Last weekend BJ Park had turned into a haunt for bird lovers as they got to see a large variety of exotic breeds. Toco toucan and Monk Parakeet of south America, Harlequin Macaw of Colombia and Chattering Lory of Indonesia were among the stars at the bird show organised by the All Bengal Bird Lover’s Organisation.
The bird show was part of the three-day Bengal’s Cultural & Nature Festival organised at the initiative of local councillor and mayor, Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation, Krishna Chakraborty. The show featured a variety of cultural events like chhau dance, jatra and folk songs.
Children gaze at an acquarium at the exhibition
The festival was inaugurated last Friday. “Every year we organise a festival to celebrate nature and the culture of Bengal. This is our seventh year. For these three days, everyone from seniors to children will get to enjoy themselves,” said the mayor.
A 16-member chhau group from Baghmundi, Purulia portrayed a variety of acts like Mahishasuramardini, Ram Sita bibaho, Taroka Rakshoshi badh... “This is our first time at this event. We are happy to return to the stage. We also travel outside the state, but the local audience appreciates the art more. During the lockdown things were difficult for us. For 40 families, our source of income is this dance. We hardly had any work. But now things are better,” said Amarendra Mahato, the group leader, smiling.
The smile was there on the lips of visitors too. Namrata Ghosh was back with her son to see the birds. “I love visiting bird shows. I have always been a bird lover, and we also had three kinds of birds at home when I was young. Now I am trying to bring my son along and grow an interest in him,” said the AL Block resident.
Mahira Agarwal had confused the turkey will a black peacock. “Is that a black peacock? Are their wings colourful? How did they turn black?” the five-year-old bombarded her father with questions.
Riya Nag was too excited to see a macaw and started demanding one for her to take home. “It is the first time that she has seen such a huge bird. Luckily we were easily able to distract her with a balloon and a cotton candy,” smiled her mother Baishakhi.
“We all are bird lovers. We keep the birds at home and there are like family members to us. There are over 85 varieties. We also try to encourage people to pet exotic birds. Caging our local birds will cause natural imbalance,” said Bapai Sen, secretary of the bird lovers’ group.
A child poses with exotic birds at the exhibition in BJ Park
People could click instant pictures with the birds for a charge of Rs 100 per photo. “Two people have come with their camera and printing machine. They are the ones charging for printing instant pictures. We are supporting them,” said Debashis Das, a member of the bird lovers’ group.
The organisers had brought 20 birds. “We are bringing them out in turns so as not to irritate them as people tend to get closer to click pictures easily. At times, the dust disturbs the birds as so many people enter so we are asking them to wait for sometime outside,” said Debashis Das, a member of the bird lovers group.
Do you feel letting visitors pose with birds is cruelty to them? Write to The Telegraph Salt Lake, 6 Prafulla Sarkar Street, Calcutta 700001 or email to saltlake@abp.in