Though the traditional homes are rapidly giving way to houses with modern architecture, Adilabad still boasts of a healthy sparrow population. This phenomenon is believed to be responsible for nurturing the quality of compassion among children towards birds and animals.
Children growing up amid the chirping of sparrows turn out to be comparatively more compassionate towards birds and animals, according to old people. As these birds essentially coexist in human habitations, children invariably make their first contact with the avian world through these birds at home. In homes where the tiny sparrows (Passer domesticus) continue to thrive children even learn to be creative. “The first drawings that come naturally to such children are that of the sparrows,” says Kala Ratna award winner and founder of Kala Ashram, Adilabad, Guruji Ravinder Sharma. “The melliflulous chirps of the sparrows enliven the atmosphere every morning and evening,” Guruji says. “It also helps keep the insect population in check at rural homes,” he adds. The house sparrows also initiate children into the phenomenon of cleanliness and hygiene if their life is observed closely. The mother bird never allows its fledglings to scatter droppings in the nest. The spread of ceiling fans in the 1970s turned out to be a nemesis for the chirpers in Adilabad. Its impact however, is limited only to urban towns as people do not use the ceiling fan as much in the rural areas.
