And Dr S V Narasimhan knows the place like the back of his hand—from north (Somwarpet) to south (Kutta). And this is chiefly because of the demands of his hobby, bird watching, which he has sustained for the last 28 years, and his various other exploits in the field of conservation and wildlife that have made him a mini celebrity (he was Coorg Person of the Year 2013) in the land of the Kodavas.

Just two years shy of turning 60, Narasimhan reveals that birding happened almost by accident. “A friend of my friend kept needling me to accompany him for bird-watching. Finally, I agreed and once I went I was totally hooked,” he says.

“Also, on the same day, it so happened that I was presented with a Salim Ali book on birds and then there was no looking back,” he laughs.

Though bird watching and bird photography go hand-in-hand for most birders today, Narasimhan is content with just watching birds. Rather than a camera, it’s a binocular that he carts around. His two daughters are bird lovers too and accompany him on birding trips.

To say that he is devoted to his hobby would be putting it mildly. And here’s why—for the last 25 years or so, to commemorate India’s Wild Life Week that falls in the first week of October, Narasimhan has been sending out hand-painted cards featuring pictures of birds, butterflies and animals to a whole lot of people. “Every month, there was a small cultural function in our town, which is when the idea of giving people cards struck me. The first year I sent out 1,000 cards. My target has been 3,000 cards and the closest I came to achieving it is when I sent out 2,700 cards in one particular year,” he shares.

By any standard, it’s a mammoth undertaking and Narasimhan attempts the work in stages, by first selecting pictures of roughly 18-20 birds, animals and butterflies.

Then one outline of a particular picture is made on some 100 cards with the process getting replicated for the others as well. The painting happens in-between. The doctor is quick to point out that he may not a good artist, but a lot of love goes into each card. Recipients who acknowledge his cards are kept on his mailing list the next year as well.

His birding activities culminated in his book titled Feathered Jewels of

Coorg published by the Coorg Wildlife Society in 2004.

“It took me four and a half years to collect data for the book. I travelled to different parts of Coorg to acquaint myself with the Kodava names. The first edition was published in 2004 and the second in 2008,” he says. President of the Coorg Wildlife Society, Colonel C P Muthanna (retd) is all praise for Dr Narasimhan and his book, a bi-lingual guide (Kannada and English) to the birds of Coorg.

A show on Akashwani, in Madikeri, titled Kodagina Banadigalu had Naraimhan talk about Coorg’s rich wildlife. The reach of the show was tremendous with the programme running for 52 weeks, reveals the doctor, who says the bird with seven colours—Indian Pitta—is his favourite.

Besides birding, Narasimhan is also interested in astronomy. But with Coorg enjoying only two months of clear sky, it certainly puts a damper on this hobby. Nevertheless, he is quite happy with the knowledge gained, and explains the link between astronomy and birds.

“Birds migrate by looking at the constellations, they ignore the moon which changes every day, but rely on the stars which remain constant,” he says.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Magazine / by Sunita Raghu / January 25th, 2014