Blind ornithologist seeks to create digitised bird-call directory

Soudhriti Bhabani writes in Trak.in News:

He is blind but can recognise more than 200 types of birds by their calls. He treks in the high Himalayas with gusto, transcending his physical inabilities to commune with nature.

Meet Arup Chakraborty, 54, an employee of Eastern Railway's (ER) commercial division at the Sealdah railway station. Chakraborty is a well-known ornithologist, though for him the dictionary meaning of the word as bird watcher would have to be changed.

He is also an ardent high-altitude trekker and a visitor to various wildlife sanctuaries across India. 'I developed this habit of listening to birds when I was just a kid. I wanted to see the world but could not as I'd lost my vision at a very tender age due to meningitis.