日期：2023-05-16 Chapter 20 He was a Sufi, a Muslim mystic. He sought fana, union with God, and his relationship with God was personal and loving. If you take two steps towards God, he used to tell me, God runs to you! He was a very plain-featured man, with nothing... 阅读全文>>

日期：2023-05-16 Chapter 19 I went to see him again. Whats your religion about? I asked. His eyes lit up. It is about the Beloved, he replied. I challenge anyone to understand Islam, its spirit, and not to love it. It is a beautiful religion of brotherhood and devot... 阅读全文>>

日期：2023-05-16 Chapter 18 Islam followed right behind, hardly a year later. I was fifteen years old and I was exploring my hometown. The Muslim quarter wasnt far from the zoo. A small, quiet neighbourhood with Arabic writing and crescent moons inscribed on the fac... 阅读全文>>

日期：2023-05-16 Chapter 17 First wonder goes deepest; wonder after that fits in the impression made by the first. I owe to Hinduism the original landscape of my religious imagination, those towns and rivers, battlefields and forests, holy mountains and deep seas wh... 阅读全文>>

日期：2023-05-16 Chapter 16 We are all born like Catholics, arent we - in limbo, without religion, until some figure introduces us to God? After that meeting the matter ends for most of us. If there is a change, it is usually for the lesser rather than the greater;... 阅读全文>>

日期：2023-05-16 Chapter 15 His house is a temple. In the entrance hall hangs a framed picture of Ganesha, he of the elephant head. He sits facing out-rosy-coloured, pot-bellied, crowned and smiling - three hands holding various objects, the fourth held palm out in... 阅读全文>>

日期：2023-05-16 Chapter 14 It is interesting to note that the lion that is the most amenable to the circus trainers tricks is the one with the lowest social standing in the pride, the omega animal. It has the most to gain from a close relationship with the super-al... 阅读全文>>

日期：2023-05-16 Chapter 13 So you see, if you fall into a lions pit, the reason the lion will tear you to pieces is not because its hungry - be assured, zoo animals are amply fed - or because its bloodthirsty, but because youve invaded its territory. As an aside, t... 阅读全文>>

日期：2023-05-16 Chapter 12 At times he gets agitated. Its nothing I say (I say very little). Its his own story that does it. Memory is an ocean and he bobs on its surface. I worry that hell want to stop. But he wants to tell me his story. He goes on. After all thes... 阅读全文>>

日期：2023-05-16 Chapter 11 Consider the case of the female black leopard that escaped from the Zurich Zoo in the winter of 1933. She was new to the zoo and seemed to get along with the male leopard. But various paw injuries hinted at matrimonial strife. Before any... 阅读全文>>

日期：2023-05-16 Chapter 10 Yet there will always be animals that seek to escape from zoos. Animals that are kept in unsuitable enclosures are the most obvious example. Every animal has particular habitat needs that must be met. If its enclosure is too sunny or too... 阅读全文>>

日期：2023-05-16 Chapter 9 Getting animals used to the presence of humans is at the heart of the art and science of zookeeping. The key aim is to diminish an animals flight distance, which is the minimum distance at which an animal wants to keep a perceived enemy. A... 阅读全文>>

日期：2023-05-16 Chapter 8 We commonly say in the trade that the most dangerous animal in a zoo is Man. In a general way we mean how our species excessive predatoriness has made the entire planet our prey. More specifically, we have in mind the people who feed fishh... 阅读全文>>

日期：2023-05-16 Chapter 7 It was my luck to have a few good teachers in my youth, men and women who came into my dark head and lit a match. One of these was Mr. Satish Kumar, my biology teacher at Petit Seminaire and an active Communist who was always hoping Tamil... 阅读全文>>

日期：2023-05-16 Chapter 6 Hes an excellent cook. His overheated house is always smelling of something delicious. His spice rack looks like an apothecarys shop. When he opens his refrigerator or his cupboards, there are many brand names I dont recognize; in fact, I... 阅读全文>>

日期：2023-05-16 Chapter 5 My name isnt the end of the story about my name. When your name is Bob no one asks you, How do you spell that? Not so with Piscine Molitor Patel. Some thought it was P. Singh and that I was a Sikh, and they wondered why I wasnt wearing a t... 阅读全文>>

日期：2023-05-16 Chapter 4 Our good old nation was just seven years old as a republic when it became bigger by a small territory. Pondicherry entered the Union of India on November 1, 1954. One civic achievement called for another. A portion of the grounds of the Po... 阅读全文>>

日期：2023-05-16 Chapter 3 I was named after a swimming pool. Quite peculiar considering my parents never took to water. One of my fathers earliest business contacts was Francis Adirubasamy. He became a good friend of the family. I called him Mamaji, mama being the... 阅读全文>>

日期：2023-05-16 Chapter 2 He lives in Scarborough. Hes a small, slim man - no more than five foot five. Dark hair, dark eyes. Hair greying at the temples. Cant be older than forty. Pleasing coffee-coloured complexion. Mild fall weather, yet puts on a big winter par... 阅读全文>>

日期：2023-05-16 Chapter 1 My suffering left me sad and gloomy. Academic study and the steady, mindful practice of religion slowly wrought me back to life. I have kept up with what some people would consider my strange religious practices. After one year of high sch... 阅读全文>>