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OXFORD INDIA PAPERBACKS —'— The Author The Fall of a Sparrow . . . there's a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. Hamlet, V.ii.232-3 SALIM ALI OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS YMCA Library Building, Jai Singh Road, New Delhi 110 001 Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Athens Auckland Bangkok Bogota Buenos Aires Calcutta Cape Town Chennai Dar es Salaam Delhi Florence Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi Paris Sao Paolo Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto Warsaw with associated companies in Berlin Ibadan © Oxford University Press 1985 First published 1985 Oxford India Paperbacks 1987 Ninth impression 1999 ISBN 0 19 562127 1 Printed at Rekha Printers Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi 110 020 and published by Manzar Khan, Oxford University Press YMCA Library Building, Jai Singh Road, New Delhi 110 001 To 'Hawk' (R.E. Hawkins) for first instilling the thought that my story might be worth telling r ^ Prologue Living three-quarters of a century with no thought of writing one's memoirs and then suddenly deciding to do so is a bad business, I realize. With practically no archival material by way of preserved correspondence, diaries, etc., and only tricky memory to fall back on, the task is unsatisfactory. In the circumstances it took considerable persuasion from friends and 'fans' to evoke in me the courage to write an autobiography. This is, however, a useful way of letting curious people know how and whence I contracted the germs of ornithology at a time when the disease was practically unknown among Indians, and of showing the development of my scientific interest in birds. The writing of this narrative, under duress as it were, began eight years ago without any proper planning or chrono logical sequence—more or less in the nature of random re collections and reminiscences jotted down lackadaisically in bits and pieces, as the spirit moved. But for the kindly though merciless nagging of well-meaning friends and relations it would have floundered in the mire of procrastination. To the many—too numerous to identify individually—who have helped to recall long-forgotten happenings and who have helped in other ways, I am deeply grateful. Most of all, my thanks are due to R.E. Hawkins (Hawk) for agreeing so cheer fully to sort out the jumbled narrative and reduce the chaos to some semblance of order. Among the others to whom I feel specially beholden are J.S. Serrao, possessed of an enviable memory, who has been my indispensable aide and archivist for over three decades; and to the enthusiastic Archna Mehrotra who did all the tedious typing and retyping of drafts, and who by constant prodding and helpful suggestions was largely responsible for bringing to a close a venture that had begun to viii Prologue seem unending. I am aware that under the circumstances many incidents and personalities that should have found a place in the story may have inadvertendy been overlooked. But eighty eventful years is a long time to pack into these few printed pages, and all I can do at this stage is to deplore their non- inclusion. SALIM ALI Contents Prologue vii 1 Special Providence 1 2 Schooldays 11 3 Burma 1914-17 20 4 Interlude at Bombay and Marriage 30 5 Memories of Burma 38 6 Bombay 1924-9 44 7 Jobs 1923-9 and Germany 1929-30 54 8 Hyderabad State Ornithological Survey 63 9 Interlude in the Nilgiris 78 10 Dehra Dun and Bahawalpur 1934-9 86 11 Afghanistan 93 12 Ornithological Pilgrimage to Kailas Manasarovar 1945 104 13 Loke Wan Tho 121 14 Flamingo City 132 15 Bharatpur 143 16 Bastar 1949 152 17 Motorcycling in Europe 157 18 HamidAli 169 19 Five Other Men 179 20 Scientific Ornithology and Shikar 195 21 The Books I Wrote 202 22 Prizes 215 23 The Thrills of Birdwatching 221 Epilogue 228 X Contents APPENDICES 1 Hugh Whistlers Suggestions on How to Run a Bird Survey 1931 234 2 Ragbag 240 Glossary of Indian Words 250 Index 255 PLATES Frontispiece: The Author (following page 92) 1 Father and Mother with five. Four more to come! c.1889. (Photo by Ibrahim Ahmedi) 2 Two of the five plus the 'four more to come', 1902. SA on stool at right. (Photo by Shamsuddin Lukmanji) 3 'Gathering of the Clan' at Uncle Badruddin Tyabji's Somerset House estate, Warden Road, Bombay, 1902. A traditional annual fixture. SA in middle of front row in black sherwani. Tehmina seventh from right in second row from top: the little girl in cap and curls. 4 At Khetwadi, with brother Hamid and sister Kamoo. c. 1905 5 Tehmina and her brother Sarhan in London, c. 1905 or 6. (Photo by W. Whiteley Ltd., photographers) 6 SA, c. 1910, in Hyderabad (at Hashoobhai's). 7 Amiruddin Tyabji (father/uncle), August 1910. (Photo by Shamsuddin Lukmanji) 8 Amir Manzil, the family house, at Khetwadi, Bombay, c. 1912. Window (top right) of 'maternity ward' where the entire series of us, five brothers and four sisters, were born between 1878 and 1896.