Helping hands

Public spaces can prove to be visual treats

In safe hands: Brown-headed green Barbets and parrots wait for their turn to quench their thirst from the water that collects on this statue of Mahatma Gandhi at Parliament House, in New Delhi. Photo: V. Sudershan

True to the Gandhian philosophy of serving others, the statue of the Father of the Nation at Parliament House in New Delhi doubles up as a waterhole for birds. The camera captured brown-headed green Barbets and a parrot waiting their turn to quench their thirst from the rain water pool that had collected between the hands of the meditating Mahatma.

The16-feet high bronze statue was sculpted by Ram Sutar, and unveiled by former President of India, Dr. Shanker Dayal Sharma on October 2, 1993.