Retired professor’s courtyard is haven for sparrows

MEERUT - The numbers of house sparrows may be dwindling fast, but certainly not in the courtyard of a retired professor’s house in this north Indian city where these gregarious birds have been hosted for half a century. He even has private guards to protect them from predators.

With two guards to keep off predators, they number around 2,000. With the huge number of sparrows nesting in his courtyard, Madan Mohan Sharma’s house is popular as “Gauraiyon ka basera” (house of sparrows) in Surajkund colony.

Sharma, a retired professor of physics in Nanakchand Degree College here, has not forgotten how it started. A flock of sparrows landed in the courtyard and his mother asked him to keep some flour and water out for them.

“I still remember that a flock of 10-12 sparrows landed in my courtyard while my mother was cleaning it. She asked me to keep some millet flour in a plate with a bowl of water for the birds,” 75-year-old Sharma told IANS.

“Initially, the sparrows did not eat or drink anything because of our presence. But when we left the courtyard, and watched them from a distance, we noticed the birds feasting on the flour. Watching them was a delight for our eyes.”

Not only has Sharma regularly followed the practice of feeding birds initiated by his mother, he has also made his family follow suit.

“I have been following the practice religiously. During the last 50 years, the practice has not been skipped even once. Though on a number of occasions in the past I had to leave home, my family members, particularly my four daughters-in-law, ensured regular feed for the birds,” he said.

Though the courtyard is full of greenery, it’s particularly the bougainvillea and ‘har singar’ (night-flowering jasmine) shrubs that have become the favourite dwelling places for the diminutive birds.

“Though there are many plants and trees in my courtyard, the sparrows prefer the two plants. Probably, it’s because the birds find them more secure and safer than others,” Sharma said.

The nests are well concealed within the plants and Sharma says he has not spotted even one in all these years.

Though he regularly prunes the other plants, he is careful not to touch the bougainvillea and the night-flowering jasmine plants.

“I have not altered their growth for the last several decades. As a result, the bougainvillea plants have grown over all the front and the side of my three-storey house,” he said.

“Watching sparrows leaving the plants early morning and coming back again during the evening is a wonderful sight. It seems as if several small planes are taking-off and landing,” he said.

Others too love the presence of the birds.

“Walking in his courtyard amid the chirping of birds is not just soothing for the ears but for the mind too. For a while no thoughts come to your mind and you feel quite relaxed,” said Devraj Pawar, 62, a retired engineer and Sharma’s neighbour.

Uttam Chandra, another neighbour, said, “It’s really wonderful to see the sparrows and hear their twitter. It appeals to people of all age groups, but children especially prefer coming here on a regular basis.”

Sharma has even hired two private guards to protect the sparrows, citing threats from cats and other predators. “As it was not possible for us to provide round-the-clock security to birds, we hired private guards,” Sharma told IANS.

Whenever Sharma feels there is a decline in the number of sparrows - which he considers a bad omen - he conducts special rituals and prayers to restore their numbers.

“I have realised that whenever the number of sparrows starts declining in our courtyard, we receive some bad news. So, for the last few years, we conduct a special ‘yagna’ (ritual) to counter the ill effects,” he said.

(Asit Srivastava can be contacted at asit.s@ians.in)