The Rules!

I was fully twenty minutes from the nearest toilet in Erivakulam National Park when I saw the rules posted in the featured photo. I don’t quite understand rule 6: why are people holding flowers banned from the park? Rule 1 was clear: you are not allowed to tell off a dwarf goat if it deposits its dung in the park. A related consideration is not extended to human males in rule number 4. Very specieist, (but then I’m happy that national parks are specieist) but also a little sexist. Fortunately, not having broken rule 3 (do not drink large amounts of fluids in small glasses), I did not find it hard to abide by rule 4.

I found it much harder to abide by the rules inside Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary in Thattekad. It was easy to avoid perfumes, since they were not lying in wait. Was I wearing colourful cloths? The Family laughed at the very idea. Even birds, which see more colours than humans, would not mistake my cloths as colourful. Item 4 was not a rule, but a suggestion which we had decided to ignore. But rule 9. That was bad. A field guide for birds, one for animals and another for plants! I wasn’t even carrying one of them. I thanked the fates that the guard at the entrance had not bothered to check my backpack. The next time around I will not test my luck.

A simple method

Children pay reduced prices for tickets on trains and at various tourist spots in China. The method is simple, as shown in the photo here. Children whose heights are less than 1.2 meters go free. Those who are taller, but below 1.5 meters pay half the adult price.

India has rules which depend on the age of the child. I’ve sometimes seen long arguments between an official and parents about the age of the child. The official rules one way, the parents disagree, but do not have the documents to prove their point. An argument ensues, which can only be won by the official.

In China the rule is simple: easy to check and enforce. The Chinese are practical!