Right Side Up

  Her name was Fatima. A petite woman with a gentle demeanour, Fatima reflected the meaning of her name, ”captivating,” all over her fair and pretty countenance. Her kindly eyes and easy smile radiated warmth and welcome like the winter’s fire, and evoked goodwill and sympathy in generous measure towards their owner. She needed the benevolence of these good fellows: Goodwill and Sympathy , as Fatima was widowed in her prime, and dwelt with an incurable companion, whom the doctors diagnosed as Parkinson’s . Travelling down memory lane, Fatima took us to the palace city of Mysore, where her golden memories were stored.”Life there,” she said” travelled in the slow lane.”The quiet of the city with its quaint charm blended well with her temperament.”The lazy afternoons,” she recalled” were spent in friendly gossip with her garrulous neighbours.” Those carefree afternoons made her earthy, light and lively. Marriage for her was beautiful. Her husband, a timber merchant, was years her se

  The dreadful news arrived at 7:00: “There’s going to be a lockdown!” It was the unmistakable voice of Shyam’s best friend, Vishal, “....from 25 th to 14 th April.”   Stunned, Shyam rushed out. Mouth agape and eyes transfixed, he stood staring into the darkness. “Pull yourself up!”    shouted Vishal, shaking him violently. “We’ll get through it!” He knew the cause of their anguish and didn’t wish to add another ounce to it. Despair, like the silent night, engulfed Vishal. Slumping down on the bench, he cupped his face in his hands, trying to fight the cascading tears. They streamed down like the runnels on a mountain slope in summer’s rain. An occasional gasp, in between incessant sobs, disturbed the eeriness within. It was Arushi – sobbing! Unknown to the announcer, thousands of happy homes sunk into despair with that eloquent announcement, made with much deliberation, but little consideration! A cursory glance around that 10’x8’ cabin would reveal why the suddenness of that news

    He was Biski--our local Labrador! We christened him Biski because he came to our door-step for a biscuit, and the name stuck to him from that day. Although a pariah dog, we honoured him with the   title of Labrador because he had a lovely coat, a biscuit-shade ,clean and smooth ,that   any Lab would be proud to own. He was unusually tall for a pariah dog. Long limbs, a handsome face and curious monkey-eyes made him stand out among the fraternity of pariah dogs that roamed the campus.                   Lovable and loving, it did not take him long to make his way into our hearts. The biscuit-trips soon turned to full-fledged meal- tours, at least twice a day. In a way, you could say, he earned them - the meal tickets! As we stepped on to the tree-lined drive –way in the campus, Biski would espy us. The next few minutes were spent in joyous greetings. He would stretch his front legs and pay obeisance by going down on them, skip like a gambolling lamb in the meadow, and make