SOUMIKA DAS
As you drive down Naraj Bridge – barely 15 km from Cuttack – towards Talapada village, you catch sight of multi-hued peacocks in a lush green forest. You find the avian species unfurling their tails to flaunt their proud and colourful plumage.
Not just one, you may find more than 50 creatures at the spot if you are patient enough. And then you suddenly realise you are standing in the middle of a forest which is a happy hunting ground for peacocks.
However, the spot is not even an average sanctuary. It was once a police firing range. Thanks to the relentless efforts of 77-year-old retired home guard Panu Behera, the range is now home to 54 peacocks with greenery around. Behera is popularly known in his village as the ‘peacock man.’
Behera was once the caretaker of this range. Says he: “I have been living in this area since 1989. It is close to my heart and the hut in the middle of the forest is my second home. I spend more than 12 hours a day at this hut to take care of my children (peacocks).”
Three injured peacocks from the Chandaka Forest Reserve had entered the range premises to seek shelter in 1999 when the state was hit hard by a super-cyclone. “My job was to keep people away from the 50-acre police firing range.
But I cannot forget the day when a few hurt peacocks came to take shelter here. I couldn’t drive them away. Nature was at its most violent and furious. I had to battle against the elements to ensure safety of these beautiful birds. Over the next few weeks, as I started nourishing them, I developed a strange love for them. I felt like they were my kids. Subsequently, I started taking care of them,” Behera recollects, while wiping the tears rolling down his cheeks.
Behera, who received the President’s award for his efforts in 2007, is the proud “father” of 54 peacocks. He has raised the sanctuary without any government help or sponsorship.
“I get a pension for my service in the police department. I buy fodder for the birds from that money. I never sought anyone’s help. I always draw inspiration from the words of my senior officers who taught me to honestly discharge my duties. Sometimes visitors buy food for the peacocks of their free will,” he adds.
Behera’s unflinching dedication towards his “children” was never dampened either by torrential downpour or the scorching summer sun. He has never failed to reach the forest by 5’o clock in the morning to feed the peacocks.
“How, can I be late? My children wait for breakfast, comprising ‘golgula’ – a mixture of wheat and straw,” he says.
His grandson Ajay tells Orissa POST how Behera, even when he was unwell, visited the forest every morning. “He was suffering from fever for a few weeks and had immense pain in the legs. But he refused to take rest at home. He went to the forest everyday to feed the peacocks himself,” Ajay states.
