I was more than exited to take “Kimmy” my 14 months old
daughter to the Delhi Zoo. I thought, Kimmy would enjoy this experiencing of
watching these unexplored creatures. After parking the car we started walking toward
ticket window. As usual, people, especially girls were cutting the queue to buy
the tickets. Adult ticket was Rs. 40 per person and still camera ticket was Rs.
50; iPhone (with 8 Mega Pixel camera) was allowed free of cost.
After the frisking, we entered the zoo with an expectation
to see the creatures of the wild. Since we were carrying a stroller, we decided
not to opt for electronic ferry. After a walk of around 500 meters, we witnessed
the first set of animals – Deer. But the grass at the fence was overgrown to
about 4.5 feet, which made it almost impossible to sight Deer.
Usually, when Kimmy sights a Cow or a Goat or a Dog on the
road, she repeatedly calls them, referring as “Dedi”. But Kimmy got only few
chances to call out.
Overall, the zoo seemed like a shady place. We witnessed
love bird sitting hand-in-hand under bushes, round the trees, on the isolated
benches and in between the elephant grass. We may very-well take a guess, what
their purpose of visit to the zoo was.
The visitors to the zoo included a very low percentile of
foreign nationals; a slightly higher number of educated class; decent
population of tourists hailing from the nearby rural areas: handful of students
(who have bunked the school) and a considerable number of couples seeking
privacy.
As per my observation, the only set of people who were thoroughly
enjoying their day at the Zoo was the love birds – finding solace in isolation.
The other set of people were more inquisitive in the people around them. They successfully
made their presence felt by shouting at animals and like animals, stalking and
by checking out every passerby.
The most hilarious part of this visit was an old “Kaka” from
some village. I overheard him saying – “Chalis rupiya may itna chalaye rahe aur
dekhne ka ITEM be itna kam rakha hai.”
After walking for approx 2 kms in the sun, we were wondering
to get a ride on the electronic ferry. Fortunately we spotted a car with only 3
pax on it. I offered the driver Rs.100 as the ticket cost was Rs. 50 per
person, to which the driver humbly replied –“Sahab se poochna padega” (I’ll
have to ask the boss). “The boss” – a typical government employee: bald, his paunch
hanging out of his shirt – MOST BLUNTY said “NOOOOOO”. I thanked him sarcastically and moved on. His
wife and kid kept sitting on the car, feeling as if they were the king and
queen of this artificial jungle. Humans
are so inhuman these days.
We came across a
group of Asians. The girls were wearing hot pants putting them at a high risk
of landing in some unwanted situation. For
their own security, foreign tourists must strictly adhere to the dress code as advised
by Indian Embassy.
My purpose of visiting
zoo was defeated. The overall experience was BAD. We’ll have to take Kimmy to
some international destination in order to visit a good Zoo.
