Thirunelveli (Tamil Nadu): Most people like to live in harmony with nature. Yet, now that we strive to survive in the urbanised world, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that at least some of us have forgotten to care for the other creatures with who we share the planet.
This is the story of a couple who has been setting an example of how to coexist with nature. Ganesamoorthy and his wife Tamizharasi, residing at Sankar Nagar in Tirunelvelli district, have been feeding more than 200 parrots every day for the past six years. They are a couple with concern and affection for other living creatures. This is evident from the fact that they understand the sound and body language of animals and birds to express hunger. The couple has made it a habit to feed birds at their home.
Tamizharasi was touched by an incident which happened six years ago when a couple of hungry parrots flew away from her backyard. Since then, she started feeding parrots every morning and evening on her house's terrace. She wakes up early in the morning and prepares semi-cooked rice and feeds about 200 parrots.
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Parrots generally live in forests or in palm trees where they make deep holes to stay. We could also see people raising parrots in cages and teaching them to talk. But the sight of around 200 parrots feasting at the same place is something rare. So, their neighbours are not bothered by this. The parrots have nested on the trees surrounding Thamizharasi’s.
“We adore animals and birds. Initially, I used to feed birds with a small amount of rice. But, day after day the parrots increased in number. Since then we’ve been feeding the birds with cooked rice for six years now. Apart from parrots, we also feed dogs and other animals in the locality. The parrots will not come down to eat if someone else tries to feed them. Therefore, we avoid going out mostly and make it a point to return early even if we do. Our neighbours wait till the parrots finish eating to burst crackers during Diwali, a gesture they do out of their interest. Feeding parrots and other birds gives satisfaction. So, everybody should at the least try to feed birds and animals in their surrounding.”
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“Initially few parrots would visit our backyard to feed on the guavas. Later, as there were insufficient guavas, we would see the parrots return disappointed. Since then, we’ve been feeding the parrots with semi-cooked rice. Around 200 parrots visit our house every day for food. We wake up to the sound of the parrots every day. At times when we fail to wake up, the parrots would come near our bedroom and squawk. This gives us a sense of inner peace,” said Thamizharasi’s husband Ganesamoorthy.
