Where will all these winged visitors go?

Chennai: Fate of thousands of rose-ringed Parakeets that regularly descend on the tiny staircase at Royapettah is caught in a tiff between the house owner and the tenant over possessing the three-storeyed building.

While the owners blame the tenant-cum-parakeet lover, C. Sekar for irregular payment of dues, the latter requests for more time to arrange money so that he could buy the Rs 5 crore worth building.

It started off accidentally after tsunami, when two frightened and confused parakeets visited Sekar’s terrace to nibble on rice grains. The winged visitors brought back tens of friends and relatives to Sekar’s residence, the scene that encouraged the bird lover. “What started off with two birds multiplied to thousands as I kept feeding them with raw and boiled rice,” said C. Sekar who made the terrace, a parakeet feeding centre.

Soon, the sleepy corner at Royapettah attracted international media, including CNN IBN and BBC, who documented the vast bird settlement. As time progressed, foreign tourists made it a mandate to visit Sekar’s residence before heading off to Marina beach. “It was astonishing that the wild turn up everyday at the same time. It symbolises the significance of freedom,” said Katia D’Souza, a Brazil tourist.

It is also a regular hobby for school students to enjoy the routine, which goes on with Sekar placing rice moulds and shunning the miscreants. “I am very disappointed that the parakeets would no more come here. My evening doesn’t pass off without watching them,” said eight-year-old Sneha Priya who watches the birds from a distant building at Royapettah.

The determined Sekar is looking out for all ways to own the building, which includes auctioning his 200-yr-old antique cameras. “I was told that I had the Asia’s best camera collection. It would take at least an year to sell all the 4,500 cameras,” said Sekar.

When DC contacted the house owner, they said that they would soon file a eviction petition against Sekar. “Sekar has issues in regularly paying the rental amount of '2000. How could he manage the huge sum?” questioned Sumathi Nithi Selvam, the elder daughter of the house owner.

It is requisite for the parakeets, which belongs to the wild to fetch their own food. Though the settlement vanishes, they would relocate to Theosophical society, which is in vicinity, said wild life photographer Seshan.