'Nest Man of India' speaks on need to build bird shelters; says 'it doesn't take much'

"It doesn't take much to build nests if people have it in their hearts", says Rakesh Khatri, also known as the 'Nest Man of India' who has dedicated his life towards providing homes to hundreds of birds across the country. Khatri who is a resident of Delhi's Ashok Vihar area started his journey by saving birds across the city and by building homes for them with eco-friendly materials and received recognition for his thoughtful gesture of making birdhouses. 

Speaking on his initiative, Khatri told ANI that he has built over 2.5 lakh nests and taught around 10 lakh children the skills of making bird nests through his webinars so far. Stating that birds need homes as they have none left, he urged everyone to have a heart to built nests for them. "Earlier, house sparrows lived inside our homes but we shut our doors", he added. 

Adding more to it, he said, "I have taught lakhs of students to make nests, while people used to make fun of me saying that the birds will be not able to enter the nests built by them. However, people started setting up nests in their own homes after the birds started entering the nests." 

He also informed about organising various webinars during the pandemic situation where he taught nest making to several with eco-friendly items such as jute, grass, wood, and other items. 

'Nest Man of India' has a record of making more than 1.25 lakh nests

Rakesh Khatri titled the 'Nest Man of India' has a record of making more than 1.25 lakh nests for birds all across the country. As informed by him, he has honoured with several awards including reading the Limca Book of record for maximum number of handmade nests and organising workshops 2019 followed by the International Green Apple award in the House of Common London for best practice in sparrow conservation, National Award for Outstanding Efforts in Science and Technology, Dr KK's HCFI award and many others. 

Along with that, he also has a chapter in class 4 ICSE book on his initiative and presently runs an organisation named the 'Eco Roots Foundation' which holds workshops on nest making all around India. 

Image: ANI