The Fall of a sparrow

The Fall of a Sparrow

(Autobiography of Salim Ali)

 

''The fall of  the sparrow '' is the autobiography of  a famous ornithologist .he is a great lover of birds , dedicated his life for the field of ornithology . There are many interesting things in this book which not only shows the life of salim ali but also captures the his time. starting with his childhood  acquaintance with birds and details of his family members ,salim ali transcends us into a different world ,world of birds .In his adolescent age, he had a pistol of his own (on those days it was allowed) and shot many birds with it. oneday he saw a small male bird standing outside a nest to guard its female bird which was hatching its eggs. Suddenly, he shot the male bird to death. Next day, when he came beside his house he was surprised. Because the nest was guarded by another male bird. Again, he shot that bird to death. Then came the third day with yet another bird. It continued and he was awe-struck. It shows the miracle of God who protects his creatures by some means like making the male birds as military soldiers.

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He gives a detailed account of his dear wife Tehmina, his family, relatives, etc.., He records his wife’s profound interest in English and Urdu poetry. Tehmina grew up in London. When Salim bought his first car he named it as 'Jane' because of his wife's admiration for the English novelist Jane Austen. The car was weightless and he says that any individual can trail the car with two hands.

Salim also gives a detailed information about government rules during India’s independence. There was a rule that one portion of land out of three was allowed to build. The remaining two portions should be left free.

Now, coming to his field of interest – Ornithology – Salim says he has shown less interest towards politics because of two reasons. He had some friends in the opposite parties and he supposed that it would stand a barrier to his interest in birds. He studied about birds with a great thirst. He gives a picturesque description of his experience.

When he went to Germany to study about birds migration he encountered a scene which froze his mind.There was a light house with 12,000 candle power light. Migrating birds traveling at night rushed towards this grand light and get hit by the panes and they fell down. Later, net was curtained around it to avoid birds getting injured. Some 1,200 birds had been taken for 'bird ringing'. He says enormous birds were lying there struggling and fluttering terribly for life. hundreds  of stray cats from the surrounding  forest creeping stealthily and slowly to eat the birds. then he gives a picture of  struggling birds  between the  jaws of cats.he describes this particular scene with an alluding word  'holocaust'. 

 

Those days shooting licence was not necessary. Some used to shoot the black bug (deer) and sell it to the hotels. Salim gives a detailed information of various birds, their life, and interesting facts like polygamy of birds, their nest building techniques, how female birds inspect a house to decide whether to live there or not is an interesting reason behind the abandoned nests.

He depicts his spine chilling experience. Once he was gazing at a small bird and stepping back slowly. Suddenly, he realised that he was standing just two feet ahead of a great canyon under which flowed a lengthy river. He got goosebumps and his hair erected like iron bars. The Almighty saved  him for his love for His creations.

Salim ali also touches other things like caste and class issues, ruling people and political leaders of his time. When talking about the reasons behind his passion towards birds he says it in two lines that he chose ornithology for his own pleasure and to be far from the madding crowd.

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Salim Ali – Salim is considered as the Father of Ornithology. He dedicated his entire life for birds with full passion. When a fellow ornithologist wrote an article about a bird, Salim sent a letter to correct him about the tail’s structure. His knowledge of birds is immense. When Nehru was imprisoned he used to read Salim’s book. As a mark of respect many sanctuaries and institutes are named after Salim Ali. “The Fall of the Sparrow” is Salim Ali’s autobiography.