Footnotes on Salim Ali

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Salim Ali was, in many ways,  more than unique - probably the only celebrated ornithologist from India, and one of those rare men of science who can claim both fame and influence on a larger, non-scientific community. For someone who chose a very, very rare profession for his time and kept it to its simplest form, he succeeded beyond probably his own expectations, and definitely beyond everybody else's. Among other things, the basic fact that comes out of a more-than-casual look at his life tells us that he was, above all, a man of science - and a field ornithologist who tried to make wildlife conservation a pragmatic activity rather than a sentimental one.

When one reads his autobiography, The Fall of a Sparrow, the struggles one sees from a young Salim to become what he was best at are illustrative: A serious lack of opportunity and enthusiasm in offical circles, lack of field enthusiasts and horrid travel arrangements, and a general lack of information about Indian birds during his early times. These illustrate the career of a man who shaped, and made a past-time to a profession for many in his country, rather than a mere practitioner.

A few side-notes in his memoirs actually help us understand his choice of career and life - it was definitely a love for birds, but more than that. He displays an innate dashing nature,  recalling a lifelong love for Shikar and Motorcycles. A free will with a distinct unwillingness to bow to any hypocrisy comes across, many times about the British (not least his frank appraisal of British toilet facilities at their annual derby race in London) and at one point on French arrogance. Nor does Dr. Ali come across as someone without a knowledge of his achievements - in fact, he gives a fairly exhaustive list of awards and accolades he got from various sources, both scientific and political, as encouragement to folks interested in birdwatching. But behind all this, he gives ample evidence of dedicated hard work into the study of birds. A lot of his work went into Bombay Natural History Society, or BNHS, which continues to publish a lot of his books.
   
Salim Ali's one of many gifts was his writing - simple, clear and arresting. This effective writings is what made his books so famous - they were not just records of birds, but highly readable ones. I have had occasion to refer to the famed The Book of Indian Birds, and have never been disappointed by his writing.

Interestingly, almost never does he record any sort of complaint about financial hardship or personal disappointments despite losing his parents very early, and his wife in his middle age. Tyabjis - Salim Ali's family - largely come out as a generally affluent family, and his wife Tehmina as more than a mere enthusiast in nature. The love and support he received from his family throughout his long life is one of the evocative and touching silver lines of his autobiography.

Thrilling Tales from the Cold War

Of the great events that influenced literature, cold war fed off innumerable spy novels, provided countless opportunities for budding novelists, spawned off a gazillion movies, among other things. Just highlighting two:

The spy who came in from the cold by John le Carré is considered a classic spy novel, arguably the best. It is blatantly realistic in approach, drawing from the experience of its author. Taking off all hype and concentrating on paperwork, patience and method, this books really brought out the spies from their James Bond-ish outlook to the real world.

The Gorky Park by Martin Cruz Smith is another one I enjoyed, albeit its unnecessary length. Looking at the world from Russia, it sets its act in Moscow and New York. The everyday life in the Soviet really comes out well, although it has very little to do with the actual cold war - most of the action happens around traditional crime taking advantage of national borders. But then, Cold war adds colour which, if missing, would have made the novel a bore.

The Trouble with The Trouble With Physics

Troubled Reading

Well, I confess that I did not complete the book. Mostly because it is my ever-lazy attitude, but the book itself contributed to a fair extent. As such, I may not do justice to the book itself, but I can atleast give an idea of what to expect.

The problem is the book talks about real modern-day physics. And that itself is not a problem, but it focuses on those parts that are not yet experimentally confirmed, which according to the author is largely the modern particle physics. Given that any subject's toughest part is its theoretical part, explaining something as tough as particle physics without empirical descriptions is bound to bore a lot of people. For me, lack of flowing prose and impressive explanations turned out to be turn-offs. And I think the writing is also boring!!!

Well, apart from that - actually you can learn a lot from this book if you are patient with the author. It is more like reading a textbook all over again, though :(

Crossed Careers - My Life as a Quant by Emanuel Derman

Crossed Careers

I chose to read this book hoping for some nostalgia about Columbia and NYC. The parallels I share with the author, even though for a very brief period and separated by 40 years of life - Columbia, life at the big apple and some degree of association with wall street made me buy this book, and the author definitely succeeded in evoking some degree of nostalgia in me. I definitely found what I was looking for - beautiful recollections of Columbia, Upper west side and Wall street culture in general.

Physics and Finance are explained in a not-too-complicated fashion, with most of the accounts limited to cursory topical introductions, just enough to give the reader a context. The cultural differences and similarities between academia, bell labs and wall street make for a very interesting read, and is the biggest take-away from the book. The narrative itself is never boring, and the book is very readable.

I guess people familiar with the finance industry obviously have a head-start to enjoy the nuances described by the author, but I don't think this makes it appealing only for them. I am hoping to read a few more such accounts from diverse careers, giving sneak peeks into the world of other careers.