His partiality for Sanskrit endured till the very end, and indeed, in later years he became much devoted to it. He graduated in 1911 from Lahore, and in the same year joined Emmanuel College, Cambridge. 

Birbal graduated from Cambridge in 1911 and soon settled down to research. He commenced to take keen interest in research under the inspiring, leadership and guidance of one of the most distinguished botanists of the day, Prof. A. C. Seward  was an inspiration to listen to his discourses on living and fossil plants, but a source of added pride when the name of Birbal, one of his favorite students, was mentioned in connection with the study of the Gondwana and other floras. Prof. and Mrs. Seward had a soft corner towards Birbal and always wrote to him in affectionate terms. It was a relationship deeper and more beautiful than between a teacher and his pupil and which Birbal cherished more than many other things. Birbal's interest and knowledge of Indian living plants was recognized early, for, yet a student at Cambridge, he was asked to revise Lowson's text-book of botany, now one of the widely used books on the subject in Indian schools and colleges.

In spite of his academic interests, Birbal was by no means a recluse and he enjoyed in full measure the lighter side of life, though in his own way. When some of the Indian students at Cambridge staged a fancy dress celebration, he turned up as a sadhu (an ascetic), which was not altogether un symbolic of his inner self. He was extremely fond of games and retained his interest in sports for a long time. He not only represented his school and college hockey XIs but was also very keen on tennis at the Government College, Lahore. At Cambridge he represented the victorious Cambridge Indian Majlis at tennis against the Oxford Majlis. 

Even as a student Birbal made one of the biggest collections of Himalayan plants at considerable sacrifice of his routine studies and examination work. He made numerous excursions to the Himalayas during which Hooker's Flora of British India was his invariable companion. He devoted a great deal of time, irrespective of other work, to the investigation of these plants, some of which, I believe, now form a part of the New Herbarium. The passion for outdoor life and trekking was acquired early.  The traverses from Pathankot to Rohtang Pass; Kalka to Chini (Hindustan-Tibet road) via Kasauli, Subathu, Simla, Narkanda, Rampur Bushahr, Kilba, taking the Buran Pass (16,800 ft. high) in the stride are worth mentioning. Other traverses were  carried out from Srinagar to Dras, across the Zoji la Pass; Srinagar to Amarnath (height 14,000 ft. with another climb of about 16,000 ft. en route); Simla to Rohtang (12,000 ft.) via the Bishlao Pass and thence back to Pathankot. 

There was one incident which shows how early Birbal acquired his curiosity for the unknown and love of adventure. In 1905 the entire family moved to Murree for the summer. One fine morning he collected a few handkerchiefs and one or two small empty tins and asked his elder sister and brother to accompany him. Little did they realize what they were in for. They left home quietly, without a soul knowing, and descended into the ravine on the north side of the town. They descended further and further till they reached the stream. The downward journey did not seem too difficult though occasions were numerous when Birbal had to help them across ditches and boulders. In the excitement of the chase all count of time was lost, except when the pangs of hunger made things unbearable. And when they started on the return journey, it was already nearing dark. It became more and more difficult to climb and Birbal was faced with the task of first helping one and then the other over the huge boulders which even today appear as mountains in retrospect. Night had already fallen and meanwhile the entire household was in a state of turmoil. The servants had been sent out with lanterns to look for the young explorers, little knowing where to find them, since no one imagined for a moment that they could have gone beyond the environs of the town. They reached home late at night tired, hungry and with bleeding feet, not to speak of the unrestrained stream of tears rolling down our cheeks, with the best prospect of receiving, in addition, a good talking to, to say the least. But  young Birbal was quite composed, and when father asked him what he meant by leaving home without permission and taking the youngsters, too, with him, he merely answered that he wanted to collect crabs. This unusual reason almost spelt tragedy though ultimately it also proved their saving. “Crabs, indeed!" was father's first outburst and with it he took a step forward. For a moment everybody thought all was over and their backs began to itch with a queer feeling of expectancy! But such was his own love of adventure and for search after things new, that he immediately checked himself and said nothing more. Birbal accompanied his  father on many excursions much more difficult and dangerous. The most notable and exciting of these was crossing of the Machoi glacier not far from the Zoji la Pass in 1911, with little more equipment than rope-made chappals for footwear and a local guide. It was here that looking down, he saw in a gaping chasm a horse standing upright, frozen and preserved in its icy grave. As he bent down to peep into the dark, awe-inspiring fissure, it gave him a shudder and a premonition of consequences, unprepared as he was for such an adventure. It was here that Birbal found and collected red snow (a rare snow alga) during the summer of 1911, just before his departure for England. A part of the sample collected was examined by Prof. Seward and is perhaps still preserved at the Botany School, Cambridge. This was a good introduction for the young botanist at Cambridge, for this alga had not been found for a long time past in India.

Besides his spirit of adventure he had in him a liberal measure of mischief in his early days. Once family stayed at Simla in the house which adjoins the Brahmo Samaj and which they shared with another family. In the small plot that lay between their residence and the Samaj building we had jointly reared vegetable garden. Somehow holiday was cut short, and family had to leave the cool heights of Simla - and of course with it the cucumbers and the half-ripened maize cobs as well. This was too much of a blow, and Birbal conceived the plan to remove all the edible fruit. As if that were not enough, the night prior to our departure, he cut off, under his leadership, the roots of the plants just below the stems with a large pair of scissors. After family left, the plants naturally began to wither slowly, steadily, mysteriously. Was it a fell disease, his erstwhile neighbors thought? They had watered the plants hard enough. Indeed the more they had been watered, the faster they had withered. But neighbors never knew of the secret till they returned to Lahore! and well remember it even now.