Because my brother is home from college for a few days,we decide to have a day out.Not the mall to watch a film.We want to do something different.
We decide on the zoo.
I haven't been there in almost nine years.
Today,I go to the zoo with family.
I like animals.The zoo ought to be a fun visit for me.
The first animals we see are the elephants.One of them edges nearer to the spectators.Curls up his trunk in anticipation of food.But he is disappointed in his hopes.
The giraffes remind me of fashion models.Tall,svelte,elegant.Looking down upon the people outside the enclosure.
The marmosets are happy,excitable creatures.Scurrying around in spacious cages.One of them holds a candy he has been given by some visitor who did not hesitate to break a rule.
A lone Giant Malabar squirrel snoozes.It must have a sad life,solitary as it is.
A wild cat has sneaked into a monkey's cage.They are friends.They sit beside each other,bodies touching.
Species-not a barrier.
The human beings marvel at them.
Next are a row of wild animals-cheetahs,leopards,panthers.In their musty enclosures,they are stripped of their glories.
Most of them lie curled up,asleep.
People complain.
A tiger sits with its back to the spectators,licking a wound.
It doesn't want them to see his face.
They position themselves at all different angles to catch a glimpse of his face.He looks back,bored.He returns to licking his wound.
People want to know what he is doing.
In the next cage,a tiger paces in its cage.
There is a throng of people gathered around,jostling to have a better look.
The tiger looks up.There is a glazed expression in his green eyes.Yet his eyes glow.
Away from the wild,trapped in its cage,it's still a tiger.
In this,we are all similar.
The tiger.The people all around.Me.
The animals don't really know how the zoo works,do they?They must have some different idea about it.I doubt they see life for what it is.
Do they even know of the wild,where they belong?Do they even belong in the wild?I wonder what it's like in their heads.
I wonder what their illusions are.
I wonder what illusions we are under.
Does it see its cage for what it is?Does it wish for escape?
We are so similar.

My aunt says the visit was fun.I nod. It was interesting.Different.