PUDUCHERRY: This part of Puducherry is a ghost town with only lethargic low tide for company. The silence does not last long, fluttering wings and hungry chirping fills the stretch of Beach Road — not all residents are staying inside this pandemic. On the promenade, parrots and sparrows flock to the usual spot, waiting for their non-avian friend. K Arun arrives in time with a sack of grains balanced precariously on his scooter.
Hauling sacks most mornings is, however, the easy part. The real task for the 35-year-old bird-lover was convincing the district collector to help feed the birds in the Union Territory. Armed with his love for sparrows, Arun got special permission for 10 grain shops in the town to open shutters amid lockdown curbs. After all, who else would feed the birds?
For a decade, he has been safeguarding birds and placing artificial nests across the UT. His love for birds dates back to his childhood in his home in Kosapalayam, which was captive audience to bird songs. Feathered callers returned to his porch every morning to eat from a paddy bunch. While he always loved nature, it is watching birds gliding past the horizon that brings him peace.
However, 2011 was a year of devastation with Cyclone Thane hitting Puducherry. It wiped out fisherfolk’s hamlets and took many lives.
After trees were uprooted, sparrows seemed to have left the UT’s streets for good. Later, as encroachments of lakes and waterbodies continued, kingfishers and parrots, too, vanished. It was then that Puducherry’s very own Pakshi Rajan (king of birds) began his journey to bring his missing kin back home.
“Every month, I spend Rs 10,000 on new wooden birdhouses and Rs 5,000 on grains for nests in Puducherry town,” Arun told TNIE. While he works as an assistant to a doctor, he also takes up several part-time jobs such as driving locals around on demand. To date, using his own money, Arun has distributed 11,000 nests to people, especially government school students.
Many residents, too, help Arun out in his quest. Among them is a vendor who donates grains once every three or four months. While Beach Road is home to several nests, Puducherry’s Chief Secretariat, too, has ten small birdhouses, all carefully placed by Arun. “When I started this initiative, only four sparrows were in that area, and now, there are more than 400. Squirrels also eat grains placed in those nests,” he said.
According to Arun, rapid urbanisation and encroachment have impacted bird populations. “Initially, I thought it was mobile towers that were killing sparrows. While this may not be the case, it’s irrefutable that human activities led to a decrease in sparrow populations. In the past, the birds built nests in between wooden beams and ceilings of old houses. People left them undisturbed and even left paddy grains for them to feed on.” Now, people put nets on their balconies to prevent entry to birds, he said.
He urges people to not throw cigarette buds and chewing gum on roads as birds may eat them and die. Arun is also planning to place geese in temple ponds to help devotees relax and bird-watch. Meanwhile, Arun is on another mission. Over the past two to three months, he has been trying to obtain permission from the government to put up wooden birdhouses for parrots on trees in parks.