bird habits, bird habitats, birds at risk – in an elegantly conversational and informative style.</p>.<p>Birds, he tells us, has a crucial place in nature’s cyclic processes; they benefit agriculture; they contribute to the economy in ways we neither see nor fully understand.</p>.<p>While the speaker’s focus is largely on birds, it is also evident that he is interested in all forms of wildlife and contemporary conservation issues. Each talk reads like a short essay.</p>.<p>Dr Salim Ali’s massive corpus includes the bestselling Book of Indian Birds and the monumental ten-volume Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan (co-authored with S Dillon Ripley). The Birds of Kutch, Indian Hill Birds, Birds of Kerala, The Birds of Sikkim, and The Fall of a Sparrow, his autobiography, are some of his other well-known books.</p>
<p>MUMBAI, DHNS: In a unique initiative, the radio broadcasts of the late Dr Salim Ali have been compiled in the form of a book.</p>.<p>Salim Ali (12 November 1896 – 20 June 1987), the legendary ornithologist and naturalist, was the first Indian to conduct systematic bird surveys across India and wrote several bird books that popularised ornithology in India.</p>.<p>Salim Ali was one of the pillars of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS). The book - “Words for Birds” has been edited by renowned author Tara Gandhi.</p>.<p>It’s the first, and only, collection of all of ornithologist Salim Ali’s radio broadcasts.</p>.<p>Salim Ali has long been synonymous with the scholarship, appreciation, and conservation of Indian birdlife.</p>.<p>It is not as well known that he was also the most engaging raconteur about birds. This aspect – the great ornithologist as an enthralling storyteller – is most apparent in this, the first and only, collection of all his radio broadcasts.</p>.<p>The 35 talks that comprise this book were broadcast between 1941 and 1985 and show Salim Ali’s exceptional skill as an oral communicator and bird propagandist.</p>.<p>He described the purpose of these radio transmissions: “The object of these talks is really to interest listeners, in the first instance for the healthy pleasure and satisfaction bird watching affords rather than for its intrinsic scientific possibilities.”</p>.<p>The talks cover many topics – bird habits, bird habitats, birds at risk – in an elegantly conversational and informative style.</p>.<p>Birds, he tells us, has a crucial place in nature’s cyclic processes; they benefit agriculture; they contribute to the economy in ways we neither see nor fully understand.</p>.<p>While the speaker’s focus is largely on birds, it is also evident that he is interested in all forms of wildlife and contemporary conservation issues. Each talk reads like a short essay.</p>.<p>Dr Salim Ali’s massive corpus includes the bestselling Book of Indian Birds and the monumental ten-volume Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan (co-authored with S Dillon Ripley). The Birds of Kutch, Indian Hill Birds, Birds of Kerala, The Birds of Sikkim, and The Fall of a Sparrow, his autobiography, are some of his other well-known books.</p>