Man is a social animal!!

At The Zoo
A. A. Milne

There are lions and roaring tigers,
and enormous camels and things,
There are biffalo-buffalo-bisons,
and a great big bear with wings.
There's a sort of a tiny potamus,
and a tiny nosserus too -
But I gave buns to the elephant
when I went down to the Zoo!

There are badgers and bidgers and bodgers,
and a Super-in-tendent's House,
There are masses of goats, and a Polar,
and different kinds of mouse,
And I think there's a sort of a something
which is called a wallaboo -
But I gave buns to the elephant
when I went down to the Zoo!

If you try to talk to the bison,
he never quite understands;
You can't shake hands with a mingo -
he doesn't like shaking hands.
And lions and roaring tigers
hate saying, "How do you do?" -
But I give buns to the elephant
when I go down to the Zoo

Tuesday was zoo day! Mami, Rohan, Maya, and I drove down into Boston with Mitra and her kids, Nema and Donya, to go to the Franklin Park Zoo aka New England Zoo. Now the last zoo I went to was Rani Laxmibai Praani Sangrahalaya in Mumbai somewhere in the 1980s. So this zoo was a great experience! There was a tropical section with macaques and mandrills, and some lovely birds. The lion was out in the sun, basking in regal splendour, while the zebras munched away contentedly in the adjoining enclosure. The giraffes were, very unfortunately, resting in their barns and were not on view since it was too cold for them. :( The hippos, on the otherhand, put in a very lazy appearance as they wallowed in their own pond in the tropical section. :) There were tapirs and warthogs, and turtles and snakes. I walked around in a daze, feeling as though I had walked into the National Geographic channel! There was even a separate bird house with flamingos!! And peacocks roamed around free. The day itself was sunny and bright and I felt like a kid again. :) I know, I know, it doesn't take much.