This one is going to be a short read. It attempts to connect two unrelated happenings.
Once upon a time, a few friends and I had gone on a super short trip to Mysore. We were walking along and heading to a famous hotel for a great cup of coffee. At that time of the morning, it seemed worth it to trek through the uncrowded and laid back streets of Mysore for a hot cuppa. I must add that it was well worth it and we ended up having two cups of coffee!
We were ambling along at a lazy pace when suddenly there was a loud screeching of tires. We saw an auto swerve and a kid of about 6 years run and hug his mom at her legs. It all happened in such a blur, that we could only surmise that the kid had run in front of the auto, and the auto driver had to brake and swerve to avoid a casualty. Good job, auto driver!
But…but, here’s the thing. We all stopped to watch, and what we saw is the kid’s mom beating up the kid black and blue. The kid was obviously scared out of his wits, and was clinging on to mommy for comfort. And the mom continued to thrash him. We were all aghast at her behavior. We muttered under our breaths about such moms and carried on.
Being a mom, I tried to see it from her point of view. I realized that she was so scared herself, and the act of beating the boy was a direct result of her helplessness in the situation. There is no other explanation I can offer, but in hindsight, her reaction did make sense in a mommy-like way…
Coffee was had, sights were seen, and soon we were on our way back to namma Bangalore. We were cruising along at an easy pace when suddenly my dog-lover eyes became magnifying glasses, and I spotted 2 teeny weeny pups some distance away on the busy Mysore-Bangalore highway. One black and one white. I implored my friend at the wheel to please please be careful. He had to come to a dead halt near the pups since they were in danger of being under the wheel. I looked around wildly and noticed (thank heavens) that other vehicles on our right had also ground to a halt, without knowing what was going on.
Everyone was in wait mode. We could not see the pups, and they seemed to have made no move to run back to safety. There was pensive silence in the car. We also noticed some tender coconut vendors and others on the road side. They were watching too. No one made any move to alter the situation in any way.
When I couldn’t handle the suspense of ‘where did the pups go’ anymore, I threw my handbag into someone’s hand in the back seat, clambered out and saw that the white pup had safely reached the side, while the black pup was still standing around in front of the car. I really don’t know what urgent work he had there in the middle of the road! In any case, I took matters, and the pup into my hands. And what did he do? He was insulted that someone was manhandling him this way, and made sure his protest was registered in a highly vocal manner. But I was not one to be daunted by such protests. I picked him up, ran to the side of the road, and deposited him far away from the road. I also gave him some stern advice about staying on the side!!
I returned to the car, reclaimed my handbag, and we were all set to drive on. Suddenly we spotted the mommy dog running over to inspect the little black pup. She checked him and gave him a fond lick.
At which point, there was a voice from the back seat: How come this mum is not beating or biting the baby for straying on to the road?? Hmmm……
Anu Anniah Writes 