Ramchandra feeds a loaf of bread to a rat in Burdwan on Wednesday. Picture by Krishna Das

Burdwan, Nov. 3: Meet Ramchandra Rabidas, the pied piper of Burdwan.

The 52-year-old cobbler, who works on a pavement adjacent to Tinkonia bus terminus, has befriended the rats in the locality.

A few screeches and whistles from him bring out the rodents living in holes and drains nearby. The rats climb all over Ramchandra, who feeds them bread and biscuits.

Ramchandra said he used to work as a construction labourer when he was young. “But over the years, the work became too strenuous for me. So I became a cobbler,” he said.

For the past 10 years, he has been working on the pavement near the terminus in Burdwan town.

“Initially, I used to watch the rats crawl out of drains and roadside holes. One day, I decided to make friends with them,” Ramchandra said.

“I began placing pieces of bread and biscuits in front of the drains and holes. In the beginning, the rats used to peep out of their holes, look at the food and disappear. After a few days, they started taking the food and scurried back into the holes,” the cobbler said.

“Gradually, the rats became bold and if on days, I was late in giving them food, they used to sit patiently beside me,” he added.

Ramchandra said that within a few days, the rats became his “friends”.

“They started taking food from my hand. Whenever I don’t have work, I spend my time playing with the animals and feeding them,” he said.

Ramchandra, who is called “indurer mistry (rat specialist) by local people, works from 9am to 5.30pm. “People look at me in awe when I feed and play with the rats. Often, a small crowd gathers to watch the spectacle,” he said.

The cobbler earns Rs 80 a day on average. “Every month, I keep aside some money to buy food for the rats.”

“My two sons work in a grocery and an eatery. So I don’t face difficulty saving some money for the rats,” said Ramchandra, who lives in a small rented room in Burdwan’s Mehendibagan with his wife and sons.