35th Heartbeat

A FISH NAMED WANDA[i]

I am an advocate of nature and nurture and I have been keeping pets for quite some time.

Allow me to tell you something about Wanda.

I came across a small pet shop one unpleasantly cold evening of January 2009 and saw “Wanda” placed inside a small glass jar. Upon seeing him, I never had second thoughts of taking him home with me so that I have something to embellish my seemingly bare counter cabinet. Days after, I bought a clear medium-sized tubular vase and polished stones from the home section of a department store, not just for aesthetics’ sake (which I would first and foremost consider), but also for Wanda to have a bigger space where he can move freely, gulp air and spit out bubbles.

Wanda, by the way, is a male Betta, popularly known as Siamese fighting fish. Betta fishes are members of the “gourami” family and keeping them as pets are rather inexpensive particularly when you want to explore the aquatic species ownership realm. They are capable of living in smaller containers than most aquarium fishes, without the filters and aerators that other aquarium fishes require. They are called “Betta” because their genus is derived from ikan bettah, taken from a local dialect of Thailand. In the wild, they proliferate rice paddies, shallow ponds, and even slow moving streams. [ii]

In popular culture, the Siamese fighting fish has been used as the default background in the first official beta version of the Windows 7 operating system, in an apparent reference to the name “betta”. In the movie From Russia with Love, the James Bond villain Blofeld compared the strategy of SPECTRE to three Siamese fighting fish fighting each other. There, two will fight each other to the death while the third will wait its turn, symbolizing the conflict between the USA and the Soviet Union as the two fighting fishes and SPECTRE as the third waiting fish.

One of the interesting behaviour of this genus is its aggressiveness. The aggression of Bettas has been a subject of interest by ethologists (naturalists who study animal behavioural patterns) and comparative psychologists. According to studies, Bettas will respond aggressively, even to their own reflections in a mirror. Like other fishes, Bettas may also respond to the presence of humans and become trained to respond to feeding cues (such as a hand placed over the water’s surface). They are quite curious and will watch humans going about their business nearby. But they should remain isolated when kept as pets because most people would claim that it is not ideal for them mingle with other genus of fishes because they are born “to attack and kill”. In order to prove to myself that Wanda is indeed very aggressive, there are occasions where I would point my red signature pen just before him and he immediately “flares up”, puffing out his gills in order to appear more impressive, intimidating me, his adversary. For the past six months, Wanda has been living in his solitary world, waiting for his daily shrimp meal, and effortlessly spitting bubbles that form a slimy nest.

Few weeks ago, Fr. Titus and I wanted to do an experiment. We wanted Wanda to join other fishes in the large aquarium in order to check if he is really genetically designed for attacking and killing his opponents. I was hesitant at first because I was too afraid Wanda might really show aggression and take the life of one of the gullible fishes bought by Fr. Andy. But after much prodding, I agreed to the suggestion and told Fr. Titus: “Sige lang a. Kung may patyon gid man ang Fighting Fish ko, ako lang ang mapa-akig kay Fr. Andy!” (Of course, I don’t want Fr. Andy to get angry…I mean, who wants to? hehehe) When I placed Wanda inside the aquarium, instead of bullying or pouncing on helpless carp, swordtail, freshwater angel fish, black moor, and gold fish, he went away recklessly, looking for burrows where he hid himself. I had mixed emotions upon seeing Wanda struggling inside the large aquarium: I was sad because the scenario definitely curbed my enthusiasm because I was expecting him to be belligerent, but at the same time, I was also happy because Wanda wasn’t that bad or cruel after all. He was rather aloof and withdrawn. My preconceived ideas about this genus of fish were rather silly. He was not comfortable with his new world because he has learned to live his life in solitary confinement, delimited by impressions that he is indeed destined to attack and kill.Poor Wanda, it was too late for him to be given the chance to prove himself and eventually socialize with other fishes in the aquarium.

Looking back, I believe that there are also people who live their lives in solitary confinement like my pet, Wanda, not because it is their personal choice, but it is humanity that dictates them to pull themselves out of the social sphere. They are individuals who hunger for love and acceptance, but then they were overshadowed by prejudice, inequality, bigotry, apathy and discrimination. Like my poor fish who cramped himself in his lonely, tubular world, these people would also crave for freedom and understanding, longing for the day that they will also be given the chance to prove their inherent goodness.

God made all things bright and beautiful. He did not create monsters.

“Prejudices are the chains forged by ignorance to keep men apart.” (Marguerite Gardiner, Countess of Blessington quotes)

Uncategorized |