Of Feathers And Wings by Katie Bagli and Zarin Virji. Published in 2024 by Inking Innovations, India Printing House, 42 G. D. Ambekar Marg, Wadala, Bombay, 400031; email: anand@ipworks.in. Pp: vii + 140. Price: Rs 350.
They are the unsung warblers of Bombay. Although they caw from telephone wires, squawk from the dusty leaves of banyan trees and chirrup in balconies, Bombay’s birds are often overlooked. And the role they play in the real and imaginary life of the city is often ignored.
From l: Katie Bagli, Zarin Virji and Sushmita Karmakar
Of Feathers And Wings attempts to change that. Through a series of short stories Katie Bagli and Zarin Virji introduce readers to birds that are a part of the cityscape. Theirs is a realm in which birds can heal, bring luck and conquer fear. At the same time, the stories highlight the inevitable conflict that arises between birds and their two-legged neighbors in the cramped metropolis. This book has been illustrated by Sushmita Karmakar.
"From the ubiquitous crow to the Fantail, Bombay has it all,” Bagli and Virji write in their introduction to the book. "All it needs is a sensitive eye to catch the flutter of wings and a sensitive ear to catch its birdsong.”
Bagli and Virji clearly possess both that eye and that ear. They pull the reader by the hand into a world of birds. Which is how we find ourselves tiptoeing alongside Porus and Parizaad and discovering the identity of the snoring banshee of Dadar Parsi Colony. Or craning our neck with unhappy Myra to spot the noisy koel. Or standing on the terrace with Tanya while the parakeets circle the papaya tree, and the little girl grapples with her grandmother’s dementia.
Bagli and Virji rejoice in the birds that inhabit this concrete jungle, but they also catalog the conflicts that crop up ever so often. The authors discuss the rapidly dwindling population of sparrows in the city. And ponder over the fate of the hornbills that are nesting in Mahtab’s building which is about to be repaired. They know that for every bird lover, there are three curmudgeons who insist that trees be cut, and buildings be repaired — even if it means destroying nests and chicks.
Both Bagli and Virji write from the heart. Bagli is a beloved Bombay-based children’s writer who is passionate about nature. Virji is an educator and award-winning writer whose books sensitively touch upon socioeconomic and human issues.
"Our hope is that this book will awaken a taste for all things birds in the reader,” the authors maintain in their introduction. "When interest is awakened, a passion for conservation follows.”
Every Bombayite who reads Of Feathers And Wings is bound to scan the skies and treetops and building ledges with new interest and delight. Perhaps they will even go one step further and work to protect their feathered neighbors. S. M.