Jim Corbett of Kumaon by D. C Kala (9-Nov-2009) Paperback

by D.C. Kala

Jim Corbett (1875 1955) was born in Naini Tal and spent most of his life in the hills of Kumaon. He is considered a hero for keeping the forested area intact and tracking and killing maneating leopards. Jim Corbett of Kumaon, the first extended biography of the great man, was originally published in 1979 and remains an important and pioneering source book. It evokes Corbett s life and world with unrivalled knowledge and authenticity, perhaps because the author too belonged to the mountains of Kumaon and Garhwal so loved by Corbett. Jim Corbett of Kumaon has been a great favourite of Corbett fans for many years. This revised edition will be widely welcomed by a new generation of readers.

Genres: Biography

Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Divya Pal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although hagiographic (by the author's admission), still immensely readable. Poor quality photographs, a lack of maps and nothing new to add to the legend of Corbett brings down the star rating.

[Mayank Bawari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jim Corbett of Nainital perhaps.

[Arun Jee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everybody knows Jim Corbett as a hunter, wildlife expert and as an established writer. But I was more interested to discover his life that he spent at Mokama Ghat, a small village now on the bank of Ganga in Bihar. He had spent about 20 years of his life there with the Railways. I wanted to understand his character as a professional and as a human being.

And I was not disappointed. I got one full chapter on that in the book. I did have some knowledge about that though. Corbett himself has described it in the last chapter of his My India. But this book has brought to light several other aspects of his character.

If you want to be a successful human resource manager, you need to take good care of human resource under your command. This book reveals how Corbett used to take care of the needs of the people working under him. He made them work hard, 16 hours a day, and get tons and tons of goods loaded on the ships/rail at Mokama Ghat.

Corbett used to be very compassionate and concerned about the daily needs such as food, income and education of his workers. He was instrumental in opening the first high school in that area with the help of a local person named Ram Sharan who had been closely associated with Corbett.

[Faisal Alam]

Corbett is a legend in all respects. Disappointingly Mr D C Kala has shown him in a slightly bad light in his book. His comments on Corbett being part of naturalised white and Irish background and therefore being of a class below the whites drove him and Maggie to take up most of the activities thet did...even his interest of exterminating man-eaters, both serving the poor with disease, Corbetts job in Railways, his Fathers and brothers job in Post office....he has attributed all this to Corbetts being a part of 'backward class' in those days.
I wonder if it reflects the typical age old caste conscious Indian mentality of the author who has basically tried to popularise himself by writing about an already world accepted larger than life figure!

Half of the book is a copy of what Corbett has written. The other half has valuable and well researched details but the touch of lowliness attached with Corbett is work of an evil mind.

[Indy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The 3 stars is not because the author did a bad job of the supposed autobiography of Jim Corbett. He doesn’t have much material to go on to paint the complete picture of Corbett. Not much new material in the book about Corbett over and above what you read in his books.

[Arth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved each and every bit of it especially the way events has been described, it makes one feel right there

[GhanaShyam Khadka · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you remember my earlier tweets, I had started reading book on Jim Corbett. Corbett was a white man, was settled in India for long time when British Raj ruled India. He was known for his brave hunting of man eaters, wild animals in Kumaon/Gharwal region of India. He was settled in Nainital but after British left India, he migrated to Kenya and died there. Jim Corbett was a hunter initially and enjoyed in Shikar. Later, he realized that wild animals, especially tiger and leopard would become extinct if they are not preserved. So, he started advocating for preservation of wild animals. He did photography and even made some films on wildlife. India's first national park Jim Corbett National Park rightly honours him for his effort in wildlife preservation, for his contribution and love of nature. The national park is located in Uttarakhand/Uttaranchal state of India.


About the book: The book is written by D.C. Kala -claimed to be a journalist- and surely a Corbett fan. The language used is ordinary. This is neither a biography nor a complete book to bring new facts about Corbett. There are hardly any notable events or things that have been recorded in this book. This is just an average book BUT I enjoyed reading it. Do I recommend this book to you? I may not but you may still go ahead and read! If you are a nature lover, if you want to know something more about wildlife,history, culture, landscape of India, you may read it. I have extensively traveled in the nooks and corners of Nainital, Bhimtal, Ranikhet, Kausani, Kumaon region of India and I love to read more books from this area. This is a reason why I chose this book though it was never the most talked book of the town. I simply love Pahadi life of India and Nepal and love to read more books which cover life and struggle of people living there. The book on Jim Corbett definitely, to some extent, helped me to quench the desire of learning more about the place.

[Carmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still 3.5 stars. On the second reading I again realized that Kala should have left out his personal psychological analyses of Corbett, which rather detracted from the otherwise stellar account of a life well lived.

3.5 stars. Great research and Kala provided insights and information that were new to me.

[Akanksha Pathak · Rating 3 out of 5]

Little do we know about the positive aspects of Britishers. This biography will make u forget that Jim Corbett was a Britisher. The services rendered by him towards the society he lived in, irrespective of his nationality are uncomparable.

[Rishan Zubair · Rating 2 out of 5]

Author concentrated More of Jim corbetts family tree ..