The adopted kid

The parlour lady didn’t let my thoughts wander, “5€ please! “

I paid her,  collected my belongings and rushed through the front door  which  led to the veranda  where I stopped momentarily  to  wave at her. I decided to avoid the lift and took the stairs instead. Feeling pumped, I descended  the stairs with immense energy , swerved around the stair railing, hopped 2-3 steps at a time like a frog and in seconds I slipped out of  the building. 

The sun was beginning to sink below the horizon and I was in a hurry to get back home. As I walked past a busy shopping area towards the train station,  a 20 yr old boy approached me with a sweet smile. 

“Shall I disturb you for sometime?” 

Though I had no intention  to entertain him at that moment, I couldn’t deny his request seeing the expectant look on his face.

“Yes”  I said

After a little bit of self introduction , he switched to the matter asking my opinion about the protection of endangered species and their habitats around the world. The WWF (World Wildlife Fund) logo on his jacket came into my notice . Since I was in a hurry and the subject didn’t catch my interest at that point, I hesitated to delve into it and tried to cut him off.

But he continued, 

“If there were 100,000 pandas in the world 100 years before, what would be their number today?” He asked. 

Having no clue about the topic I retorted: 

“Hmm…no idea!” 

He encouraged me to to make a guess,

“10,000?” i asked

“No! You‘re  close, it’s 5000”

“Oh! i really feel sorry about that ”  

He continued asking further questions to test my knowledge in wild life and I terribly failed.  While he mentioned about the endangered species and WWF ‘s role in protecting them, I tried to put on an earnest listener face  and waited patiently for him to finish.

After doing a 15 mins lesson he asked;

“What do you think I am?”

“A student ? “ 

“Yes, and I donate 1€  per day from my income for the welfare of  Pandas.

“Very good deed, indeed! ”  I said 

“Are you interested to join ?”

He caught me off guard with that question. 

While I was debating whether to say “yes” or “no” to him,  he repeated; 

“Are you interested?”

“Hmm….Yes!  what do you want me to do then ?” I stammered

His face lit up.

He  showed me a booklet with pictures of endangered species to choose one.  Reluctantly I took the booklet from him and studied the list carefully. My  fingers moved from Pandas to Rhinos to Leopards and  then made a halt at…at… Gorilla!

“Yes! Gorilla”  I said

“You want to adopt a Gorilla, are you sure?”  He asked

“Positive!”  

The moment has reached to show gratitude to our ancestors, moreover how could I forget my roots? 

Once I had my decision, the  next steps went so quick. He collected my name, bank account details and  managed to get the consent  form signed from me.  Though I was unsure about my decision,  I didn’t want that boy to  feel bad as he had already spent a good amount of time convincing me.

“May be you could cancel the contract later by sending an email to  WWF directly.”  – The devil in me murmured.

Feeling bit guilty  about my hidden plan , I bid him “good bye” and in return he gave me  a “thank you” note with a smiley face which he scribbled for me at the spot.

Later at home,  I shared my encounter with the WWF boy in detail with Saju and Malu and also disclosed my plan to cancel the contract as early as possible.  The one who was silently listening to the conversation until then, the animal lover in the family,  Malu ; strongly opposed that idea and  filled me in with her knowledge about animal life, humans cruelty towards them and the need to protect them from the crisis. I knew she was right and my “secret” plan was getting shattered right there.

Not given a chance to share my opinion during her nonstop chatter, I thought to myself;  

“ I shouldn’t have let her watch ‘Animal planet’  series too much “

After two weeks I received a packet from WWF  and opened to find  my “adopted kid”. While reading the confirmation letter from WWF which I got along with the packet , I was aware of the smirk on Saju’s face watching at  my bewildered look.  Then I turned around to see Malu glancing over my shoulder with her biggest, happiest smile ever .