Hazy

When she walked towards me
I couldnt tell whether it was an
apparition or whether I wasnt
wearing my glasses. Was I suddenly
older than grandma? I strained my eyes
a bit and realized that everything else
was crystal clear. So it wasnt me, it was her.
I could make out that she had wild long hair,
but her eyes, nose or anything that was a feature
was a blur - and I almost found myself
screaming out Ghost ! But grandma
had told us that the forest does not allow
ghosts and things that were completely dead
to enter it. I tried to calm myself down.
By then she was very close but not any clearer.
After I returned home, felt like I had been to
one of my trips to the river on a foggy day....
All that we spoke about seems like a haze.
I still dont understand why was it me she told
all that to! Maybe because I didnt run away....

She said ' Between any two worlds exists
a gap, very small in dimension but enormous
in its ability to wipe away anything that crosses it.
I lost my best features crossing those gaps as I
travelled through different worlds.
Noone knows much about the universal dump
into which sucked out parts are thrown.
But I know that what is lost can never be retrieved...'

The forest fire

Foxes are supposed to be cunning, damn cunning. But Kish was far from it. It wasn't that he was not clever or smart, he was all that and not cunning. This goodness in many ways made him a black sheep of the family. His dad pitied his youngest son for his naivety and thought of him as rather stupid. When he was a little fox, his dad hoped that come 18 and his son would be better-knowing of the dirty ways of this world. But 18 did come to Kish and he failed to pick up the dirty ways. Even at 26 today, his eyes shine with a tender innocent glow. You must meet him to know what am talking about.
Chou the hippo, took after her mother like the page below the carbon sheet takes on the contents of the page above the carbon sheet! She was a bluer version of her mommy. Short, fat and cute, that was Chou for you. She had a pretty face, so says Kish. But when I looked at her face, I was so struck by the pendulous lips that it blinded me totally from the rest of her features and I couldn't totally agree with him. She was gentle, so says Kish. Here I could agree with him because despite being a hippo, whenever she walked past me, all I heard was the jingles at her feet. She was lovable, again so says Kish. Off course, here Kish didn't mind me differing with him since he wanted to love her like noone else. He did a damn good job of that too.
Getting drunk on her laughter was his favourite pasttime and it came at a minimal investment from his side, all he had to do was launch on his huge collection of never-failing-to-get-a-laughter jokes. Running his fingers through her hair and making pony tails out of them, he found exciting. Talking of endless nothings to her, atop the tree house was all he did every afternoon. She sang him melodious numbers from her land, rather the slush and he in turn got her garlands of jasmine from his garden. Happiness and love seemed abound and forever.
Then it happened, the forest fire. Though it was checked real soon by the forest officials, it ate into a portion of the thick bamboo growth, where the tree house was. Kish and Chou were to meet there that afternoon as usual. What was unusual was that Chou came but no Kish. Kish, who was grounded at home when the news of the fire spread, did his best to explain to his dad why he had to be where the fire was. But dad would not let go of his son, trusting his frustration to be stupid again. When at long last he did make a sneak-out and reach the bamboos, the tree top remained only in its charred form. Kish hoped fervently that Chou was grounded similarly too. He raced to her slush, but it seemed there they had not even heard of the fire. He raced back to the bamboos, no signs of Chou. He couldnot hold himself anymore. He slumped down and cried aloud, unabashed. You have heard foxes cry haven't you? If you haven't, what happens is that when one fox cries, all of them cry too. But this was so doleful that everyone in the forest felt like crying too. I remember I cried and cried until I fell asleep, all along thinking that they should at once remove this concept of love and feeling from the world and then giving in to accepting it like another law of nature, like gravity, hoping instead that Kish would meet Chou soon. The poor dear is still crying about in the jungle...

PS : The last time princess Duck went to the London zoo, she says she heard a Hippo snort at her and when she looked at her, she stared at her endlessly, like begging to be recognised. Maybe we'll go back to the zoo, all of us together and ask her about her home and friends. Maybe, just maybe...

Tea, biscuits and so much more....

What do you do when your everyday is perfect?
When do you know when it just got better?
If the forest was a place where everyone
walked on rose petals, this might have been the case,
but its not. You have to work your way
here but not in the way humans know it - not
by sitting in an office from 7 am to 11 pm, not by
losing loved ones and getting used to the lingering
chill that follows, not through hurt, not by
learning to bear someone else's enormous weight,
and not by going through a boring and meaningless life.
Humans I think have made their world way too rough
and they complain about how the sharp edges cut them
when they go through it.

In the forest, all you have to do is to know it better.
And as you do mysteries unfold before you though you never
know through who or when, you have to experience it yourself.

Today Gif and me after a long day of running through
the woods, playing catch at school and swimming in
the river went over to grandma's place. Its something
we always look forward to. Her home is lit with dim orange
lights, jars of pickle decorate the kitchen, tea is always
brewing and a warm dish is ready in case u get hungry.
When her tender eyes greet you, you feel like a sailor
that has just hit shore.

We put our heads on her lap, Gif on one side and me on the other.
Then she gently strokes our fur and in her soft tone talks
about some fantastic stories, about the past and the future,
about the secrets of the forest.

She knows what runs in our hearts, she knows what we want to
hear and she knows when we are transported into a world of dreams.....

The boat-race picnic

Tripayar lake, which was actually a lagoon of the vast river that flowed through Thrissur district, had a noisy, cheerful and festive spirit about it. Just like the past few years, the annual Tripayan boat race, in celebration of the yearly Onam festival was to be held there again. Just so you get the picture right, boats on the race were to be rowed by about 6 per boat, and mission was to reach the finishing point, the other side of the lagoon fastest, rowing your boat ferociously. Everyone knew what a mega event that turned out to be every year. Everyone had something to make merry about on that day! The florists made big bucks, boatsmen bought huge masses of flowers in decoration for their boats. The toddy sellers nearly earned their year's profit on that day as they sold toddy to all the participants if not for which they would not be able to row much beyond their capacity, like they did. The participants made big and small heroes of themselves, rowing the way they do is not a small task, mind you! The usual crowd often bet against each other on the boats from their villages! Teenage boys just dreamt of a day when they'd be one of the boatsmen, testing their strength against each other and bringing victory and pride to their families and villages. Teenage girls shyly whispered to each other about their crushes on their chosen boatsmen! And the little ones raced their paper boats against each other. So it was a gala time for everyone!
'Dubai lakshmi', as silly as it sounds, that was the name of our boat. We could think of a million more majestic names, but the owner insisted on this one, apparently in worship of his source of all wealth and prosperity! Griz and me were at the first pair of oars. The duck and Goldskin, were at the second pair and Keda and Beats were on the final one. The ones on the final one had to have the maximum strength, so we trusted it to male physical strength! Though I personally believed I was stronger than Beats the beatle and Keda the snake put together. But I left my personal beliefs aside, team work and ultimate co-ordination is what we required today. Anything to bring that victorious trophy and pride to the jungle back! Failure would be painful, what with owing the boat owner a huge lumpsum. I heard my heart racing real fast and after sometime i couldn't hear it anymore, I suppose it was going faster that sound or one of those science mysteries! Soon it was time to begin and the whistle was heard!
We drew in deep breaths, screamed out the customary 'Ehiy lhasa' and steered to steam ahead. From the very beginning we brought up the rear. Griz and me got our navigation all wrong. Duck had never had time to practise rowing with us, roaming the world about on her chariot the way she does, Goldskin always overconfident about her skills. Too much toddy never did Beats any good, he was his usual farting self and Keda mostly sat mystified by the scenery about. 'Ehiy lhasa', 'Ehiy lhasa' we went, but to no where close to the finishing line. From where I sat, the fastest boat was almost onto the finishing line. Bitter failure after all that tension seemed almost soothing. Man, we ought to have realised much earlier, we were no humans to enter that rat race!
Suddenly the duck had this brilliant spark, and we lost no time in changing our direction. We were now heading towards this secret cove that formed close to where the river joined the sea. It was the most amazing spot for a picnic! yippie! Totally unlike what I thought of how the day would go... The boat owners' due, awh, the duck's daddy is a king right? Well, he owns these oil fields and all that. Its a pleasure to know duck especially if you are in a financial lurch, like the one we were in! Anyways, everyone's welcome to join us at the picnic...

A Polish Song

Today I heard her sing this tune,
The one who comes by the Banyan sometimes.
Don't know the title but I'd like to call it
'When carrots turn sour',
a song from some long ago,
And the melody plays over and over ...

Say no more, no more..
Don't look that way.
We are out of words and moons and stars.
There is no tenderness.
Though life is empty, you don't need me.
Joy has faded and this life's gone sour.

Princess Duck's new clothes!

An orange dress, with shining sequin work on it and irregular edges, which was so much the fashion, and with deep pink satin roses hemmed inbetween, lay crumpled on the bed. Beside it lay a lilac wonder. It was an off-shoulder dress, created to match exactly the lilac stone jewellery set that the princess inheritted from her queen god-mother. The most striking piece, among the multitude that lay strewn all over the place, that also lay crumpled close-by was a shimmerring red one-piece killer! The single time the princess had it on, had all her maids have their mouths open in wonder and awe. Off course, there also were so many black dresses, black, if you didn't know, happened to be the princess's favourite colour and every tailor in the kingdom had to create a black masterpiece before he got his practising license. And why wouldn't she love black, she looked stunning in black. It complimented her skin so well and brought out her best figure :) I have this photograph of the princess, she is wearing this black boat-necked gown that stuck to her figure everywhere except way below where it very slightly flared about the feet and one, anyone, couldn't just take their eyes off her in this photograph! Her hair is neatly bunched into a french roll and together with her very slight makeup creates this everlasting impression of what one might call beauty, in one's mind. If you ask me which one of her clothes is my favourtie, well I'd grab that magenta and black psychedelic printed kimono-kind piece. Somehow it has this deep mysterious touch to it that is fun to have on! There I go talking about myself again...
Well, it was the princess Duck's birthday party. And all the fuss with her clothes was about the perfect gown for m'lady to have on at her party. If you ask me, I would surely tell you that clothes for ducks, besides looking awfully funny, I mean just imagine a gown for a duck and I bet you are going all 'hahahahahehehehe' about it, but try taking it from a duck's point of view, which is what am doing right now, they also all look same, you are going all 'hahahahahehehehe' about it again? No, no take it from the duck's point of view, their gowns do look fantastic, well atleast the princess's ones do! Believe me! And again me...!
So, the princess could not just find the right dress for her birthday party. I sometimes have this itching in my ear and then I come up with this really humourous thought, doesn't one now get reminded of the tale 'Emperor's new clothes'. 'hahahahehehe' again. But naughty thoughts aside, guess what I came up with finally? I know its about me again.. but it was me who came up with it...
It was the perfect, though not strictly speaking, but again quite suited to the occassion it was, idea for princess Duck. It was my gift to her too! Am a painter of sorts, but I have never painted anything better;) Well, I bought a carton of metallic, mica, shiny, black paints and there I was painting the princess. Body painting is quite an art and a rage these days you know! I drew wonderful shapes and figures and crazy ideas all over the princess. It was a pity that the princess was so petite! I soon ran out of canvas for my numerous ideas! Now, u there, can I paint you too?

Book of Treasures

I was looking for wild berries today,
but the smell of wet soil was so intoxicating
after the rain that I spent more time rubbing
my nose into the ground pretending to
look for potatoes instead .... thats when
I found a lil red bound book, tucked away,
close to the roots of the big banyan.
It said, for my darling Vincent on the first page
.....human romance ! cool ! So, I spent the rest
of the day reading and here's a sample...

The Last Encounter

Enter Nerkesht of Engelbrook.
Enter Vincent of Roserfield.

'The sky has grayed,
A star has set,
One cow died by my bed.
The signs are here !
You know them, my darling Ner.
Pack my bags, dont cry please.
By the time dawn is here,
I promise you wont feel a thing.'

Dear Vincent,
You were right on that dreadful night,
Dawn and Winter both came by,
With a potion of poison green,
And once I drank,
I was her and she was me.
Then I heard a lullabye,
Now all is well, all is numb.


Personally I find human romance
amusing , they say it absorbs people
into a different world , and once you
are absorbed, the past world goes up in a
puff ! I often think how different it might
be to say me getting absorbed in eating carrots.
I think its the same thing, just that my
world has stayed intact. I don't think
even human romance can change the forest -
its been like this for years !

Mista mouse and me...

Right now, exactly right now, as am typing this I have a mouse, a real one at that, gnawing at my sandals... Are you wondering why am not throwing my feet up in the air and jumping about screaming and doing the usual girlie stuff? Well, all that happened the first time, but since then its fun to have a cool friend at my work place! I just got him a biscuit from the cafetaria below, taking care not to overfeed him, fat volume has never appealed to me! But somehow he seems to find mt sandals more delicious to gnaw at. Or perhaps, he is just licking a word of thanks there.
I came pretty close to touching him ;) and feeling his little, greyish-brownish coat of fur. But all that knowledge of plague comes in the way. I wish I could, maybe just take him up in my palm and look into his eyes and play blink-blink again. Blink-blink you ask? hey thats a cute game, you must try it with your pet too! How its done is, you draw his attention first and then say 'Hi there, say, whats up?' and then follow it with a blink and again a blink. (Hence the name blink-blink) Then he'd mostly reply in his own way... and hey! follow it with blink and a blink again! There you are, all set for the game. You can now carry on your conversation and end each time with a blink-blink and he does the same too. One of these days you ought to drop by and watch us play this blink-blink game, he does it so cutely with those tiny eyelids of his that goes blink-blink each time. Oh yeah, maybe am quite crazy about my pet mouse!
Oh how he fears those pest control guys, they come around with their whacko cleaners and decide to rid me of my fun at work. But my pets too clever for them. Pssst, Lemme tell you a secret, he mostly hides in this unused jar of chips on my desk. Hehehe. They can never look for a mouse in my jar of chips. He gets bored of me once in a while and then I need to put in some work too ;). So I shoo him off and he runs to another desk. Bah, desks are mostly full of boring people, who scream and yell and jump about and complain about hygiene and the lack of it in our work places! Disgusting right?
Hey, you know what? Going by the latest fashions, am planning to dye my mouse's fur coat. What about ebony black? Or maybe golden, just like a blonde :) lets see how I get that worked out. I did ask him about it and he seemed really thoughtful about his looks after the dyeing. I think he'll look just swell. I do, so badly want to put this little satin bow around his neck and take his formal snap and all that. But my pet's camera shy, like he's this big-shot celebrity and all that :) hehehe...
A name... a name is what I've been trying to find for my mouse. Nothing seems just right :(. Right now its just mista mouse... Now, can you help me there?

The jungle at night

There is always so much thrill in sneeking out at night
as we tip toe out first and then make a wild run into
the darkness, giggling, panting through the river,
over the muddy hills till we drop down at our favourite spot.

Beatle is five years old (which is equivalent to being in your
mid teens by beatle standards), I am barely ten even by my
own standards and Gif is somewhere in between though we
are all amazed at how fast her neck is growing and mostly
think that it has something to do with her love for grass and heights.
There are others who join us somtimes - Griz who writes these
wonderful poems, and Goldskin who doesnt understand why anyone
would prefer staying out of water, sometimes I come alone but its
just not the same without them.

Today was particularly wonderful as we argued about who has
the biggest backside and I still think the answer is obvious.
After a game of 'stumble', we argued about who has the
longest yawn-which was easy again, whoever has the longest
neck has the longest yawn and we were all so grateful
for having been taught logic at school. Next we pretended
Beat was cracking funny jokes and very soon
he had us cracking up for real . The stars winked
at us with their million eyes and we winked
back till our eyes tired, a few moments of blissful
nothingness and soon we fell into a sound slumber.