Keshav bows a
theat”‹…al farewell to the
miniature shaggy ’onies and we
eš’Žore the range of
animals and
birds in ‘’‡n en…losures •…attered
a…ross the slo’es of this ͵ͲͲ ƒ…re
’ƒrk. The …Š‹Ž†ren and Dinkar and I are
already unleashed from the
…‘nstr‹…-
tions of the daily ’ressures of our Mumbai
life. This
first sto’ itself gives me a good
feeling about our …Š‘‹…e of this year’s
destination. We are going to bond
together in fun and subtle learning, mostly
in wide o’en lan†•…ƒ’es, but never far
from vibrant ur„ƒ …‡–res.
The lake is a jumble of birds of a different
feather
fŽ‘…‹‰ together with whistling,
gurgling and squawks. How …leverly every
en…losure tea…Š‡s …Š‹ldren so many
things. Gaurika is already taking notes on
‘How To Build A Pond and St‘…k It’. Not in
‘—” „ƒ–ŠǦ–—„ǡ Š‘’‡Ǥ
Our own Indian ’ea…‘…ks strut with
ultramarine n‡…ks, swee’ing the ’ƒ–hway
with their green-eyed tails. But Keshav is
attrƒ…ted by the huge ’‡Ž‹…ƒ• waddling
around the ’layground of slides and
swings, …hasing away other intruding
birds with their strong, —•…—Žƒ” wings.
He Žƒ—…Š‡• into an imitation, and I get
this memorable shot for our album. These
birds are obviously trained, and are gentle
with the …Š‹Ž†ren, but k‡‡’‡”s kee’ a
…ƒ—–‹‘—• ey‡ Œ—•– ‹ …ƒ•‡Ǥ
The two ele’hants, Jyoti and Vishesh,
don’t interest our kids who rush off to
…rane at the giraffes–four adults and three
babies as they merge, all legs and ‡…ks,
in the yellow light. ‘Are zebras bla…k with
white stri’es or white with bla…k stri’esǫ’
I ask the …Ž‹…Š±d question. ‘It’s all the
same,’ says Keshav •—’‡r…‹Ž‹‘—•ly,
distrƒ…ted by the ‘•–”‹…Š head wŠ‹…Š has
suddenly ’‡‡red out over a ’ƒ”–‹–‹‘ like
a nosey neighbour. At the next …age
Gaurika squeals, “Oh look at this
buddha-baba!dz Dinkar informs her that it
is “an ’‡ror Tamarin. It belongs to the
squirrel family, and gets its name from its
distin…–ive bushy, white m‘—•–ƒ…Š‡s
wŠ‹…h droo’ like those of the German
’‡ror, Wilhelm IIǤdz
The …Š‹ldren run wild with ex…‹tement
over this tumbling Žƒ†•…ƒ’‡Ǥ But they
are stunned into •‹Ž‡…‡ by the brooding
ϐ‹‰—re of Boulas,
–Š‡
•‹Ž˜‡”Ǧ„ƒ…‡†
gorilla.
Belfast Zoo
19
