A taste of one own's medicine

As a child, The Zoological Garden, Alipore (also informally called the Alipore Zoo or Calcutta Zoo) was one of my favorite places on Earth. To the child that I was, it was the best and biggest zoo in the world. FYI, it is India's oldest formally stated zoological park and has now been open as a zoo since 1876, and covers 46.48 acres right in the heart of the city (in case you are impressed with my in-depth knowledge, you needn’t be, for I got all of these from Wikipedia). It was a magical place that housed zebras and giraffes, tigers and lions, ostriches and emus, pythons and elephants, and every animal that I could think of. We even had a 250 year old tortoise called Adwaita, (do not get me started on the names; for we also had a tigress called Rani, and an elephant called Debjani!) I remember a tigon and a litigon too! For those of you, who are scratching their heads, a tigon is a hybrid of a male tiger and a female lion and a second generation tigon is called a litigon! There’s something called a liger too! Bamboozling, right! And maybe one of the reasons, apart from ethics and morality, why this practice of crossing species is now long abandoned.

However, coming back to me, as time passed, the zoo lost most of its sheen. The rose tinted glasses no longer worked. The demerits of the place far outweighed the joy of a child seeing its first wild animal. It now was a place that kept animals caged and cooped up. Something that is morally, ethically and fundamentally wrong. Why? In the wild, an adult tiger walks and lords over territory ranging from 5 to 150 kms. I am sure most of us can envisage the size of a tiger cage. Elephants in the wild live in herds and possess a social structure to rival that of humans. These highly intelligent creatures are kept in ones and twos and made to curb their natural migratory tendencies. Birds live in cages with inadequate sunlight and no space to stretch their wings let alone fly. Most zoo animals die well before their time. Who wouldn’t? On a side note, watch this documentary called Blackfish, and I swear on every book I’ve ever read, you will never go to an animal themed amusement park again.

Now, most of you must be wondering if I have lost it in these Corona times. Animals, right now feature way way way down in our list of priorities, and zoos are the least of our concerns. Right!

Wrong, for it is this tunnel vision and refusal to accept that we share the planet with some 9 million other species that has landed us in this soup. The virus that originated in Wuhan’s wet markets jumped species, from a pangolin to a bat to us. We are responsible for letting it loose. We, in our hubris and greed have brought this upon ourselves, and that is the burden we must admit.

For now; we are cooped and locked up in cages, with adequate food and water, safe but without freedom, scared, uncertain, bored, depressed and separated from loved ones.

If this isn’t Karma, I don’t know what is.

About the Author

Priyanka Modi is a writer, environmentalist, storyteller and mother. Loves to read and believes that books can change the world. You can catch up with her on Instagram at http://www.instagram.com/pri_mods or read more at Thepointofeve.com