Philam Dipak Singh

THE story revolves around a peepal tree, its family of birds, and a school principal. The unlikely characters were brought together by an intruder.

He was a respectable parent of a teenager. But just after he collected his daughter’s high school leaving certificate, he climbed up the tree at the Government Senior Secondary School at Manimajra, plucked two baby parrots out of their nest and fled.

‘‘Despite the chowkidar giving chase, the person ran away,’’ said Kamla Bains, the principal. ‘‘I felt bad when I came to know of it.’’

The peepal tree was not just another tree. It is at least 20 years old and has a family of its own. Made up of five to six families of parrots numbering around 30, the tree also sheltered a 20-year-old owl and woodcutters.

The principal felt she had to do something. The school searched for the bird-catcher and found bird cages at his residence. They found, says Bains, that the bird-catcher sold birds at the market in Ambala. The school went straight to the head constable at the Manimajra police station.

‘‘I gave my vehicle to search for the bird-catcher and sent a teacher to accompany the constable,’’ narrates Bains. ‘‘After two days, we got back the baby parrots and released them at the peepal tree.’’

But, Bains was spurred to do more. The incident led her and the school’s eco-club incharge, teacher Ramphal, to think of protecting the birds. In stepped, S.K. Sharma, president of the environment Society of India, Chandigarh. He suggested the peepal tree be converted into, what the school and he call, a sanctuary. The peepal tree was named after the eco-club and called the Champa Owl and Parrot Sanctuary.

The Society now plans to honour the principal for her good work. It is not as if the good work has finished. Just recently school staff and students nursed and saved the life of an injured dog. As for the baby parrots, soon the sky will be the limit.