If Animals in the zoo could speak
It's an simple imagination. A zoo is a very interesting place especially for children. Parents as well as school teachers take children to the zoo so that they get a close view of the wild animals, observe their structure and features, and realise that their behavior and ways are not very different from those of human beings. A part from the children, there is a large majority of people who visit the zoo to tease the poor animals and have fun at their cost. They are wicked indeed! Very few people who visit the zoo ever wonder what the animals would think and feel when they see crowds of people outside their cage. Can anyone guess what they would say if they could speak! A fairly large crowd was watching a pair of tigers pacing up and down in opposite directions, as though they were uneasy of mind. Suddenly one of the tigers stood facing the spectators and began: ‘I have been languishing in this cage for the last five years. Memories of my days of freedom cloud my heart with gloom. What an unfortunate day it was! Some clever hunters had laid a big net on all sides and we both were trapped. Here these keepers are not bad but we are not at all happy. We have to be satisfied with stale meat sometimes. On some days when there is scarcity of meat, we are kept on starvation diet, i.e. grams and cereals. Some spectators poke fun at us and satisfy themselves, taking advantage of our helpless condition.’ The other tiger, who was a silent listener so far, now joined in by saying,’ I can’t hold back my tears when I recollect the days when I was on the prowl day and night. I would catch some prey, at least a wild hair and feast over it. Even the best food here cannot compare with our forest food.’ In another cage a lone lion was lying down with a bandaged paw. He had a pathetic expression, full of despair. When some sympathetic on-looker gave an inquiring look, the lion began,’ I was performing in a circus, don’t think it is something great! The cruel trainer used to hit us hard or proud us with an iron rod to make us perform properly. To my bad luck, once my paws got caught under a heavy iron wheel. I was in agony but no timely treatment was given. Since I could not perform, the trainer refused to feed me to this zoo. A veterinary surgeon performed an operation and amputated my paw, making me lame for the rest of my life. Who can envy my fate? An elephant was standing between two raised platforms and children were descending after a rocking ride on the elephant’s back. As I crossed in front of him, I was surprised when he began, ‘For four years I was with the villagers in Nagpur. The boys used to take me round and make me beg. Really they were the beggars and not I! They would hold my trunk and climb on to my back. They would poke me with a sharp needle to receive the coin or fruit and hand it over to the rider. I never got any plantains or sugar cane; I had to be satisfied with some scanty, dry food. The animal welfare members rescued me. Here I enjoy giving the children joy rounds every evening.’ Then we came to a bear that had been rescued from a street juggler. The bear’s story was quite sad. There was a hippopotamus that had been in a circus and now was in a zoo, but he did not have a very heart-rending story. As I was winding my steps homeward, I was recapitulating all the stories I had heard from the caged animals. No animal spoke to me! It was my own imagination! The sad stories of the animals were cooked up in my own sensitive mind as I gazed at each zoo animal.
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