Lest the reader be disappointed this piece should perhaps start with a rider that it’s not about discounted airfares for a holiday in this season, but about our avifauna with a special mention of that in the north east parts of Rajasthan – Bharatpur. As a matter of fact, a trip to the Keoladeo Ghana National Park (KNP) in Bharatpur famed for the diversity of its feathered population is not only a good getaway but also a way to address the disconnect with the living world that one can feel while living in the urban jungle.
Named after the Keoladeo Shiva Temple within its midst, the threats to the Park will make even an atheist bird-lover want to turn to God if only to save the winged treasures. The bird life there gives an interesting twist to the “birds of a feather flock together”; for the variety of many a feathered beauties is breathtaking. From little owlets to  sand pipers, black drongos and crow pheasants, the list goes on.
Keoladeo is  one amongst 830 World Heritage Sites. Such sites are those whose preservation is of value to all of humankind, even though the site belongs to the country in which it is located. The intent to designate such sites is with the purpose of providing for their conservation owing to their unique cultural or natural significance. The idea being that as people would zealously guard their family heirlooms, this “heritage” would be safeguarded to be passed on to future generations. 
But sadly, politics and needs of current generation  come in the way of the birds’ tomorrows. The Ghana Canal cutting across the Park now runs dry. Strong and large farmer lobbies in the state demand the water for their crop cultivation. This compels one to think about the model of “development” that disturbs natural water courses, encourages water-intensive agriculture and ironically turns farming interests and bird life preservation at odds with each other. So being able to live with other sentient beings in the delicately woven web of life will need some fundamental re-thinking balancing both human and bird requirements.
Natural farming that does not use chemicals keeps little creatures alive on the field which birds feed on. Birds may also peck on worms that farmers would rather not have eating into their crops. Birds also benefit from multi-cropping that gives them a wide menu of grain to peck on. In turn birds can act as pollinators, helping along with the carriage of seeding material. Growing crops in the  desert sands of Rajasthan can be less challenging with locally appropriate seeds and crops that do not guzzle already scarce water. Another example of industrial agriculture gone wrong which threatens bird diversity is the avian influenza borne out of factory poultry farming. There is little evidence to establish for a fact that migratory birds have been carriers of the deadly strain of the deadly virus which can pass on to humans. Their flyways or their flying season don’t match with time of the outbreak or the road and rail paths that poultry trade routes follow. On the contrary wild birds have also suffered and died.
So protecting bird life is not simply about giving attention to KNP but taking a holistic view of human activities. Complex inter-relationships amongst living beings can not be simulated and biological diversity can not be “manufactured”. 
As year after year, governments officially mark “biodiversity day” and “environment day”, everyday some “growth” factor is preventing the diversity from growing in the natural environment.
So we have to act soon before these token dates turn into death anniversaries. Before time flies and more so before the birds begin flying away…and all we are left with are replicas of life as it was in the crystal sarus cranes that stand still in the Visitor’s Interpretation Centre at Keoladeo.