Redditor Shares Story Of A Village That Went Without Street Lights For Over A Month Just To Keep An Indian Robin And Her Hatchlings Safe

"We are happy that our village could set an example on kindness"

Maryjane

• Published in Animal Stories
• November 20, 2022

Potthakudi, a 120-house settlement, turned off each of the hamlet's 35 streetlights to protect the hatchlings of an Indian robin that had made its nest inside the main switchboard. In order to prevent any harm to the bird or its hatchlings, the villagers also cut the power supply from the switchboard to the streetlights.

The village's streetlights were restored on Sunday, 45 long days after the bird and its chicks left their nest on Saturday. The internet and animal lovers have been praising the folks who made this happen for the care shown by the villages to a bird and its hatchlings.

The Indian Robin's nest was discovered by Karuppu Raja, who has been turning on the lamps at 6 o'clock every day for more than ten years because the switchboard is located next to his home. Raja, a diploma holder, returned to his home village in January after working in Singapore.

Raja, who has loved birds since he was a young child, took photos and videos of the nest inside the switchboard and shared them on the village WhatsApp group to get the villagers' thoughts on how to save the bird and its chicks. Raja told DH saying:

“I wrote on WhatsApp that switching off the lights was the only solution because the bird will fly once it realises there is a human touch or contact near its nest. I also told the group that we should save the bird and its hatchlings at any cost."

This Redditor discloses what they found out to the TodayILearned subreddit community

A nondescript village in Tamil Nadu's Sivaganga region went without lamps for 45 days, setting a new benchmark for kindness

Although some people objected, claiming that turning off the street lights would annoy villagers—particularly women—who went outside in the evening, Raja claimed that the majority of people supported his idea. Here are what redditors had to chirp in.

The Indian Batman

A movie should be made

It seems dangerous

The participative democracy and social media

The countryside has more brains than the urban areas

A community episode

Robin Hood laid an egg

This Redditor kind of expected racist comments

They taped the wires together

This Redditor is following a local story and sharing it

Having some of the street lights turned off in the area

It's a Walmart and a new road

This Redditor is interested in learning how religious the community is

This Redditor has a similar story to share

Two guys pushing a car down the main road

If we all treated each other like this

A wholesome group

Just use a wire nut, people

This Redditor thinks it's awesome

This Redditor says that it's difficult to relocate a bird's nest

Every day, Raja took photos and videos of the Indian Robin and its chicks and shared them on the WhatsApp group to let people know how the bird was doing. It also helped him turn off the street lights because Raja's father is the gram panchayat president.

The Indian Robbin and its hatchlings fled their nest after 45 days and the lights have been on since then.

Maryjane