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And zoo sings, happy B?day Riya?
INSTEAD OF being a party animal, little Riya, celebrated her third birthday with animals. She neither invited her friends at her home nor went to any restaurant to party. So did not receive any expensive gifts either. Nevertheless she celebrated her birthday and it will be a memorable one too for her. She visited zoo with her parents and grandparents on Saturday afternoon and adopted five animals and birds on her birthday.
INSTEAD OF being a party animal, little Riya, celebrated her third birthday with animals. She neither invited her friends at her home nor went to any restaurant to party. So did not receive any expensive gifts either. Nevertheless she celebrated her birthday and it will be a memorable one too for her. She visited zoo with her parents and grandparents on Saturday afternoon and adopted five animals and birds on her birthday.
She took the responsibility of meeting the expense of their feeding and maintenance for one year. Daughter of dentist Dr Rajat Mathur, Riya adopted a white peacock, a golden pheasant, white dove, stumped tail monkey and capuchin monkey when Riya turned three. For their maintenance the Mathur family gave away Rs 18,200 to the zoo administration. This was for the third consecutive time that Riya had adopted animals at city zoo on her birthday. On her first birthday, she adopted a white peacock and dove while last year on her second birthday, she retained these two and adopted three more species including golden pheasant, stumped tail monkey and capuchin monkey. And on her third birthday she retained them all.
Riya and her family spent about two hours at the zoo and had a close look at all the five animals that she has adopted. This great lover of animals made some inquisitive queries to the keepers. If she was keen about their well-being, but was not indifferent to other big animals of the zoo either, says a keeper.
This little girl who has a big heart for big animals loudly sang a jingle when she reached near elephant and lion enclosures. She took a joyride on the roller coaster. Says an elated Dr Mathur: “She was very happy today. It was a very nice feeling to see the child’s special liking for the animals. We believe that as she will grew up she will be more satisfied with this effort.”
Riya’s mother Smita said: “Riya was just eight months when she started uttering words. And the first letter that she uttered properly was chidiya (bird).
Gradually, it was noticed she had developed some kind of fascination for animals.
She would sit hours together in front of the TV while watching channels like Animal Planet and Discovery.”
“And when she was taken to the city zoo on her first birthday, she was extremely happy. On that day we adopted two species. Thereafter, it became a routine affair for us. We believe that this exercise would help us igniting love for animals,” her mom says.
The family believes that there is no point in throwing a party and spending huge money. “Unlike other children, she has never asked for it,” says Dr Mathur. The city zoo also acknowledged her love for animals and zoo director Eva Sharma gave her a set of books on wildlife as a birthday gift. Happy birthday Riya!
