| |
BOOKS:
AUTHORSPEAK
Tara
Gandhi : Bird's
Eye View
 What
do you call a slow swift? Why is a nightjar called a nightjar when you
never see one in a jar? For ornithologist Tara Gandhi, questions such
as the aforementioned and jokes in a similar vein (of chickens walking
across the road) are to be treated with the utmost gravitas - they do,
after all, draw sustenance from her life's passion.
Gandhi's
latest work, Birds and Plant Regeneration (Ravi Dayal), is a slim volume
that discusses the interrelationship between India's rich flora and fauna.
Her writing, supported by colourful photographs, compiles details of past
experiences, existing reference material and the essays of the late Salim
Ali, fondly known as the Birdman of India. Gandhi, 51, acquired her MSc
in field ornithology from Sophia College, Mumbai, under Ali's tutelage.
Despite her insistence to the contrary, she is one acolyte who has done
her mentor proud. "He was a meticulous taskmaster and tolerated no
laxity," she says. "I would have been very scared of his reaction
(to the book)."
Although
Gandhi asserts that writing is not her forte, she nevertheless summoned
the requisite proficiency to pen, in the 1990s, Rajasthan Vegetation Index
for those inclined to study the region's plant life. But her daily priorities
are admittedly a far cry from her passion. As the wife of India's High
Commissioner to Sri Lanka Gopal Gandhi she walks the diplomatic tightrope
as noiselessly as she walks through the jungles of Tamil Nadu and the
forests of the Andaman isles. "People are pleasantly surprised when
I tell them of my work," she says, looking, if truth be told, not
a whit interested in their opinion. Gandhi's work with the Worldwide Fund
for Nature, India, and the Commonwealth Science Council, London, is ground
upon which to construct her next two projects-an anthology of Ali's essays
and a status survey of India's national parks and sanctuaries. To end,
here are a couple of feather light (no pun intended) factoids on Gandhi.
Her favourite bird is the barbitt and her tree of choice, the ficus. Finally,
someone who would happily admit she understands the birds and the bees.
-Sonia
Faleiro
Top
|
|
If
there was one word to summarise Putin+s style, it is Realnosti---Russian
for get real---says INDIA TODAY Deputy Editor Chengappa in
