It had to happen

Who is responsible for the exxxxxxxxxxxtended family – is a question that is hotly debated on by all the family members. We can never come to a consensus. All I can say is that with a father like my husband this had to happen! Also, the first two to be picked up Bozo and Bingo happened before the children made their entry.

We were newly married and I was a little bored at home when my better half was away on work. We agreed that a pup at home would certainly go a long way in brightening up the place. What breed of dog would be desirable was being discussed at length…

We had gone for a movie when we met Bozo. He was a cute little pup who both of us fell for at first sight. Unlike many of our subsequent entries Bozo did not need us. We were quite heart broken when we could not locate him after the show was over. He was located the following day playing with some street urchins. Our interest in the pup did not go unnoticed. Bozo was ours only after some money changed hands. He was a lovely dog. We never regretted picking him up. As it turned out Bozo did need a home and lots of care as he had epileptic fits from the time he was a year old. He did not live for too long. He was with us only for about two and a half years.

Shortly after we took Bozo home, two strays littered not far from our house. The two litters got mixed up! Only one of the mothers tried to take care of the pups. It was not much of a success and we realized not all of them would survive. We decided to give home to one of them.(please note that we were quite practical and we did not carry away the two litters, as we would probably do in later years) He was a scraggly little pup, fast losing his coat and with several boils on his body. Certainly not a fantastic specimen! Who would have thought that he would grow up to be one of the most good looking animals? Not any of us. Our first bath almost finished off the poor little mite – he visibly shrank and we could have a biology class on skeleton system. He turned out to be the most intelligent animals we have ever had; and when WE say it, it’s really something! We were lucky to have Bingo with us for a number of years. Our in-house specimens were limited in number at that time, though we were forever dragged into some rescue operation or the other.

A by-road journey through Hazaribagh jungle could mean buying a  hare from a  local poacher and releasing it at a far off place. You will not believe how hard a hare can kick even with legs tied. (the poacher would grandly offer to finish it off so that there was no trouble carrying it- to the kitchen?) Its heart warming to see a wild animal escaping into the wild.

Some people are just cruel. I remember a bird with its feet tied to a stone thrown over the overhead telephone wires. The poor bird fluttered helplessly as we watched its predicament aghast.  In such situations my better half always made an entry in shining armour. Impossible feats were performed for the benefit of four captive audience. A ladder was procured and the bird freed- and the feather in the cap bobbed energetically.

We have driven for miles with a tiny fish in the water bottle cup looking for a water body! The fish had fallen out onto the road from a truck transporting fish. My children, like all children I guess, wanted happy endings and were sure that Baba (father) could manage the impossible.

Tube lights could come crashing down when moth was being rescued from a lizard with help of a pillow aimed at the lizard! Even now it’s a common sight to see people rushing around the garden with a broom or a scraper trying to rescue a snake or perhaps a lizard from one of our cats. The first scream for additional manpower is always. .BABA!

Children made absurd demands which were acceded to with great alacrity and later I was supposed to be party to it. When Dinky littered the mid-wife cum nanny was my better half. He slept near Dinky so that she wouldn’t squash the babies. When children wanted to keep three of the five pups (two having been given off to excellent homes) they had their father as their supporter. My voice of sanity was lost in the wilderness.

Ours is certainly not a ‘normal’ household with a bagful of abnormal problems. We have had kittens trapped on the garage top. A phone call to the office and you had the Hero aborting a meeting to resue the kittens, who, perhaps, would have been rescued by their mother in any case.

The stories are endless – whether it’s Yanny from Mourigram or Maggie from Moulali, all very very far from our place, the role played by my husband is enormous. Yes, he has been kind etc. etc. but GUILTY of the extended family, he definitely is.