The Kitten Becomes a CAT…. at Chhatbir Zoo

On an instinct I decided to go on a trek with the CATS. Of course I didn’t know even one of the ‘felines’ but I thought ‘what the hell girl, go for it!’ words of bravado because as the time to get going got nearer, I had a million misgivings about what in the world I thought I was doing?

Getting up at 6am on a Sunday morning to hang out with a bunch of people whom I didn’t know, far away from home where I could not even hop onto a cab to get back to civilization and walking and walking the whole day long…was THIS idea of a relaxed, chilled out Sunday morning? Somehow, I didn’t think so!

All night long, I had visions of sitting by myself at the back of the bus by myself while the veteran CATS sat with each other discussing the other treks they had undertaken. I saw the group marching off energetically while I dragged my tired feet, way behind the group, mewing for succour. O Lord! What had I let myself in for?

The day previous, which was Saturday, the 16th of February, I’d spoken to Supreet, the mover and shaker of the organisation and had most enthusiastically committed to being at Hotel Chandigarh Beckons where everyone was to assemble. “I’ve got to be my own worst enemy” I thought when the alarm went off early Sunday morning. Even the day was bright and beautiful, which left me with no excuse to chicken out. Plus, I’d told EVERYONE I knew that I was going on a trek! The original Ms. Big Mouth!!

I got myself to the hotel where I met Supreet and was relieved to see a whole lot of happy looking people, though personally I thought that it was way too early in the morning to be quite so animated, but well, I guessed these must be CATS of the Cheshire variety!

Anyway, we all registered, paid our 150 rupees, got our id cards, got instructed by Supreet, got a cup of tea and were packed off into two buses! My bus walas decided to play Antakshari, which was a loud, tuneless and crazy kind of affair! “Well, these guys are sure participatory, even though they’ll never make it to Channal V” I thought!

Once at the Zoo, we were divided into four groups, each under a leader! The agenda was to play a game of treasure hunt! Supreet and some others had been to the zoo the evening previous to write out the clues and put them up. The treasure hunt incidentally, covered the whole zoo! “There are 27 clues” we were told! “27??? I would have thought that 10 would be enough” said the kitten in me, to myself of course!

Anyhow, we set off. It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm. The animals were out there sunning themselves. Chhatbir is beautiful and it’s a place where animals don’t look too unhappy, though none of them looked ecstatic to be in a state of captivity. Still, the zoo does attempt to keep a semblance of the animals’ natural habitat!

The clues were extremely imaginative and posted at the most unexpected places. They lead us to every unexplored cranny of Chhatbir, from the granary to the animal hospital to the museum and of course toward the various animals. I don’t think we missed even one animal! My personal favourite was the baby elephant which I wanted to take home with me!

We stopped for a much needed tea and snack break, where all the groups got together and exchanged notes about the treasure hunt and life and times in general. And then fortified, stepped forward to look for the rest of the 15 clue. FIFTEEN!!

I had decided to be the laggard of the group some time into the treasure hunt. That was a good decision, I thought to myself, because it gave me the time to hang out with people and enjoy just being in Chhatbir! However, I did give my unasked for suggestions every now and then!

Well, the end was when the most pro active group found the treasure. Most of us were so pleased to just reach the end of the trek that congratulating the winners was not an issue at all. In fact, it was a wonderful relief to stop for lunch at the banks of the beautiful lake in Chhatbir. Some of us peeled off our shoes and socks and put our tired feet into the algae filled, cool lake waters! While some of us (Not me! Not me!) were heard wistfully longing for a cool glass of beer!!

After a leisurely lunch, we trudged back to our buses and were taken back to Chandigarh and to the hotel whence we all got into our cars and went back home. I’d had an absolutely wonderful day. The only thing I wished was that the CATS would provide a massage service at the end of their treks!

Ending this now with just one more thing to say…MEOW!!!

- CAT Aradhika