BELGAUM: Iliyas Bepari is a bird lover from the city who plays host every day to some unusual guests — a few hundred members of that fast-disappearing grey-bird family called sparrows.
There was a time when you could find sparrow nests in every second house in the neighbourhood. Over the years, these tiny birds have disappeared slowly, but steadily. Half a decade ago, Bepari began feeding a dozen or so sparrows in front of his house; today, 200 to 300 sparrows visit him and he feeds them four times a day.
Speaking to Express, Bepari recalled the day five years ago when he noticed a few sparrows outside his residence-cum-cold-drink-shop at Camp area. He took a handful of raw rice and offered it to them. The sight of the sparrows happily eating the food grains filled Bepari with joy, and he decided to feed the birds regularly.
At the beginning, he used to feed five to 10 sparrows. Gradually, the number increased and today, hundreds of them flock to his house. As soon as Bepari opens his shop in the morning, usually around 8 am, he throws out handfuls of raw rice for the sparrows outside. He does this three more times during the day — at 11 am, 2 pm and 5 pm.
“I usually serve raw rice as the sparrows seem to love it,” he said. He has also made a water bowl on the ground for the sparrows to drink from.
He needs a minimum of 5 kg of rice to feed the birds. Sometimes, he also feeds them cashew nut powder, which he purchases at a cheaper-than-market rate from a nearby cashew nut factory.
“The sparrows wait for me at those times and as soon as they see me, start chirping loudly. In those moments, I feel that they are party of my family,” Bepari said.