The diary of the White Tiger in Delhi Zoo… Once upon a time, I was freely roaming in vast jungles. I was a king there. Then one day, the humans caught me and brought me here. They kept me in this ‘tiny’ enclosure, which severely restricted my movements. I was not happy, as I am accustomed to heavy physical activities, including chasing other animals for kilometers of distance, for my survival. Now I am getting good food regularly, right in my cage here, at fixed times during the day. I must agree that these humans are taking good care of me. They do provide me medical assistance whenever required. I also know that I may never experience the freedom of roaming in jungles in future. I am most certainly destined to die in captivity. But then, I am not meant for a life like this. I get bored. There are hundreds of humans, who come to see me every day. Even my small movements amuse them. They take my photographs like crazy. I just look at them. There is no point in my having any feelings or emotions, as I am in captivity. Because, it is not the ‘real me’. Yesterday, one of the humans accidentally fell in my enclosure. At first I did not want to harm him. I just went near him to sympathize with him. However, when I went close to him, I saw fear in his eyes … fear as though he was staring at death. It was ‘that fear’ and the hooting of the crowd from above, which momentarily awakened my ‘original self’. I thought I had the rare opportunity to be my ‘real self’ for a change. I don’t think I made a mistake. Did I?
Posted on: Wed, 24 Sep 2014 02:24:27 +0000