A street full of life
Mamu was an underworld Don. Rather, Mamu wanted to be known as an underworld Don. He had a booming voice and an imposing personality, or so he thought. He was about five feet six inches but he always believed that tallness is a state of mind. No one knew his real age, no one dared to ask, or so he thought.
Mamu lived in a two bedroom house in a street that had small houses lined up on both sides. The people in rest of the houses were mostly middle class families of Government employees. Mamu was the only exception. No one knew how he made his money or why there were always tens of people in his home. Actually, there were never more than ten people though Mamu always preferred to use the term 'tens'. No one knew why those people came back to Mamu day after day. When Mamu stepped out of his home, Den in his terms, he was surrounded by those people, much taller than him in reality though shorter in their minds. They hardly allowed Mamu any view of the road or the street. Mamu was a feared Don, or so he thought.
The street itself was relatively peaceful with no incident worth mentioning happening there, ever. Well, not really. There were couple of street dogs that chased, either on intuition or on purpose, old and serious looking men, well dressed and dignified women or naughty children. They barked and chased and forced these people take various positions that would normally be inappropriate for their demeanor and social standing. It was not very unusual to find old men clinging onto electric poles with a dog on watch or women in silk sarees sitting on compound walls or wildly running children. Some people carried stones in their hands when they stepped out into the street while some yelled for auto rickshaws from behind the safety of their boundary walls. It was also not unusual to find piles of stones in the houses in that street. The dogs were a menace and unknowingly created an environment that made the street look sombre and made it a dreaded place for the outsiders.
The people who covered Mamu when he stepped out on to the street were quite dog-aware. They carried dog biscuits or pieces of meat or stones depending on their mood and pretty much insulated Mamu from the nuisance of the dogs. Mamu never ever had an inclination of the dogs in the street and therefore always attributed the sombre outlook of the street to his dreaded presence in it. He always dressed in white and wore slippers. He had all the intentions to buy a gun and flash it in public but for some reason that remained a dream. He carried kitchen knives instead and usually placed them in his shirt pocket. Every once in a while, when he moved his head around or bent to pick up something, he was injured by the kitchen knives protruding from his shirt pocket. His face had lot of scars thus and Mamu always admired the effect those scars had in asserting his imposing personality. No one cared to know about Mamu, or in Mamu's own words, no one dared to know about Mamu.
Mamu made phone calls when some one from other parts of the city approached him in the belief that he could settle pesky land matters for them. He would speak in a measured tone on the phone with a hint of doom if he had not had his way. When he was done speaking one of the people would grab the phone and walk out of the house. Mamu always believed that his henchmen were carrying out rest of the task after he softened the other party by just uttering few sentences of threatening composition. Mamu always wanted to be a Don and he was one, or so he thought.
It was not usual to find tall and muscular Oxen on that street. But one summer day an Ox strayed into the street, unaware of the dangerous canine fraternity parading in it. The Ox was leisurely and ambled around in measured steps and was evaluating home after home for availability of trees with low hanging branches. The dogs were resting and did not notice the Ox. The Ox was unchallenged and enjoyed his peaceful walk in the hot summer afternoon.
Mamu stepped out of his house with the usual entourage. People covered him from all sides and Mamu, as was usual, had no view of the street or its bylanes. As they walked and Mamu spoke into the phone in his measured tone, things started happening. The dogs woke up from their slumber and noticed the large Ox with sharp horns strolling around. They just could not believe that anyone could dare walk in their street at such leisure and with so much confidence. As the first dog barked and tried to chase the Ox, it realized that their strength lies in their numbers. What can a lone dog do to a lone Ox after all? The dog went back to gather the rest of his mates and they all marched out barking and running towards the huge Ox.
The Ox, though imposing in it's personality and threating with it's horns, was very mild by disposition. It noticed one dog running at it but did not want to pickup a fight. "Dogs are dogs. They bark and chase for such is their manner" it thought. But the next time around as the Ox saw more dogs getting ready to attack, it found no point in persisting with the search for low hanging tree branches. It decided to run away.
The Ox started running out of the street even as Mamu and his henchmen were walking out of it. Mamu's henchmen noticed the Ox and were caught off guard. Though they were dog-aware, they were not Ox-aware. They thought that the Ox did not like so many people congregating around something, and decided to expose their prized possession, Mamu, to the Ox so it realizes that there is really nothing they were protecting. "Once it finds that we are around a mild looking person, it will have no reason to attack us", they decided. Before he could realize, Mamu's ring of protection disappeared into the various houses or bylanes of the street and, for the first time, Mamu saw the street in clear. Mamu was shocked to find himself alone but was happy to survey his 'domain' of influence. There was hardly anytime for that though. Soon enough, he noticed the huge Ox running towards him and was petrified. He had no other option but to run.
For the next few minutes, Mamu was running haplessly in what he always thought to be his fiefdom. He was running first, the Ox was behind him and the dogs were behind the Ox. Only Mamu and the Ox were unaware of the various bylanes in the street and so were running straight ahead. The dogs found it unusual that they had to run this long as they were used to people disappearing into bylanes or appearing on light poles. They ran, nevertheless, because it was a good run. As Mamu ran for his life, his entire past flashed in front of his eyes. The convent school where he studied, the strict teachers who were his first inspiration to become a Don, his college days when he watched from afar various gangs fighting, his father's insistence that he should act like and be a successful man in the family business, his rebellion and his father's grudging acceptance of it, his mother's sentiments, his move to the 'street' and staying in a home that his father owned and wanted to protect from land grabbers and his days in the street as a Don. He was ashamed of his situation. Here was someone who thought of himself as an underworld Don who made an entire street look dreadful. Here was someone who could settle complex issues with just one phone call. Here was someone who carried an imposing personality and a booming voice but now, running for his life because an Ox was chasing him. He could not think of one movie where the Don was chased by an Ox. It's better to die a valiant death fighting the Ox than running from it in an open street, Mamu thought. That was indeed the first time Mamu thought of death and he just froze with fear.
Mamu stopped running. He turned back with his eyes large enough to be cups in an Irani cafe. As he saw the approaching Ox, his heart sank and his eyelids started to droop slowly as if they did not wish to let him watch his own death. The Ox was running faster now and hardly noticed Mamu standing by the street side. It ran past him and out of the street quickly. The dogs stopped at the end of the street and were happy about their achievement. "Working together is success" - they barked among each other.
As they turned back, they found Mamu shaking like a weathered feather and decided to get naughty again. But before they could, Mamu's dog-aware henchmen came back into the street to create the ring of protection around him. As Mamu opened his eyes slowly, he was relieved to find himself in his usual shell. He was shaken up badly though.
Mandira Murthy, alias Mamu, decided to stop his wandering ways that day. "My father was right" he said to himself. "It is not easy being a Don". He decided to go back and join his father in his real estate business.
Niren
Mamu lived in a two bedroom house in a street that had small houses lined up on both sides. The people in rest of the houses were mostly middle class families of Government employees. Mamu was the only exception. No one knew how he made his money or why there were always tens of people in his home. Actually, there were never more than ten people though Mamu always preferred to use the term 'tens'. No one knew why those people came back to Mamu day after day. When Mamu stepped out of his home, Den in his terms, he was surrounded by those people, much taller than him in reality though shorter in their minds. They hardly allowed Mamu any view of the road or the street. Mamu was a feared Don, or so he thought.
The street itself was relatively peaceful with no incident worth mentioning happening there, ever. Well, not really. There were couple of street dogs that chased, either on intuition or on purpose, old and serious looking men, well dressed and dignified women or naughty children. They barked and chased and forced these people take various positions that would normally be inappropriate for their demeanor and social standing. It was not very unusual to find old men clinging onto electric poles with a dog on watch or women in silk sarees sitting on compound walls or wildly running children. Some people carried stones in their hands when they stepped out into the street while some yelled for auto rickshaws from behind the safety of their boundary walls. It was also not unusual to find piles of stones in the houses in that street. The dogs were a menace and unknowingly created an environment that made the street look sombre and made it a dreaded place for the outsiders.
The people who covered Mamu when he stepped out on to the street were quite dog-aware. They carried dog biscuits or pieces of meat or stones depending on their mood and pretty much insulated Mamu from the nuisance of the dogs. Mamu never ever had an inclination of the dogs in the street and therefore always attributed the sombre outlook of the street to his dreaded presence in it. He always dressed in white and wore slippers. He had all the intentions to buy a gun and flash it in public but for some reason that remained a dream. He carried kitchen knives instead and usually placed them in his shirt pocket. Every once in a while, when he moved his head around or bent to pick up something, he was injured by the kitchen knives protruding from his shirt pocket. His face had lot of scars thus and Mamu always admired the effect those scars had in asserting his imposing personality. No one cared to know about Mamu, or in Mamu's own words, no one dared to know about Mamu.
Mamu made phone calls when some one from other parts of the city approached him in the belief that he could settle pesky land matters for them. He would speak in a measured tone on the phone with a hint of doom if he had not had his way. When he was done speaking one of the people would grab the phone and walk out of the house. Mamu always believed that his henchmen were carrying out rest of the task after he softened the other party by just uttering few sentences of threatening composition. Mamu always wanted to be a Don and he was one, or so he thought.
It was not usual to find tall and muscular Oxen on that street. But one summer day an Ox strayed into the street, unaware of the dangerous canine fraternity parading in it. The Ox was leisurely and ambled around in measured steps and was evaluating home after home for availability of trees with low hanging branches. The dogs were resting and did not notice the Ox. The Ox was unchallenged and enjoyed his peaceful walk in the hot summer afternoon.
Mamu stepped out of his house with the usual entourage. People covered him from all sides and Mamu, as was usual, had no view of the street or its bylanes. As they walked and Mamu spoke into the phone in his measured tone, things started happening. The dogs woke up from their slumber and noticed the large Ox with sharp horns strolling around. They just could not believe that anyone could dare walk in their street at such leisure and with so much confidence. As the first dog barked and tried to chase the Ox, it realized that their strength lies in their numbers. What can a lone dog do to a lone Ox after all? The dog went back to gather the rest of his mates and they all marched out barking and running towards the huge Ox.
The Ox, though imposing in it's personality and threating with it's horns, was very mild by disposition. It noticed one dog running at it but did not want to pickup a fight. "Dogs are dogs. They bark and chase for such is their manner" it thought. But the next time around as the Ox saw more dogs getting ready to attack, it found no point in persisting with the search for low hanging tree branches. It decided to run away.
The Ox started running out of the street even as Mamu and his henchmen were walking out of it. Mamu's henchmen noticed the Ox and were caught off guard. Though they were dog-aware, they were not Ox-aware. They thought that the Ox did not like so many people congregating around something, and decided to expose their prized possession, Mamu, to the Ox so it realizes that there is really nothing they were protecting. "Once it finds that we are around a mild looking person, it will have no reason to attack us", they decided. Before he could realize, Mamu's ring of protection disappeared into the various houses or bylanes of the street and, for the first time, Mamu saw the street in clear. Mamu was shocked to find himself alone but was happy to survey his 'domain' of influence. There was hardly anytime for that though. Soon enough, he noticed the huge Ox running towards him and was petrified. He had no other option but to run.
For the next few minutes, Mamu was running haplessly in what he always thought to be his fiefdom. He was running first, the Ox was behind him and the dogs were behind the Ox. Only Mamu and the Ox were unaware of the various bylanes in the street and so were running straight ahead. The dogs found it unusual that they had to run this long as they were used to people disappearing into bylanes or appearing on light poles. They ran, nevertheless, because it was a good run. As Mamu ran for his life, his entire past flashed in front of his eyes. The convent school where he studied, the strict teachers who were his first inspiration to become a Don, his college days when he watched from afar various gangs fighting, his father's insistence that he should act like and be a successful man in the family business, his rebellion and his father's grudging acceptance of it, his mother's sentiments, his move to the 'street' and staying in a home that his father owned and wanted to protect from land grabbers and his days in the street as a Don. He was ashamed of his situation. Here was someone who thought of himself as an underworld Don who made an entire street look dreadful. Here was someone who could settle complex issues with just one phone call. Here was someone who carried an imposing personality and a booming voice but now, running for his life because an Ox was chasing him. He could not think of one movie where the Don was chased by an Ox. It's better to die a valiant death fighting the Ox than running from it in an open street, Mamu thought. That was indeed the first time Mamu thought of death and he just froze with fear.
Mamu stopped running. He turned back with his eyes large enough to be cups in an Irani cafe. As he saw the approaching Ox, his heart sank and his eyelids started to droop slowly as if they did not wish to let him watch his own death. The Ox was running faster now and hardly noticed Mamu standing by the street side. It ran past him and out of the street quickly. The dogs stopped at the end of the street and were happy about their achievement. "Working together is success" - they barked among each other.
As they turned back, they found Mamu shaking like a weathered feather and decided to get naughty again. But before they could, Mamu's dog-aware henchmen came back into the street to create the ring of protection around him. As Mamu opened his eyes slowly, he was relieved to find himself in his usual shell. He was shaken up badly though.
Mandira Murthy, alias Mamu, decided to stop his wandering ways that day. "My father was right" he said to himself. "It is not easy being a Don". He decided to go back and join his father in his real estate business.
Niren
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