In a heartwarming gesture, a village voluntarily stayed in the dark for a month to ensure that a Magpie-Robin could lay its eggs and hatch them in peace. 

Manglore Today

In a small village of Pottakudi hidden in the Shivangana district of Tamil Nadu, local resident Karuppu Raja who is in charge of operating the street lights noticed a small bird flying out of the main switchboard. 

Deccan Herald

Upon discovering a nest, he instantly took a picture of it and shared it with his fellow locals on a WhatsApp group. According to reports, the main switchboard connected around 35 streetlights in the village. 

During the lockdown, Raja noticed that the bird had laid its eggs and with an aim to protect them from getting electrocuted, he decided to keep the street lights off. 

When I heard that the village head was going to cut the electricity for street lights because of a bird, I thought it was a joke. But, after seeing the bird in its nest with the eggs, my heart melted. Since that day, I have been visiting the switchboard every day to see the nest.” 
Newswatch ( Representational Image)

He set on a journey to use his WhatsApp groups to convince people to keep the streetlights off until the eggs were hatched. A few students took the responsibility to go door-to-door to do the same. 

I explained to women and children that so many bird species have become extinct and we should not let Indian Robin go the same way. Women were very cooperative and agreed to the suggestion of switching off the street lights.We also cut off the power supply to ensure nothing happens to the nest. 

-Raja

NewsFlare

While some residents saw this as a way to give back to nature, others thought that it was too much of a sacrifice for a bird. 

However, with Raja’s efforts, 100 families agreed to keep the lights off and stay in the dark until the birds were ready and grown to fly away from the switchboard. Raja received approvals from the local government too. 

Indian Express ( Representational Image)

After a span of 45-days, the Indian Robin along with its little hatching left the nest and flew away. The village turned on their street lights for the first time in over a month, on Sunday.  

9Gag

Kudos to all the villagers who gave up their comfort to ensure that a bird could lay and hatch her eggs in peace. This gesture of kindness has regained our faith in humanity.