II was born in a small city, and my dad built a house near to that of our other relatives. So I had a good of company of cousins to play with. Every day after coming back from school, I would throw away my books and shoes and will run to play. We played all sorts of games, some learnt in school and some of them just invented. The best days were summer holidays for which we would desperately wait our exams to finish. It was the time to savour the half cooked pickles and to play with the seeds of tamarind. But along with this boon also came a bane and while I reflect back on my childhood, I cannot help but tell you about him.
We had an elderly uncle who lived not very far. He used to visit us once or twice a week. And those were the days of nightmare. All the children, not only my cousins but even in the locality will hide out lest he or she could be caught prey. But our uncle was even smarter; he never followed a set routine and believed in giving surprise visits. Once in a house, he would blatantly summon the children in the house. He would then sit there for the rest of the day, interviewing them for hours, asking all the unnecessary questions and giving free suggestions (I bet, facing a job interview is lot easier!). Some of the children would fall ill after that. It was a sort of gas chamber for us. I believe he drew some kind of sadistic pleasure from it. After he left, kids would pray to god to save them from this torture.
My uncle liked keeping pets, and used to have a white little fur dog whose face incidentally resembled his own. He kept it unkempt and unwashed, tied alone in a bleak corner of his garage. Poor dog, we used to think! But as it is said, ‘every dog has his day’, one night, when it was raining outside and it was dark as hell; it bit his master. That week, uncle didn’t come. Viola! we thought, the goliath got his due. After this incident his visits became irregular, his appearance increasingly matching his dog. He would not take bath for days and would chase the cats. In the family gatherings, he would bark at anyone and everyone. Some people attributed it to his senility. Interestingly, he was not even aware that his dog has got better of his persona. He now self appointed himself as a janitor of families. Now the curse of the children was shared by all, as no one had the nerve to do anything about it. The days simply passed by and his infirmity only increased.
One fine morning, when he was surrounded by street dogs, the dog catchers got hold of him and sent him to some remote place. After that we never heard of him.
