Ducks & Fishes

Recently, my nephew and niece visited me in California. AS long promised to them, I took them to Sea World at San Diego. The day was bright, and my 2 year old neice, Shama, was excited to the core waiting for her namesake’s show to commence – “Shamu – the killer whale “. The show started and I heard a piercing squeal over the hum of the crowd, followed by a dull thud on my arm! Innocence personified, it was Shama squealing excitedly

“Chitthi – anga paaru FISH!”.

Rumour has it that the poor killer whale attempted to drown itself in its own pool on hearing what its namesake called it! That poor whale spends a major portion of its day consuming 180 pounds of fish, and proudly weighs 3000 pounds. To have an umbrella sized character call it a “Fish” is enough to dampen the spirits of even the most optimistic whale!

Without further damaging the whale’s ego, I moved onto the Penguin area only to have her proclaim loudly to the crowd : “AAAAAIIIII DUCK!!!”

I discovered to my utter horror that in her world all species in Sea World could be classified in two:
(a) Ducks
(b) Fishes

I loved the fact that they travelled 8000 miles across the globe to see ducks and fishes! Kids – tut tut tut!