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METROSCAPE
Cage Of Discontent
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BLOCKED VIEW:
Chimps in their enclosure.
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Long accused of
caring more about the visitors than its animals, the 175-acre Delhi zoo
has now decided to set an example for others with the help of zoo designer
Pushp Kumar who believes that "cages for animals is a medieval concept".
So dingy cages with iron bars are being phased out and chimps who are
kept in small grey enclosures will now get a feel of the tropical forest
in their new leafy hillock.
"Earlier the motto was entertainment, education
and conservation, but today it's the other way round," says zoo director
B.S. Bonal. For the convenience of the visitors, different species requiring
similar ecosystem will be placed together. Around 16 species of birds
have already been shifted to larger enclosures with "cage furniture"
like nesting box and sitting material made of ficus plant. Manoj Kumar,
a wildlife biologist with the zoo, says that the idea is to replace the
fences with a dry or a wet moat which serves as a psychological barrier
for the animals. "The moat is tailored according to the jumping ability
of the animal," he says. "They'll be able to jump out only in
moments of extreme desperation." Visitors must watch out for those.
—Teresa Rehman
Colours Of Conflict
 As
part of a week-long workshop on conflict resolution, Delhi-based WISCOMP
(Women in Security, Conflict Management and Peace) held a multi-media
show at India Habitat Censtre. Called "Suraksha", the event
mixed theatre, puppetry and intallation art to portray the daily violence
in the average Indian woman's life. Against life-size posters of the media's
feminine stereotypes, the players used puppets and props, like an eerie,
leathery three-foot long hand (left) in an animated collage. Disturbing
slices of feminine life-sexually abused girls, jittery brides, Tihar's
inmates, rape victims, a lone woman at a bus stop after dark-unfolded
one after another. In the post-show interactive session, amid suggestions
and salutations, an elderly gent stood up to rather forlornly point out:
"But not all men are like that..." Point taken.
—Shuchi Sinha
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