AS WE TURNED off the sixlane Bangalore-Mysore highway, headed down progressively narrower roads, it seemed like we were going to any other village in rural Karnataka. Ragi and horse gram were spread on the road to be threshed by passing vehicles and the paddy fields were dotted with Egrets and Black Ibis. But as we approached Kokkare Bellur, it became clear that this was no ordinary village: overhead, we saw a few pelicans and from atop several trees came the loud raucous calls of nesting storks.