The lady walking ahead of us said to her daughter “once home, I want you to write an essay on ‘A visit to the zoo’”… We were on our way out of the Byculla Zoo today morning and since then I have been thinking on what will that child write in her essay… she will probably write about the animals and birds she saw there… what beyond that? we tell these kids as to how monkey jumps, lion roars, peacock dances, snake slithers, elephant lifts his trunk, horse runs and so on… but what the kids saw in the zoo was just the animals and birds exist… sitting, sleeping in their cages, without any activity… why are we doing this to these animals, is beyond my comprehension… and where are all the animal activists?

I didn’t see even one animal or bird in healthy condition… most of them appeared frail and ill and all (I mean it… each of them..) were inactive… they were exposed mercilessly to scorching heat, stinking water, loud noise levels… very disappointing and should be discontinued in my opinion… am not saying that such zoos be closed down, because if that happens, it will pave way to high rises or sprawling malls… afterall its one of the prime properties in south Bombay… this city needs these open landscapes and more importantly natural habitats where animals ‘breathe’ and ‘live’… and what does it take? Only if the people responsible were more dependable (didn’t see even one zoo employee in that 1.5-2 hour visit)… only if the money allocated (if at all !) would reach its destination… only if people like us are inclined to visit these places instead of spending fortune to see well-maintained zoos in distant countries… only if corporate houses and influential groups showed interest in adopting, sponsoring the well-being of these living beings…

It pains to see the stark difference in the way animals are treated in different capacities… so many crores are spent in maintaining the horses used for races… had seen the stallions at Horse Cavalry in Meerut (also used for Presidential Marches I am told!!) and each of them were bigger than the elephants in the zoo here… people put in so many efforts in up keeping of well-bred dogs… also commendable effort goes in maintaining the wild life sanctuaries across our country as well… then why are these small zoos and animals therein being ignored?

My purpose of going to the zoo was largely to spend some time with Nithila and show her a different world and we pretty much achieved that… had some good moments with her, some satisfying expressions on her face, on seeing the animals outside of her books… but I am not satisfied, as this is not the real world of animals, surely not the world I want to show to my daughter… Afterall, it is not just about writing essays, its about living the experience… an experience as enriching and as genuine as it can get…