Nest of love: Karnataka couple create awareness on importance of birds

MANGALURU: They say charity begins at home, but should not end there. And a 36-year-old postgraduate in Economics from Dakshina Kannada has adopted this saying as his life’s mantra for the past seven years, and been providing a safe place for chirpy birds to rest.

Meet Nithyananda Shetty, founder of Gubbachichi Goodu Abhiyana, who started the forum with a motto to conserve birds. Shetty and his 26-year-old wife Ramya, an M.Com graduate, have dedicated their lives to birds by distributing nests made of wood and bamboo and clay pots for the winged creatures to quench their thirst. The couple also strives to create awareness among people about the importance of birds and their contribution to the ecosystem.

The farmer couple, who grow horticulture crops for a living, has created a haven for the winged visitors on a patch of two acres of land at Elianadugodu in Bantwal taluk, Dakshina Kannada district, by planting different fruit-bearing trees like chikku, guava, banana and jackfruit. A survey carried out during last year’s lockdown revealed that 93 species of birds have made the Shetty family land, located 50 km from Mangaluru, their home.

When one visits Shetty, he or she is welcomed by the serene sounds of birds chirping. Shetty says he did not have to look far from home for inspiration. As a kid, he saw his mother always being kind to birds and that has had a life-changing impact on him, so much so that he now eats, breathes and sleeps birds!

“Even birds feel hungry and thirsty. How helpless we feel if we don’t have access to food and water?” he says when asked about the motive behind his selfless work.

Sharing an instance, Shetty says he once got a call from a stranger asking if he could provide him with two nests to hang on trees outside his home. Within a few hours, Shetty set out on his two-wheeler, carrying with him three nests. He delivered two nests to the caller and asked him if there was anyone who wanted the extra nest. And when the caller pulled out a few notes from his pocket to pay Shetty for the service, the latter refused to take any money.

The Shetty couple does not accept any money for their noble work and spends a chunk from their hard-earned money for the cause of the tiny creatures. The couple lives with their two-yearold child and leads a simple life. A dhoti-clad Shetty doesn’t even wear footwear and dons trousers only when he has to ride somewhere far on his motorbike.

In the past seven years, the couple has distributed more than 1,000 nests to hundreds of residents of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts. They have also given hundreds of talks on the importance of conservation of birds in schools and villages.