The man jumped on the crocodile and deftly covered its deadly
mouth with his strong arms followed by his assistant who injected a sedative in
the thick skin. After a while the animal gave up the struggle and fell
unconscious. She was not the one to get
disturbed usually by such imageries but this time she was in absolute rage to
see the animal lying motionless on the tv screen.
Don’t worry your crocky is alive’ said he, ‘Just sleeping
for a while till they fix a small machine on its back.’
The explanation angered her more.
‘Who has given them any right to harass the poor creature’
He retorted, ‘ It is done for its own betterment. They are
going to find out how to make it live a longer and healthier life’
By now she had fire in her eyes
‘Who gave them the right to decide on its behalf.
Isn’t it inhuman? Doesn’t such behavior reek of while man’s burden? Didn’t all the colonizers project themselves as
saviours of the colonized people.?
‘People are different but animals have to be controlled for
the sake of science'
This was going nowhere. There was no use arguing. She got up
and went to her room. Lying on her bed her thoughts wandered to her house, how
it meant nothing to her but a comfortable dwelling place where her loved ones lived. But it wasn't so always.
………………………………………………………………………………………………
‘Papa, I want a bathtub and also a tennis court.This small
patch of land here, I will grow flowers on it'.
Papa smiled and next she knew he
got fitted the bathrooms on all the three floors with luxurious bath tubs.She
was very happy. On the day of the pooja she proudly hung an automatic camera in
her neck and went on clicking every nook and corner of the house.People as
always she was least interested in.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
How she hated radios!. Her parents always had one by their
side and they were always listening to the news.Though Iran-Iraq war had cooled
down Kashmir was going from bad to worse. Catching some hints from the stray
conversations between her parents and their friends she could make out that
there was no house to return back to. Her childish heart kept thinking of the
bathtub and the flower garden. Meanwhile her father booked a two bedroom flat
in Delhi which again they never lived in but probably which gave them a feeling
of owning a house.
‘Where will you go now when you return to India this time’
an innocent question by her Persian friend with whom she had discussed
everything ranging from films to Bermuda triangle.
She had no answer. Her friend cam e up with an ingenious
idea that she may marry one of latter’s cousin, a good looking boy from a very
well off family.
‘Your life will be made and you will not have to leave Iran,
leave us ever’
For a moment her eyes brightened but soon she realized it
would mean leaving her parents and changing her religion, both of which she
couldn’t do. She got up suddenly and changed the topic of conversation.
She had
suddenly grown-up after the first air raid on Malayer.Their miraculous escape
and events following that matured her too early in life. She would often wish
the enemy air planes to vanish somewhere in Bermuda triangle. She developed a
keen interest in history and philosophy to make sense of this absurd world and
constant chaos which was part of her growing up. Yet questions kept arising.
‘Who had given them any right to bombard hospitals? Who had
given them any right to send young boys
on the border to simply act as canon fodder? Who had given them any right to
force people out of their homes and all this for sake of which science?
