Happiness Lies in Being Free

Shanaya was a thirteen-year-old girl who was very fond of plants and animals. She spent most of her time in the lap of nature. She woke up early every day and fed grains to birds and squirrels. So, when the lockdown was announced due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she was very upset and felt at an all time low. She missed being able to go out. Her father noticed the change in her behaviour was worried about her.

One day, when he went out to buy some groceries from the market, a baby monkey jumped into his car in the parking area. He thought that the monkey would cheer up his daughter, and so he took it home. Both Shanaya and her mother were very excited to see the baby monkey. It was scared initially but became friendly as soon as it was fed a banana. Shanaya named it Kukoo, and took good care of it. Everyone enjoyed Kukoo's presence and its antics were often amusing. But soon, Shanaya's mother started complaining about its behavior. It would sneak into the kitchen and eat the fruits and was very mischievous. It troubled everyone, even Shanaya.

Shanaya realized that the reason behind its misbehaviour was that it was not used to being confined within four walls. She thought about how she felt during the lockdown and concluded that Kukoo was also feeling confused and agitated because it was not able to move freely. The family decided that it would be better to send Kukoo back to his natural habitat. Father requested the zoo authorities to take Kukoo away and send him back to his real home, the forest.

Shanya learnt an important lesson from the lockdown- that it was very difficult to cope with the loss of freedom. She realized that Mother Nature was trying to give this very message to humans through the pandemic. She promised herself that she would never hold any animals captive and hoped that other people would also realize the same.

Moral- Everyone, be it humans or animals, prefers freedom over comfort. No one can ever truly be happy or retain their charm if held captive. So, we should never cage or confine animals for our own selfish purposes.