The Great Cuddle

It was not as cold as it had been on first of January, 2020, but it was cold,
nonetheless. The moment I stepped out, a pup came sidling up to me and rubbed himself affectionately against my leg. The moment he did that, three more pups- his siblings, came racing towards me. The pup now discarded me and soon the four went into a group huddle, whimpering and licking each other. The cold wind was making them squirm and shiver.

The mother was somewhere in the vicinity, and the pups, I could feel, were hungry, but the mother was in no mood to feed them. She made a cameo appearance to see whether the pups were safe, and soon vanished, too tired to feed her young ones. I followed her to see where she had gone, to find her sitting snugly beside a bonfire that the labourers had lit.

“Madam Ji, alaav bahut acha hai, aap bhi haath senkiyey.” [“Madam, come and warm your hands on the bonfire”] One of the labourers offered with a big smile.

I was not so cold-hearted to ignore such a warm offer, and warmed my hands for some time, and moved on.
But association of ideas can be pretty intriguing. The sight of the fire and the animals sent me into a tizzy, and my mind immediately went to the forest fires raging in Australia. The sight of those burnt animals had brought tears to my eyes. I hoped and prayed that the fires would be extinguished soon.

But there was an immediate problem right before me. The pups were whimpering in the cold.

Morning Meanderings by Dr Santosh Bakaya

“Dekho madam, kitney kweet hain.” [“See Madam, how cute they are”] I immediately knew it was Kanchan, making her appearance after a pretty long time, and as usual, mangling words.

“Yes, they are very CUTE,” I said, putting all my emphasis on the word CUTE. She tried to read my lips as I uttered the word CUTE, and hastened towards our flat. Soon, she was carrying the ancient piece of blanket which I use for setting curd. “Madam, inn becharon ko yeh dey dey? (May we give this blanket to the poor things?)
The moment I said, zaroor, she covered the ‘poor things’ with the piece of blanket and talked to them in baby language.

“Now hop inside and, get a bowl of hot milk for them.” I said.
She came back in a jiffy and put the bowl in front of them. They ravenously slurped it up and cuddled on the blanket.

“Dekho madam, kitney cute lag rahey hain!” Kanchan remarked excitedly, taking a selfie with them.
I was pleasantly surprised that this time, she had used the word CUTE, absolutely correctly. Cricketers go for the great HUDDLE to strategize how to beat the opponent. The great CUDDLE is to strategize about how to beat the cold.

(Picture: Antara)

Watch this space for more Morning Meanderings every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.😊

Click to read all Morning Meanderings here.

About the Author

Santosh Bakaya ( 175 Posts)

Dr Santosh Bakaya is the author of three mystery novels for young adults, and a book of essays titled Flights From My Terrace, which was recently published as an e-book on Smashwords. Her poetic biography of Mahatma Gandhi, Ballad Of Bapu has been published by Vitasta Publishers, Delhi, India in May 2015 and has been receiving rave reviews from everywhere. Although a Political theorist, with a doctorate in political theory, it is literature which has been her first love. She was awarded the Reuel international award for language and literature 2014 for her long poem Oh Hark!, which forms part of the Significant Anthology. Many of her poems have figured in the highly commended category in Destiny Poets, a UK based website and many are part of international anthologies. Right now, she is giving the final touches to her satirical novel, tentatively titled Sanakpur Shenanigans.
All Posts of Santosh Bakaya