IIT alumnus delivers talk on birds in Delhi

[Guest guest]

Dear all,

It gives me great pleasure to introduce the work of Mr Vivek

Tiwari to members of this forum. Mr Tiwari is a non resident Indian based in

California in USA and is a keen and avid birdwatcher. He runs India's first

online Natural History list(moderated by him in USA) which is d by

many notable wildlifers. Mr Tiwari delivered a delightful presentation at

the India International Center yesterday on Indian birds and his speech was

as magnetic as it was informative.

I am not a very keen birdwatcher and certainly not an ornithologist but was

hooked from the word 'go' during his talk. His photos were amazingly

beautiful and sharp. And I loved his speech, his poise, his mastery of the

subject and his ability to get his passion across to laymen like me. One

could really make out his IIT and Princeton background from the way he

explained and analysed evolution and diversity of birds. The bird which

fascinated me most during his presentation was a species called the Grey

Hypocolius which is found in the Middle East but also comes to Kutch in

Gujarat.

The talk was attended by notable birdwatchers from India, and Mr Tiwari was

delighted when I told him that some of the bird species illustrated during

his talk actually come right inside the WWF premises, a stone's throw away

from IIC. They include species like the Grey Hornbill(the first time I have

ever seen this bird in the wild) and several raucous peacocks that call in

their strident voice all day, " Ao, ao, ao! "

I wish India produces many more engineers like him who are sympathetic to

the cause of wildlife preservation. Many thanks, Mr Vivek Tiwari.

Best,

 

---------- Forwarded message ----------

Vivek Tiwari

Fri, Aug 14, 2009 at 9:32 AM

Re: [delhibird] Bird Talk (by yours truly) at IIC, Delhi

<shubhobrotoghosh

 

 

Hi ,

 

It was great meeting you as well.

Please see the following and let me know if this works.

 

Best regards,

Vivek

 

“Birds of India: East meets West”

 

The bird-life of India has a distinctive flavour – a blend of the East

and the West.

Combine that with many species found nowhere else on Earth and you get

a set of birds that are both fascinating and important for study and

conservation. Vivek explores this bird-life, touching on its diversity

and biogeography

using photographs from recent trips to opposite corners of the country

– the dry scrub forests of Gujarat in the west through the Himalayan

foothills of Uttaranchal to the lush tropical forests of Arunachal

Pradesh in the east, passing through the surprisingly rich plains of

Delhi in the center.

 

Vivek's interest in birds and nature started while he was at IIT

Delhi. Since then he has travelled to many remote corners of the world

in pursuit of birds.

He has seen over 2500 bird species, over a quarter of the total number

in the world. In 1995 he started “nathistory-india”, the first online

forum devoted to the topics of Indian

natural history and conservation. He is also one of the original

members of “delhibird”, an online group dedicated to enjoying and

protecting the birds of the Delhi region. Vivek is passionate about

Indian natural history and birds in particular and loves to share this

passion with others here and abroad through talks and photographs in

the hope that this inspires others to observe, appreciate and

ultimately protect the rich biodiversity that India is endowed with.

Vivek received a B. Tech in Computer Science and Engineering from IIT

Delhi in 1991 and a PhD from Princeton University in 1996. He is

currently Director of Engineering at Intel Corporation based in the

San Francisco Bay Area, California. His prior role was in Research and

Development where he worked on techniques for reducing the power

consumption of computer systems.

 

 

 

 

On Thu, Aug 13, 2009 at 7:31 PM,

Ghosh<shubhobrotoghosh wrote:

> Dear Mr Tiwari,

> It was a real pleasure meeting and listening to you

> today. Kindly send me your profile(biography) so that I can post a short

> note on your talk on several lists. Thank you and please do keep in touch.

> I wish you all the best in your endeavours,

>

>

>

>

>

> On 8/12/09, Vivek Tiwari wrote :

>>

>> The slide-show is by yours truly :->

>> If any Delhi based nathistory-indians can make it at short notice, it

>> would be fun to

>> attach faces to email addresses.

>>

>> Best,

>> Vivek

>>

>> PS: Start time is now 4:45PM