adding along a tail

                                         Just coming along….

To begin with, the other day seems to be happening just again and again. Well not exactly in the BMTC buses nowadays, but rather everywhere. I admit, rather sheepishly, I too have been bitten by the mobile bug (read talking on the road). To start off, we just have to rest the argument of the other day for a while and just move to what has recently happened. Not just with me, or my friends or any other individual known to me. It is simply put the seasonal change for all of them. Not just them but the scores and scores of residents across the sub-continent. Yes, it is the Season that I am talking about. Seasons of multiple color’s which are as varied as the amendments to our constitution? But the summer heat is not the only thing that comes to be seen when venturing into the potboiler environ of the city. The city is after all quite literally boiling. What with temperatures soaring, not just above the head, but of those who rule our heads too. Poor examinations and elections, they always seem to be embedded with themselves. So, guess we can infer that the education is really the stepping step for the politicking of the future. Makes one wonder how many politicians are actual educated in the art of educating babus about the bureaucracy. 

 

Coming back to the heat of the situation, the summer heat is just rising up the roof. Literally, taking a walk in any of those metro constructed area at 1 in the afternoon is just as adventurous as taking a walk of 2 minutes in any of those infamous deserts of the world. This might sound exaggerated, but this is the outcome of the following incident.

Taking a walk for a reason or other is just always good, this began in the same way. There I was walking in the middle of the road, the sides were dug up for public utilities service improvement u see. And I thought the metro work area was bad. So, there it was the grocery shop which was my final destination. The saving grace which was inviting me along its cool shades compounded with the marketing blitz of fruit juices. A walk of about 100 meters would have just taken me there. But yet I had to take a detour. Why do u ask? A cow and a dog. 

 

The cow, seated bang in the middle chewing its cud, unaware of its surroundings was and still is the epitome of the country, I too stood there looking at this marvelous creature of god. A creature which could just go on an on with life more patiently than most Member of parliament's with the proceedings of the house. A sacred entity whose tail houses the very essence of Indian living- Goddess Lakshmi. The cow too was rather too god in its action of sitting on the shady sideline of the road (which was one of the reason for us to walk in the sun). A real beauty this one was. With its skin shining, the creamy white skin of the cow was all but shining. A bit of fodder to its left, a bit of dung on the right and a whole lot of mosquitoes disturbing the chewing of the cud of the divine creature.

Then again forcing myself from the majestically symmetric view of the cow moving its ears and tail (oh and what a tail it was, moving in precise motion with the ears) to ward off the mosquitoes. 

 

Then came the encounter with one of the greatest descendants of the wolf family. And this one still looked as ferocious as a wolf itself. This one too was going through a phase similar as mine. This not only acted more as a reason for its infamous action but also was reason enough to stay clear of this beautiful creature. The dog too was standing in th middle of the road. Poor soul taking the heat of he sun just as me! While the shade of the grocery store was my final goal.

Then started the real act straight out of a movie dual. What I did not know was that the bone was lying right next to my foot. As I was moving away from the from the grand view of the cow and its tail (oh! That majestic majestic tail!) my feet froze to the sound of a really ferocious voice. No, it was not of the election campaigns going around the city blazing away on loudspeakers but the distinct voice of a native, ever present street dog. The dogs most prized possession, currently the piece of bone (lying unknown to me next to my feet). There I was, jerked out of the magnanimity of the cow and instantly transported to the walkways of fear thanks to the constant growling of this beat approximately 2 feet in length,breadth or in any other measurement that you want want to measure it. 

 

The canine teeth of the canine was just near razor sharp, a body with a soft skin texture, half punctuated with a bulging rib cage, and the other half of a nowhere visible stomach, a pairing of very long ears (I guess, that too was 2 feet in length) and two very meticulously placed black eyes. The dog was not just growling at me, but was graciously utilizing the middle of the road to survey me in perfect detail. (Maybe it was just confirming the presence of the bone.) I was there assuming the most absurd of things. The dog while surveying had anyways blocked away my route of escape, and of course the cow with its majestic tail waving session made it impossible to get away from the back. Stuck between the two, I started assuming and planning my escape routes. What if I jump from the dug up sideway to the other end just to realise that there was no other end. What if I jump over the dog to the other end, toward the shady grocery store (the beautiful shade for a second made me forget all the beads of perspiration that was flowing through my temple). But alas, the dog was rather too quick to act before i could act on any of my varied escape plans. 

 

It started toward me and in an instant was almost climbing upon me. But then again, the thing that happened was a superb twist in tale. The dog (or so i presumed) just stood near my leg and stated in pure tongue that i could never presume. The only perception i got was the subsequent head movements and the swaying of those 2 foot ears. A rough translation given here for the reader to understand “You kind sir, are standing on the finest piece of bone that i have smelled in a real long time. Since the time you people have started digging up roads and pathways the only thing that i have tasted are the bones of ancient bugs and some rotten dinosaur's. I just heard (thanks to my long ears) that the best chicken bone available in town are being eaten and the garbage thrown on the road in this locality. Now i understand that you are mesmerized more with my tail than my ears, but you can do whatever you do after i get the bone. It is too hot here thanks to the sun, and i need to have that juicy bone. So please move before i use my beautiful canines to dig a hole in your silly human leg.”

Somehow, looking at the tail of the dog had changed all my thoughts. My actions which followed has me still scratching in disbelief of my own actions. I had not only moved far away from the dog, but was finding myself at the cooling shade of the grocery store. How, what, where, why are all questions that persist even me? But, nevertheless, i had the shade to think of the hallucinating experiences, or was it a real TAILING experiencing...........