For nearly two months, thousands of young people from across India have been sitting at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, in the July heat, asking for something simple: accountability. The protests, led by a youth movement called the Cockroach Janta Party, were about a lot of things. Exam paper leaks. A generation that felt ignored. A system that kept failing the people it was supposed to serve.

The Kindness Report doesn’t take political sides. But it does notice what happens between human beings when a crowd of tired, hungry, far-from-home young people sits down on a pavement and refuses to leave.

What happened in Delhi this past week was remarkable. And most of it had nothing to do with politics.

Nobody Asked Them to Send Food

Hundreds of food delivery orders began pouring in at the protest site at Jantar Mantar, placed by anonymous supporters from across the country who could not attend but wanted to show up in the only way they could.

It started with one viral video. A delivery partner arrived at the site and announced: “Someone named Anuj Rawat from Mumbai, Maharashtra, ordered the food and asked us to distribute it to anyone hungry at Jantar Mantar. The payment has already been made online.”

That was the spark. What followed was a flood.

Countless orders arrived – chai and samosas, vada pav, veg thalis, biryani, pizzas. No name, no details – just “Jantar Mantar” as the address. The food was arranged like a buffet, and anyone who wanted could take what they liked.

So much food arrived that the movement’s own social media account eventually had to post a message asking people to pause: “We have enough food for today! Please do not send any more food, as we want to ensure nothing goes to waste.”

Someone wrote in response: “This is not the power of social media. This is the power of love.”

The Gurdwaras That Never Closed

After Monday’s police crackdown, gurdwaras across the city threw open their doors to supporters – balconies, verandahs, guest rooms, all of it. Bangla Sahib, Rakab Ganj Sahib, Sis Ganj Sahib in Chandni Chowk, all opened to protesters looking for a meal, shelter, and first aid.

The sewadars (volunteers who serve at gurdwaras) had a long night after the march. When the injured started arriving at around 4 pm, all sewadars, including devotees, left everything and helped. Every injured person received first aid. When the kitchen tried to take food to the protest site and was stopped by police, they simply opened the doors wider and let everyone come to them. There was food for everybody.

When asked about it, one sewadar said something that deserves to be quoted in full: “These are our children.”

Mosques joined in too. The Man Singh Road mosque ensured 24×7 water supply for all. “We do not discriminate on the basis of religion, caste or gender. All are welcome,” said its custodian.

The Strangers Who Showed Up in Person

Volunteers, vendors, and community groups turned Jantar Mantar into a massive open kitchen – distributing free meals, fruits, water, and even golgappas to students who had been sitting in the heat since morning.

One college student distributing water bottles put it simply: “It is very hot, and many students have been here since morning. If giving someone a bottle of water helps them stay here a little longer, that is enough for me.”

A man showed up with coconuts. Another arrived with boxes of pizza. An auto driver gave free rides to exhausted protesters at 3 in the morning. Office-goers stopped on their way to work. Elderly citizens and children stood side by side serving meals. People who disagreed with each other on everything else agreed on this: these young people deserved to eat.

What Happened at Jantar Mantar Went Deeper Than Food

A B.Com graduate named Manish Kumar from Karnal arrived with just Rs 400 in his pocket, boarded a bus to Kashmere Gate, and walked 7 kilometres to the site. He said he had made friends for life – from MP, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Assam. Doctors, engineers, bank employees. “I have had conversations over chai with people I would not have met otherwise.”

That’s the quiet thing that happens when strangers sit together long enough and share food. The protest becomes secondary. The human connection becomes primary.

And Today,

On Saturday, July 25 (today), India’s Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan announced his resignation, bowing to mounting pressure after tens of thousands of students and supporters took to the streets demanding accountability and sweeping reforms to the examination system.

The students won. Not all of their demands – the movement’s founder was clear that more remains to be done. But this was something. A generation that had been told it didn’t matter, that it was invisible, that its frustrations were noise – that generation sat down in the July heat, and the country sat down with it.

The Larger Thing

The Kindness Report exists to tell stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things for strangers. This week, India gave us hundreds of those stories at once.

Anonymous donors placing food orders from cities they’d never visit. Sewadars sweeping marble floors at midnight so exhausted teenagers had somewhere clean to sleep. A mosque keeper filling water bottles at 3 am. A college student with one thing to give, a bottle of water, giving it.

None of them were making a political statement. They were just looking at human beings who were tired and hungry and far from home, and doing what felt obvious.

Feed them. Give them chai. Tell them: you are our children, and you are welcome here.

Missed previous Kindness Reports? Read them here: The Kindness Report

Seen something kind around you? Tell us about it — we’d love to share it in a future Kindness Report.

Sources:
ThePrint — Gurdwaras open doors to CJP supporters | ThePrint — Anonymous food donors | Telangana Today — Jantar Mantar community kitchen | CNN — Education Minister resigns | Hindustan Times | India Today

The post The Kindness Report #20: How the CJP Protest Became a Story of Humanity appeared first on Aspiring Blog.

House sparrows have always co-existed and lived with humans after the forest was cut down and the cities built. Unlike any other birds, they used to live with humans in their home, made their nests around switchboards, balconies, and any other livable place or small resting place anywhere around the home.

Rakesh Khatri, a resident of Delhi, spent his childhood in Old Delhi’s Chandni Chowk. The Indian households built there are of old architectural designs and have enough spaces and rooms for sparrows to come and live with them.

Rakesh shares the story, “When I was growing up, sparrows would make their nests on switchboards, balconies, window panes, and we were told by elders not to run ceiling fans too fast because of the fear of getting them injured.”

He spent his entire childhood with his little winged friends; he fed them grains when he returned from school, and played with them. That time was completely different; even those who didn’t have big houses had big hearts where these birds stayed.

Later, Rakesh moved from Old Delhi to Ashok Vihar, a developing part of Delhi. After moving to his new home, he realised that his childhood little winged friends were slowly disappearing. The new architectural designs are built in a way that leaves no room for these birds. They haven’t been able to keep up with the new architecture and lifestyle changes. Now the people have become intolerant towards the supposed ‘nuisance’ birds create.

How has he saved thousands of sparrows?

Rakesh Khatri was a photographer & Short filmmaker by profession. he worked in the media industry. In 2008, when he saw that the number of sparrows was declining and becoming a rare species, he decided to quit his job and save them by building nests.

He got an idea of using the waste green coconut shells for making nests. Green coconut comes in abundance from South India, and people usually throw them after drinking. He made a group program and collected those 10-12 waste coconut shells.

They filled the shells with newspapers and widened their opening, and covered it with grass used in coolers. Tied all of them together, and placed an Azadirachta Indica stick near its opening for them to sit and then hung it on the tree.

They kept an eye on the nests for several days, but unfortunately, not a single bird came to accept those nests. Moreover, the nests also failed as they became completely dry after a few days. People also mocked him and his ways by saying, “Why would sparrows stay in your nests? They’ll build their own.”

But it didn’t stop Rakesh Khatri from doing what he’s doing. After several trial and error methods and research, he made a nest from thin sticks used in chick blinds/window blinds by turning it into a globe shape and wrapping it with a jute roll.

He placed the nest in the tree and waited for birds to come. Every day, he sat there with the camera in his hand to capture the moment. But even after 3 days, nothing happened. On the 4th day, he saw a male sparrow examining the nest, and he then brought his partner to the nest. Both those sparrows adopted the new house happily.

After that, people around Rakesh started asking him to build the same nests for them too; they would also like to place the same in balconies or in front of their houses. Rakesh and his friends made around 20 nests and hung them everywhere in the neighbourhood. Within a week, all those were adopted not only by house sparrows but different types of birds.

Rakesh would stroll around his locality and city to identify different places where these birds still fly in large numbers and then make several nests for them in trees.

Eco Roots Foundation Was Founded

Four years later, in 2012, he founded Eco Roots Foundation in order to promote his mission and raise awareness. Rakesh then never looked back. He contributed his life to environmental preservation. He always says, “Sparrows are my childhood friend, how can I leave them to die?”

After that, he started doing various workshops and worked with schools, corporations, and residential welfare associations. His mission also includes teaching children and the young generation how to build nests and bring them close to nature. Children and adults happily attended his workshops.

He has conducted over 3 lakh workshops and worked with over 4000 schools to teach children about environmental preservation. Until now, he has taught around 300,000 children, adults, and elders how to build a birdhouse from jute bags, bamboo sticks, grass, and threads.

In every workshop, he says, “It’s the biggest blessing when someone resides in the home you built with your hands.”

He also said in one of his workshops, “There have been times when people have destroyed the nests built by my foundation. But that has not stopped me. If they destroy one, I will build another five.”

Today, Rakesh Khatri is a renowned environmentalist and has been awarded several times for his extraordinary mission and dedication towards saving sparrows. He and his team made it into the Limca Books of Records two times for the highest number of workshops conducted and the largest theatre event on climate change.

He’s also been recognised as ‘The Sparrow Man’ and ‘The Nest Man of India’.

Eco Roots Foundation and the people in its workshop continue building various types of eco-friendly nests. Rakesh Khatri and his NGO also built several nests from recycled waste like Tetra packs.

He has also been awarded by International Green Apple Award in the House of Commons in London (2008) for best practice on sparrow conservation in India. Not only this, but even a dedicated chapter based on Rakesh Khatri’s work is also included in the ICSC English textbook for the 4th standard.

Recently, his name was recognised by the London World Book Of Records for creating 125,000 nests using jute and tetra packs.

Now, he and his NGO have the vision to build birdhouses throughout the country and are also involved in Water conservation and various other missions to environmentally sustain the ecosystem and ensure the habitation of all its elements.

His story is truly inspiring for today’s environmental situations. We often ignore these changes and issues because of our busy lives, but they also require equal attention. You already know how many of these species are on the verge of extinction.

The future generation might not be able to see them ever. But if we have people like Rakesh Khatri who know how to make noise before it’s too late, then our nature keeps breathing. But why can’t we be the ones? How long will we stay quiet and leave these species to unnatural extinctions?

Sources-

• Eco Roots Foundation
• ThebetterIndia

Do let us know about the Unsung heroes you know that are doing or did tremendous work for the betterment of society. We’ll be glad to do more research about them and will write a tribute dedicated to them.

Our Mailing address- Namaskar@theblogera.com

The post The Nest Man Of India – Rakesh Khatri appeared first on Aspiring Blog.