The Better India · 6 hours ago

How Koodugal Ganeshan Is Making Schools in Tamil Nadu Sparrow-Friendly

Koodugal Ganeshan grew up in a village so small it had no school, no shop, and no government office - only nature close at hand. That early intimacy with the living world now drives his work with more than 80 schools across three states, where he has spent years teaching children that helping a sparrow means first learning to see one. His foundational instruction is disarmingly simple: before installing anything, walk the campus and ask what is already there. "The starting question is not how many nest boxes can we install," he says. "It is what does this campus currently provide for sparrows, what is missing, and what can we improve?" What students discover, it turns out, is not only what a small bird needs to survive in a city - it is how much patient attention the world rewards when you offer it.