Tillway Talk

Remembering Salim Ali, one of Bombay's most famous citizens, and one of India's most celebrated scientists, on his birth anniversary: Salim Moizuddin Abdul Ali (12 November 1896 – 20 June 1987) was an Indian ornithologist and  naturalist. Sometimes referred to as the "Birdman of India", Salim Ali was the first Indian to conduct systematic bird surveys across India and wrote several bird books that popularized ornithology in India. He became a key figure behind the Bombay Natural History Society. He was also responsible for the creation of the Bharatpur bird sanctuary (Keoladeo National Park) and for the  prevention of the destruction of what is now the Silent Valley National Park. He co-authored the landmark ten volume Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan. Early Life: Salim Ali was born into a Sulaimani Bohra family in Bombay. Both his parents died when he was very young  Along with his siblings, Ali was brought up by his maternal uncle, Amiruddin Tyabji, and c...

Remembering Abul Kalam Azad on his birth anniversary:  Azad was born on 11 November 1888 in Makkah, then a part of the Ottoman Empire. His real name was Sayyid Ghulam Muhiyuddin Ahmed bin Khairuddin Al Hussaini, but he eventually became known as Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.  Azad  was a scholar, Islamic theologian independence activist, and a senior leader of the Indian National Congress during the Indian independence movement. Following India's independence, he became the First Minister of Education in the Indian government.  He is commonly remembered as Maulana Azad; the word Maulana is an honorific meaning 'Our Master' and he had adopted Azad (Free) as his pen name. Throughout his life, he was known for his unqualified and uncompromising moral integrity. His contribution to establishing the education foundation in India is recognised by celebrating his birthday as National Education Day across India. Early life: Azad's family settled  in Calcutta in 1890. Azad wa...

Remembering Pu La Deshpande on his birth anniversary:  Purshottam Laxman Deshpande  (8 November 1919 – 12 June 2000) popularly known by his initials ("Pu La") or as P. L. Deshpande, was a Marathi writer and humorist from Maharashtra, India. He was also an accomplished film and stage actor, script writer, author, composer, musician (he played the harmonium), singer and orator. He was often referred to as "Maharashtra's beloved personality". Deshpande's works have been translated into several languages including English. Early Life Purushottam Laxman Deshpande was born in Gamdevi Street, Chowpati, Mumbai. His parents were Laxman and Laxmibai Deshpande.  His maternal grandfather, Vaman Dubhashi was a poet and writer of literature. He had translated Rabindranath Tagore's, Gitanjali, into Marathi under the title "Abhang Gitanjali". The family used to stay at Kenway House, Procter Road in the Grant Road locality in Mumbai. His family then moved to Jo...

Remembering one of India's most distinguished scientists on his birth anniversary: Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman ( 7 November 1888 – 21 November 1970) was an Indian physicist who made groundbreaking works in the field of light scattering. With his student K. S. Krishnan, he discovered that when light traverses a transparent material, some of the deflected light change wavelength and amplitude. This phenomenon was a new type of scattering of light and was subsequently known as the Raman effect (Raman scattering).  Raman won the 1930 Nobel Prize in Physics and was the first Asian person to receive a Nobel Prize in any branch of science. Early life C. V. Raman was born in Trichinopoly, Madras Presidency (now Trichy, Tamil Nadu), to Hindu Tamil parents, Chandrasekhara Ramanathan Iyer and Parvathi Ammal.  His father was a teacher at the local high school, and earned a modest income. Raman recalled: "I was born with a copper spoon in my mouth. At my birth my father was earning the ma...