BENGALURU: As temperature is set to soar further in Bengaluru, guess who’s keeping cool under the scorching Sun? The birds.
And this is all thanks to Sandeep, who makes nests for birds to live in. While he makes the most number of nests in the monsoon, he says birds need it most in summer these days. “More than ever. summers are much harsher than what it used to be in Bengaluru. I make nests that can keep these birds cool,” he says.
Several good samaritans come to him to buy the nests that are priced between `150 and `300. “While I do get a few customers who buy it for their pet birds, most buyers are those who want to nest birds in the open,” he says.
The customers buy the nest from him and hang it at locations frequented by birds. But, do birds nest in houses made by humans? “They won't live in nests made by other birds, but those made by me are fine. Just be sure that you keep it out of human touch, which would leave the human smell. They get scared and feel threatened when the house smells of something foreign,” says Sandeep.
Today at the age of 40, he survives on the income he earns by selling these nests. He earns an average of rupees 4,000 per month. He has been doing this for ten years now in Bengaluru. “The city has changed a lot since I first came here. The bird population has definitely been hit tragically,” he says.
Sandeep was previously a labourer and took to making nests as a choice. “Nobody taught me how to make nests. I was passionate about it. I don't earn much, but I am not sad,” he says.
So, why does Bengaluru need man ade nests? “In villages, it is easier to find twigs for the birds to make a nest of their own. This isn't possible here. It is a concrete take over,” says the Tamilian who moved to the city ten years ago.
Sandeep makes different types of nests for small birds such as Chittu kuruvi (sparrow), tailor bird and love birds. He uses coir, thread and gum to make nests. He lives with his wife and two children at Jeevan Bhima Nagar and sells nests on Old Airport Road and Indiranagar, 12th Main Road. “As Bengalureans, we should take the ownership of finding these birds a home, especially when we were part of destroying it,” says Savithri Radhakrishnan, a software professional in the city.