A Dog's Life...

I don't know how many mothers manage their children so well but I just don't seem to have that knack. I either let my son bully me or have endless arguments(he's just 5 years old!) or lose my temper and end up hitting him badly. He loves me a lot(I'm second in line for him after my mother, he says) but may be because of that, expectations from me are very high. He wants me to be fully dedicated to him on the weekend. And poor bruised and battered me....

The other day, I was going to buy something from a nearby shop. I was walking on one side of the road and noticed a thin bitch on the other side. It had a collar around its neck. In a moment, it noticed me too and as if it knew me, crossed the road and started following me. I'm fond of pets only from far so I started getting uncomfortable. I crossed the road and it crossed too. Now I tried shooing it away but no, it was like an old faithful. Finally the shop came and I was glad. After I came out of the shop, my first reaction was to lookout for the dog and I was relieved when I didn't see it around. I had walked a few steps and what do I see but the dog on the opposite side again! And more shocking was to see the ray of recognition in its eyes when it saw me. It was as plain as I would see in a friend's eye. I'd never thought I could recognize it in a dog, really. It started following me again and I was somehow feeling sorry for the creature which had mistakenly taken me for a friend. But then some dogs on the way started fighting and it helplessly got involved in it. When I turned back, it was still looking at me and barking...

Evelyn Teacher's Tail...

I was really that when I was 4-5 years old. Our school was right next to the church and Christian students and teachers used to attend daily prayers in special months. I used to follow the teacher even there and kneel next to her and chant all the unknown Christian Konkani prayers. I think another reason for my having been so attached to her was that I didn't have any close friends. There was Prima, my father's colleague's daughter, that I was friends with for some time. But she left the school after a short period and I was lonely again. I somehow finished the half day of school and came home, slept for a while and spent the rest of the time with our neighbours and with my book. I had none of my age in my vicinity so I think I got more and more attached to books as I grew up.

Nothing significant happened till the summer of 1984. My mother was in the last stages of pregnancy and we had gone to native early. One night in the last week of March, my grandpa suddenly complained of headache in the middle of dinner and passed away the next morning of brain haemorrage. I remember the doctor showing the light in his eyes and shaking his head. I also remember my mother shedding silent tears in the kitchen and my two aunts wailing in two rooms. My cousin Manjanna and me were too young to understand much of it and I remember just running from one room to another not knowing what to do. Grandpa was burnt the next morning but nobody woke me up. I was very upset at that somehow. I don't remember much of him, except that I used to wake him up for evening tea and he used to keep a bottle full of orange-flavoured toffees for us. He had brought Manjanna and me a book each also. I think I look like him.

Then in 10 days, my sister was born. My aunt and mother went to the hospital in Honavar and I went the next morning to see her. My first reaction was to say, "Oh, she's got such chubby cheeks!". Yes, my sister was very healthy, totally unlike me. My mother says even the pregnancy was so much more peaceful for her. Hmmm...That was not my fault, I guess!