Rakesh Khatri has built over 7,30,000 nests across India.
Through the last 14 years, magpies, robins, sparrows and bulbuls have found comfort in these dwellings.
The 63-year-old environmentalist hopes the nests will invite more birds into Indian cities, especially the house sparrow, which, according to a national-level assessment, is on the decline across six metro cities.
Rakesh wants to assure them that the city is as much theirs as it is ours.
It was in 2008 that Rakesh, realising that the corner office would never rival the happiness he felt when he was around birds, decided to turn all his attention to nest-making.
And many accolades deck his shelves — the National Science Award (2020), mention in the Limca Book of World Records (2018), the International Green Apple Award (2013), Earth Day Network Star (2020), membership with the IUCN (2020), and being named ‘Earth Champion’ by Sony BBC Earth (2025) for his contributions to bird conservation.
The nests are made out of jute, rope, wood and more recently, water hyacinth.
Through operation ‘Jal Sparsh’, Rakesh and 2,000 women across Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Haryana are de-suffocating the lakes by procuring water hyacinths for the nests.