Treasure Hunt

Today again, there was a slight chill in the air. May appeared like September; the trees were merrily swaying, and monkeys had suddenly appeared and were hopping from tree to tree with unadulterated joy, while a hefty, middle-aged man looked apprehensively at them. The hammer blows of construction were in full swing, creating their own rhythmic momentum.

The supervisor of the apartments closest to our flat sat on a chair puffing at a cigarette, alternatively digging deep into his nose and bellowing orders at the laborers. He was rubbing his cheek with the back of his hand when his eyes fell on a laborer who had fallen asleep on the wall, the mobile in his hand.

He shouted at him, “You lazy laggard, is this what you are paid for? You good-for-nothing oaf, get up and start working.” Yelling over, he went back to digging for lost treasure in his nose.

A monkey, fascinated by this unique digging for the elusive treasure and bitten by the curiosity bug, jumped right onto his head. The man toppled from the chair, although he was on his back with his legs up in the air, his finger was still at work looking for El Dorado.

Morning Meanderings Season 4 – the weekly column by Santosh Bakaya

The man had got his comeuppance! Did the clouds rumble a celebratory rumble? I looked up, it was a mixed sky — white cotton clouds and cerulean, blue. In no time, the sky turned ominously gray, opening like a faucet. A group of excited sparrows, with delighted chirps, ascended from the trees and got lost in the clouds, celebrating the gentle raindrops racing towards the earth.

The nose digger dragged himself up from the ground, straightened his plastic chair and flung a stone at a mongrel without any reason. His dedicated treasure hunt had been interrupted and he scowled at everything around him, wrinkling his bulbous nose.

A bee, which perhaps had been watching the digging suddenly made an air dash at the man’s nose, catching him by surprise. Angrily, the man slapped at the bee and ended up slapping his nose! Ouch! Tutankhamun treasures got flattened!

The sparrows danced and sang. They had found their treasure. I hopped back, introspecting about our lost treasure of “humaneness”. Will we ever find it?

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About the Author

Santosh Bakaya ( 174 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.
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