Thiruvananthapuram, May 9 : It was a long delayed visit for the three friends, who grew up in the majestic 55 acre Thiruvananthapuram Zoo.Though none of their former ‘friends’, which included lions, tigers, tigress, monkeys, sheep and kangaroos were there now, the three ‘musketeers’, as they like to call themselves, had a memorable meeting after decades.
The three are Cynthia Chandran, Hari Pillai and Sajiv Joseph.Chandran’s and Pillai’s fathers were the zoo directors and Joseph’s father was the veterinarian.
These three grew up inside the zoo almost three decades ago.And now it was their first visit along with Joseph, who is now based in the US.
“We three almost of the same age, literally grew up in the zoo and we were partners in crime then and this is our first visit together in the past nearly three decades.We went around all the places where we played and recalled what we did then.
The highlight was the visit to the old British Bungalow with a sprawling garden which resembled a mini botanical garden, which was our home,” said Cynthia, a journalist here.
The three were also keenly recalling Mini, the tigress, Tony and Leo, the two lions, Manju, the lion tailed macaque, Boban and Molly, the brother – sister duo of Nilgiri Tahr, Johnny, the Kangaroo, Jerry, another lion cub, Manichi and many more.
Joseph, an engineering support manager with his family run business in the US, said the mercury levels are high in Thiruvananthapuram compared to the cooler Kansas.
“But that did not deter my spirits to explore the place.Much has changed in the campus with lots of new animals and aviaries coming up, including the infrastructure improving by leaps and bounds which led us to take a buggy for our trip.I felt nostalgic visiting my former abode where I grew up for the first 24 years of my life,” said 53-year-old Sajiv Joseph, who is fondly addressed as Thampi by his childhood buddies.
Hari, who works as director of corporate communications in an IT company at the Technopark campus here, had visited the Museum and Zoo with his seven-year-old daughter, Vaishnavi some time back.
“But this time the visit was a sea change as I could reminisce about my childhood days with my buddies.We were three naughty kids who languished amid the wild animals who were our pets”, said 53-year-old Hari, who is Moni to his buddies.
Cynthia adds that they had the best childhood compared to their compatriots.
“During weekends, we tagged along with the blue van which used to ferry food to the zoo animals.It’s no mean task growing up amid the wild animals and foster animals we cared for.’The revisit will be etched in our minds for the rest of our lives.Now we are already looking forward to Thampi’s next visit to Thiruvananthapuram”, said Cynthia.
Though the trio has got elder siblings who too grew up there, they belonged to a different league unlike the “three musketeers”, said the three in unison.
sg/dpb
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