Chennai’s Birdman

Commonly known as Chennai’s Bird man, camera mechanic Sekar feeds thousands of parakeets twice a day. It all started after the 2004 Tsunami when 10 parrots sought shelter at his terrace in Triplicane. He started feeding the parrots and gradually thousands of birds come to his house daily at the time of feed.

Sekar spends 3 hours a day laying out the soaked rice on the planks he has set up for the birds on the terrace. Sekar lives with his family in a rented house. The owners of the house want to sell the building but the bird man wouldn’t leave the house as the parakeets would be left unfed and not taken care of.

He broods on the situation of the birds if he leaves the place. Sekar even planned to sell his vintage cameras to purchase the house but is not willing to sell the cameras outside India because each camera represents a specific era.