20.2.2008

Indian Zoo

It is now a few days after the great visit to the zoo but I felt that Mysore zoo deserved a big appraise for what they achieved. If you took all the Indians out of that space you would think that you were in a western zoo, maybe not one that is as clean and well maintained but after my hideous experience in China where the animals were in cages size of a shoe, I had felt reluctant to see what Mysore zoo may have had for offer. However on that note, people of India surely made it a fun experience.

The entry costs 25rps which is 40p so it is an occasion everyone can enjoy without having to break the bank. I think London zoo is around £17 for adults these days. I would like to see the look on these Indians' face if that was the case here in Mysore, probably a riot would break. Anyhow queuing system is always funny, it simply doesn't exists so after pushing and showing and talking to man in barred windows for your ticket you may enter the wonder world.

They had put wet carpets at the entrance which later I realised was soaked in some antiseptic solution to clean people's shoes (which was also there at the exit, so maybe they don't want us to take out whatever germs may be inside either). There were so many families huddled together around the cages so I guess it was their fun outing together. The kids were spoilt with candies, ice creams (who had green or orange cones these days? Full of colouring!) and sugary drinks; excited to see so many animals from all over the worlds. They do try to reach out for the animals, throw in nuts and other food to get their attention or simply blow kisses or make that nasty noise when they want to get your attention because they demand that the animals look at them all the time.

It must be irritating for the caged animals to have these crowds of people in bright colour clothes staring at them, talking loudly, clapping their hands and blowing kisses. I wouldn't know whether they need to be amused by it or scared.

In general there were many animals including gorillas, rhinos, African elephants, lions, tigers, zebras and all kinds of birds. Oh and not to forget the monkeys running around freely in the zoo.

There were a few times we wondered if the animals were suffering in this climate, and whether they were cared for well because they looked so miserable in their body language.There were also famous notices put up everywhere, as you do get a lot of these in India. All the animals were adopted by someone or an organisation so I guess their sponsorship money was helping to keep the zoo going, surely not the 25rupees we paid to enter. So next to all the animals, there were boards displaying the mane of the person who had adopted an animal. The gorillas were adopted by the bank of Mysore though; I guess they would be dearer than paying for a parrot. Then the funniest notice was by the tigers. There was a deep ditch all around the field of the tigers' area and barriers which were to protect tigers to jump out I guess, or perhaps to prevents Indians jumping in?? But the notice said something like "do not cross the barrier, survivors will be prosecuted" with a drawing of an excited man hurdling across the barriers and a tiger looking all worried and bemused!

And of course as white people we were part of the zoo, in getting stared at and asked the question of "which country, what is your name" a million times. People were often watching us watch the animals and observing our reactions.

The grounds of the zoo was pretty huge, by the end of two hours of walking around we were more interested in finding the exit and heading to coffee day to escape the exhaustion of the experience. It is amazing how fast the times goes in India and how little you can accomplish but this is because everything so much more richer and harder, once you have done one thing in your day your energy level is depleted.