Tags:
Journalism of Courage
It was my day off and I was just pondering about what to do when I hit upon a plan. It was actually an odd day in April and none of my friends were free. Besides I8217;d nothing special to do. So I thought of my little niece Sukanya, who is always in a cheerful mood and quite willing to do anything at anytime.
As I entered the gate of Sukanya8217;s house she welcomed me heartily, running out from a group of select friends. All of them it seemed were planning some mischief.
8220;Well! So what do we have here?8221; I asked and got myself introduced to the little brats, all of them a year or two apart from the other.
8220;We8217;re planning to go for an outing,8221; they chirped. They were delighted when I volunteered to take them.
But before that I said, 8220;Lets all decide where will go.8221; Now that seemed to be a big question.
8220;An outing is an outing, who bothers where we8217;re going, it8217;ll be like short trip in town, window shopping and munchies all the way, wont it?8221;asked Prahlad.
8220;Perhaps we could go trekking over the hills and race to the top,8221;Tejas suggested.
8220;Or could we go out for a picnic some where?8221; Anushka asked.
8220;Hey, that8217;s ideal! Shall we go to the zoo? You all like animals, don8217;t you?8221; I thought I was making the right choice, 8220;We could go to Peshwe Park or Katraj Snake Park or would you prefer going to the Appu Ghar instead?8221;8220;A visit to the zoo? Sounds like a topic for an essay at school,8221; Bipin turned up his nose, 8220;who wants to see caged animals?8221;.
8220;You mean you8217;d like to see them roam free?8221; I remembered seeing the beautiful sanctuaries at Bandipur, Mudamalai and Kaziranga and the Mysore zoo which provides almost as natural a surrounding as the forest itself.
8220;No I don8217;t. I think its dumb to waste time seeing them. You always see them on television.8221;
8220;But you can see them alive right there in front of you, wouldn8217;t you like that?8221; Nikita asked.
8220;What8217;s so good about that? You8217;re not supposed to feed them and its so sad to see their bored faces in those cages8221; Bipin replied.
8220;Oh but a visit to a zoo is such fun. You get to know a lot about animals. The boards outside the cage give you a lot of information on them. The animals too are safe from poachers and other dangers,8221; Tejas put in.
8220;Yes, but its so sad to see them restrict their movements like that 8211; Poor things 8211; they don8217;t get the natural habitat and wither away in the cage,8221; Jeet, a slightly older boy pointed out.
8220;After a time they feel lonely and lost and lose their appetites. They may even catch diseases if their cages are not cleaned and then they die. It8217;s horrible,8221; Priya said.
I was listening to all this dumfounded. Here I8217;d asked them a simple question and there they were talking like intellectuals, debating whether zoos are necessary or not.
8220;Does that mean none of you like zoos? Perhaps you prefer amusement parks then?8221; I queried.
8220;Its not that I hate a zoo but there are limits 8211; like now it8217;ll seem a bit childish. And I8217;ve seen animals so many times 8211; there8217;s nothing new to that. But if I can take some younger kids around its okay. I can tell them something I know about animals,8221; Bipin clarified.
8220;But amusement parks are definitely fun. I love the rides there. I visited Esselworld last time we went to Mumbai 8211; we were a whole bunch of kids 8211; all cousins and we really enjoyed. At all other times we have study and go for classes and there is so much work to do but its certainly necessary to let yourself go at times,8221; Priya said.
8220;Yeah, but its more fun if you8217;re with your parents. Because they8217;re usually busy too and when you8217;re all on a holiday its much more fun,8221; Tejas put in.
Does that mean amusement parks score over zoos and sanctuaries.
8220;Oh no, not really, animals are nice to watch and we all love them. Only they8217;re better off in natural surroundings. And amusement parks are a different thing. They allow you to run free,8221; Jeet said.
So they do agree that outings and such visits to the park or he zoo are still better than watching cartoon network or playing computer games?8220;No! Certainly not!8221; said Prahlad, a computer buff, 8220;Given the choice I often choose my computer. It is something which gives me great satisfaction.8221;
Unlike Prahlad, Anushka and Sukanya don8217;t really dig computer games but enjoy watching cartoons on television. 8220;But cartoons are after all animated characters. They8217;ve people or animals drawn in a funny way and shown in funny situations,8221; I said.
8220;Yes but its the funny situations that appeal to us, real animals don8217;t do that, do they?8221; Sukanya cleverly questioned.
quot;Apart from that I think that is the only entertainment we have in a city. when Mom and Dad are out there8217;s no one to turn to who8217;ll take us out except unexpectedly,8221;Anushka said.
quot;Yes, that8217;s why television and computer or video games and the like are so popular. Kids like us have to turn to them in our daily life. And outings are a rare treat so they have their own importance. So we love outings but we can8217;t do without cartoons and computer games either,8221; Nikita summed it up, and we all finally decided to go to the Katraj Snake Park.
That light conversation definitely opened my eyes to something new 8211; that kids today are quite smart and know what they want. They amuse themselves with the available facilities at home and don8217;t complain whilst their parents slog at work. But at the same time they give a whoop of joy when someone is ready to take them out. So kids really are just the same every where 8211; they just want to have fun 8211; either way.
