A community in Assam has captured many hearts by putting the love of nature before tradition. During the harvest festival Magh Bihu, also known as Bhogali Bihu, the residents of Kokaitola in the Sipajhar area of the Darrang district broke with custom to save a pair of doves.

During the festival of Bihu, the Assamese people construct a Bhela Ghar - a structure created out of thatch, bamboo, straw, and dried leaves. These structures serve as a temporary sleeping area for festival attendees. The night before Uruka or Bihu is celebrated by the entire village as people eat food that has been prepared for the feast before burning the huts the next morning.

The villagers of Kokaitola also built a Bhela Ghar, but they chose not to set it on fire since two birds had built nests in it and had laid eggs there. They could have shooed away the birds, but in order to avoid frightening them away, they didn't even have the feast inside of the hut. The Kokaitola Unnayan Samitee's president, Gobinda Chandra Nath, said that all of the villagers had agreed on this decision.

The village boys and girls had labored hard to build the Bhela Ghar. However, on the eve of Uruka, when they spotted the dove and the eggs they contacted the elders of the village and a unanimous decision was taken to not burn the hut which was contrary to tradition.

Moloy Baruah, the head of the wildlife protection NGO Early Birds was all praise for the villagers. He remarked that only if we cherish all God’s creatures, then they will survive. He commended the villagers for taking this heartening step.