I first met Asad Rahmani in the late 1990s, when he was the director of the prestigious BNHS (Bombay Natural History Society), and did a few conservation-linked stories after talking to him. But I had been hearing a lot about him before that from my friend Rajat Bhargava, who had been mentored by Rahmani at AMU (Aligarh Muslim University), and would sing his praises day in and out. Rahmani encouraged Rajat to do research on the Finn’s Baya and later on the Green Munia.
It was Rajat who alerted me about Dr Rahmani’s memoirs Living with Birds. I owe him thanks because it is a captivating read – not only is it a fascinating personal history of an unusual man and the milieu he grew up in, but also packs in so much about conservation, the importance of science, birds, their habitat and the challenges they faced. Through Rahmani’s birding trips, the reader also gets to armchair travel to a great many places from Kashmir to Lakshadweep.
In wildlife circles, Rahmani is synonymous with the endangered Great Indian Bustard, a bird for which he undertook a padayatra. His love for bustards even took him abroad to Morocco and later to Saudi Arabia, where as an expert he was called to see if he could be part of a team to find the Arabian bustard, which had been declared extinct in 1977.
Idyllic childhood
The early part of the book is devoted to his childhood, which sounds idyllic, growing up as he did in large homes in several UP towns ranging from Meerut, Rampur, Badaun, and Saharanpur as his father was a district judge. His early days reminds you of Gerald Durrell’s My Family and Other Animals, what with six siblings, two German Shepherds, a mountain goat (the Himalayan goral), parakeet, fish, poultry, toads, larvae that turn into dragonflies, and many more. Rahmani had his nose buried in books or spent time observing the natural world and doing accidental experiments. For instance, he rescued a peahen’s eggs and placed them under a domestic hen and the confusion that ensued when the pea-chicks hatched and mama hen had a hard time is really funny.
From a young age Rahmani could stand up to authority, and make his own decisions — evident when he refused to accompany his family when they were invited to dinner at the Nawab of Rampur’s palace (his Left-leaning sensibility was offended), or when he stood his ground against his father who wanted him to study engineering and even wasted a year, before being allowed to take up biology, or the way he took on a warden at AMU for shooting a peacock. An atheist, he also went through a hippie phase (minus the drugs) when the movement was at its peak in India.
The conservation work
If the childhood chapters are fascinating the meat of the book – Rahmani’s conservation work on birds and their habitats – is pure gold. You get a ringside view of the discussions and exchanges between him and stalwarts like JC Daniels, Dr Salim Ali and many others. Rahmani is generous in the way he highlights the works of several conservationists, and also affectionately his students. Yes, Rajat figures and I chuckled to see Rahmani did not spare some of his exasperating habits. His admiration for Indira Gandhi also shines through as he highlights how no other PM was as concerned about wildlife as her.
You get a whole bunch of fascinating information on the Floricans (the Lesser and the Bengal), the swiftlet, the hornbill, etc. The chapter on the vulture crisis especially resonated with me as I remember the huge discussions when the raptors declined in Delhi and surrounding areas.
Parallely, you get a picture of the big events in India. The way Rahmani links the events, the fear of Skylab falling, the solar eclipse of 1980 when everyone fearfully stayed indoors while he himself went into the field to see how birds responded to the eclipse is compelling. When Indira Gandhi was assassinated, Rahmani and Salim Ali were in Nannaj, chasing the Great Indian Bustard where news reached them, and he describes the anguish that Salim Ali felt very movingly.
A word about the publishers is in order. This book is published jointly by Juggernaut and Indian Pitta, India’s first dedicated book imprint for bird and nature lovers and conservationists. The deft touch of Anita Mani, the founder of Indian Pitta is evident. While this book will enthral bird lovers, there is much in it to fascinate the general reader too.
Check out the book on Amazon.
