He was a superstar in the world of animals and birds. He was friends with kings and queens and many Important People. Nehru and Indra Gandhi. And he went to London and Germany and all those kinds of places. He knew big-big people and went to big-big places, said everyone.

Zai's uncle is the famous 'birdman of India' Salim Ali, everyone in her family is a birding expert, and she herself can't so much as identify the pipit sitting right under her nose. In this delightful portrait of childhood, Zai Whitaker recounts her early birding woes and how she winged it. Prabha Mallya's pictures pick up the humor, and are an arresting collage of a bird-filled Bombay of the past, and a troubled little girl with a 'superstar' uncle!