Cages.

My recent visit to a Zoo turned horrible.  I am not a zoo person and I knew I wouldn’t feel right in there, but I wasn’t ready to see what I saw there.

He spins from the bars, but there’s no cage to him
More than to the visionary his cell:
His stride is wildernesses of freedom:
The world rolls under the long thrust of his heel.
Over the cage floor the horizons come.

                                                    Ted Hughes “Jaguar”

This poem echoed in my head when I was standing in front of a hyena. But it was the exact opposite of what the poet felt when he was in a similar situation.

What the hyena is going through looks like pure torture to me. I don’t see the Stride as wilderness of freedom. Craziness of imprisonment is what I see. Pessimist or Realist but I like to bring the negative or the blunt truth out in the open. A cage is “no cage to him?” But it is!

 Notice Boards and Placards everywhere

Don’t Tease the Animals          Don’t shout at the animals

 There was an ape which resembled Gollum of Lord of the Rings .

Its deformity, odd appearance made the crowd go wild. They cheered when it looked at them. It didn’t want their attention. It didn’t want them there. The animal looked deeply disturbed. At one point the ape threw a stone at the crowd and instead of getting the message the crowd was Wowed by it. Knowing nothing it did would make the ‘evolved’ species understand, the animal walked away.  My spirit was broken seeing all this. And the crowd which looked really happy and satisfied moved to the next cage craving for more.

Not all animals were kept in cages. But that doesn’t give any relief, as a small piece of land with deep pits around it and high fences can’t be seen as a better option. A bear looked highly perturbed, slightly schizophrenic scratching the wall with bobbling head. One consolation was that it had another bear in the enclosure.

Most apes were kept alone. The boards with their name and other details portray a happy family.

 It was heart wrenching to see them just sitting there with a blank look and an empty heart. There was no symptom of pain or suffering or eagerness to leave, what I saw was plain numbness.

The Aviary looked beautiful with all the big, tall trees. But all the birds could do was merely look at the trees from inside the wire fence around them.

A fancy separate section for the Snakes repelled the fragile souls.  It does need courage to see the poor animals kept that way.  Nine feet cobras in what looked like a cupboard.

 

And the funniest thing, the stupidest – what I saw in an Anaconda’s cage. Man thinks he’s making the cage ‘home’ for the animal and paints the walls with Green plants!

"Wrong" Light.

I was in a heavily crowded clothes store the other day. It was on a Sunday and many items were on sale. There was a slow moving, long line at the billing counter. I was very vigilant about not letting anyone cut the line. You got to move the next second the one that is in front of you takes one step forward and there has to be the right amount of space between you, so as not let the others think that they could come in between you two. Work! After like thirty seven hours (well it seemed like that!) I was near the cashier. My heart sang joyfully. But it stopped abruptly when I saw a man, next to me, ready to pay the bill. What the hell! How did this happen?  I was so careful! I was so mad at him. Why are people so inconsiderate?   Where is this world going?  Thoughts of anger and more  anger was clouding my head. I sensed a storm raging inside of me. When the lady in front of me moved there we were. The sales guy looked at us, both handing out the clothes in our hands to him. He took the other guy’s items. I said,” What are you doing? I was before him!” raising my voice. The man said otherwise though very rudely. I denied that and threw a stern look at the sales guy making him realize his mistake and do my billing first. I knew very well that these two men were ganging up on me and that I needed to stand my ground.

But he said “Mam you are not in the line” Wait what?  I was not! Oh God how did this happen?! I was standing in the line but somehow I had strayed away and it was me standing on the side of the line. Right at that moment I was very aware of all the eyes that were on me. I was totally embarrassed. 

Hatred or anger carried in our heart is bound to come out most likely at the wrong time and at the wrong person. With each such realization ( or rather embarrassing event)  you see life a bit clearer.  Though I was wrong and it happened to me I found it cool how it all ends , with a light in my heart.

For the love of shoes!

Respect!  A word which is very sacred. But the way it is shown here is sometimes so silly. I’m talking about the removal- of- footwear- respect.   It is out of question in temples, and it doesn’t bother me as I hardly visit one.  “Please remove your footwear” in hospitals and in colleges really pisses me off. The people who work there can, but no one else can’t. How is it fair?  Walking barefoot in a place where sick people visit is something hard to be accepted by me, even as I go there for a consultation myself.

 This is a rule in textiles showrooms, beauty salons, browsing centers and etc. Not all but at most places to be clear. This one act serves both the purposes to show respect and to keep a clean floor, neither is okay to me. This is a common practice in colleges too. Making students come in formals and then asking them to go barefoot in labs is contradictory. Thank god they spared the classrooms.  I asked my students not to remove their shoes one time after a “stinking” experience earlier. And I was informed by the lab in-charge person not to let that happen anymore. How can wearing shoes mean that you don’t respect someone? Okay if it is something religious, then why practice it in common places and in places of learning? 

The birth of many restrictions is because of the fear of negative consequences. Need to clean often?—No footwear, Need to show respect?—No footwear.  We are never prepared for the worst, but instead we are scared to try or accept anything new. And if anyone defies these "rules" then they are "influenced" by western culture! You want their tie, but not the shoes? Emulate the attire but leave the perception and attitude? Yes, some things end up bad and it is wise to avoid it, but there is no point in saying No to anything that is new or from a distant land.

Some of us were asked in a meeting if we should allow students to use cell phones. Only two of ten were for it. And the reason given for its restriction was –they will take pictures too, of girls and even the teachers. Yes that will happen but for that should it be a big No? It is like LPG, every house has one. Many get hurt or even killed when it bursts because of negligence or poor maintenance or of any other reason. Should we stop using that too? It was not in our “culture”  why did we say Yes to that?

It is time for us to change, to stop being adamant and accept good things from any part of the globe.