Sitala Prasad Roy

  Salim Moizuddin Abdul Ali, popularly known as Dr. Salim Ali was an Indian naturalist. He is also referred to as the ‘Birdman of India’ by many. He was born born into a Sulaimani Bohra family in Bombay (Mumbai) on 12 November 1896. Salim Ali was the first Indian scientist to carry out a methodical bird survey throughout his country. He authored several books on birds, which popularized ornithology in India. After 1947 he became a key person behind the Bombay Natural History Society. Salim Ali also utilized his personal influence to derive support from the Government for his organization, establishment of the Bharatpur bird sanctuary, and for preventing destruction of a mega ecosystem, presently known as the Silent Valley National Park. Salim Ali, along with American ornithologist Sidney Dillon Ripley wrote and published the landmark ten volume Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan in series. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1958 and the Padma Vibhushan in 1976 by th

    Charles Darwin is recognized as one of the greatest British scientists who ever lived. He can be rightly termed a revolutionary, because he transformed the understanding of the contemporary people on the living world. Darwin was born in 1809 at Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. His father was a doctor, and his mother was the daughter of the very popular potter Josiah Wedgwood. Darwin’s mother died when he was just at his 8 years of age, and virtually raised by his elder sisters. He used to be fascinated by the natural world from a very tender age. Gradually he became an avid reader of books on nature and devoted his spare time to exploring the fields and woodlands in his locality for collecting specimens of plants and insects. Darwin was enrolled in medical school in the University of Edinburgh, Scotland in 1825, where he came to see surgery on a baby. During that time surgeries had to be carried out without the use of any anesthetic or antiseptic, resulting in freque

    It was January 1987, when I made my first trip to Rajasthan with three of my friends. We started our journey from Howrah by Kalka Mail in 3-tier (now sleeper class). During that time journey by AC coach was not so popular. Moreover, it was also in the mindset of common people that journey by such a coach was meant for rich people only. It was also my first long journey by a beautiful train (of that time) like Kalka Mail. In all respect it was a very nice journey for us. We were in Agra for two days, and thereafter went to Jaipur by bus enjoying almost a day long road journey. The purpose of my writing this small article is not to give any vivid description of our tour to Rajasthan or to say any thing about the beautiful palaces etc. spread over the whole state. Because, there is no dearth of good articles and books on different aspects of Rajasthan. Here I want to share my experience over an issue that made a deep imprint in my mind. After visiting different tourist

J ean-Baptiste Lamarck, a French naturalist was an early proponent of the idea of evolution. His full name was Jean Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, Chevalier de Lamarck. However for the sake of simplicity people addressed this scientist as Jean-Baptiste Lamarck or simply Lamarck. His theory of evolution is popularly known as Lamarckism. He was also one of the first to use the term biology in its modern sense and coined the term invertebrates. Lamarck was born on 1 August 1744 at Bazentin-le-Petit, Picardie in France into a poverty-stricken family – the title C hevalier was used to depict the occupation his flock. He was the youngest of eleven children in a family with a centuries-old tradition of military service; his father and a number of his brothers were soldiers. He joined the army to serve his country as an army man prior to getting involved in natural history and writing about flora of France in three volumes with the title Flore française . This made Lamarck more

    C ommunication is an indispensable part in our daily life. During childhood it is very simple - uttering something to draw attention of others for some reason, which different animals around also do. As a person grows, communication gradually becomes more and more complex. He adopts different forms of communication, to which almost all of us are aware. For some technical communication the person needs specialized training or skill. But for day to day normal activities it should be simple and understandable. Here I want to narrate an incident that took place just in my life. Immediately after completion of my college education I got an interview from the Railways Service Commission, Patna for a job. I reached there by train early in the morning and came to the place of interview well in time. Many candidates from Bihar and the nearby states arrived there within the scheduled hours. There, in a short spell of time I got acquainted with a candidate coming from Bhubaneswar. During t

    অ নেক অনেক দিন আগের কথা। এক গভীর জঙ্গলে ওয়াউফি নামে এক শিকারি বাস করত। সে এতই দক্ষ শিকারি ছিল যে লোকে তাকে সাদা বাজপাখি বলে ডাকত। সে যেখানে থাকত সেই জায়গাতে অনেক জীবজন্তুর যাতায়াত ছিল। প্রতিদিন বাড়ি ফেরার সময় সে বেশ কিছু জীবজন্তু শিকার করে নিয়ে আসত। ওয়াউফির শরীর ছিল সিডার গাছের মতো। তার চকচকে চোখের ভিতর দিয়ে তারুণ্য ফুটে বেরোত। জঙ্গলে এমন কোন জন্তু ছিল না বা এমন কোনও পাখি ছিল না যাদের পথ সে অনুসরণ করতে পারত না। একদিন সে জঙ্গলের ভিতর দিয়ে অনেক দূরে চলে গিয়েছিল। এতটা দূরে আগে সে কোনদিন যায় নি। যেতে যেতে সে দেখল যে সেখানে গাছপালা অনেকটা ফাঁকা হয়ে গেছে। তারপর সে ঘাস ও ঘাস ফুল দিয়ে ঘেরা গোল মতো একটা জায়গায় এসে উপস্থিত হলো। সেখান থেকে ওয়াউফি অনেকটা দূর পর্যন্ত দেখতে পাচ্ছিল । অনেকটা দূরে সে দেখতে পেল যে দূরের গাছ পালার মধ্য দিয়ে কেমন যেন একটা আলোর রেখা ফুটে উঠেছে। সে বুঝতে পারল যে সে কোন তৃণভূমির কাছে এসে উপস্থিত হয়েছে। এই ভূমি বেশ প্রশস্ত , ঘন সবুজ ঘাসে ঢাকা। আর তার ভিতরে ফুটে উঠেছে হাজার হাজার সুন্দর ফুল।     এরপর সে খোলা মাঠে খোলা আকাশের নীচে কোন নির্দিষ্ট পথ ছাড