I had rolled barely a hundred metres down the road when I spotted her gambolling in the adjoining park.
"Heyy Alu," I called out. "Want to come along?"
I was going down to the office. With Corona lurking aound the corner, fierce planning was underway and I was spending most of my waking hours locked within its flimsy walls.
Alu considered my proposal for a wee minute. Then mind made up, she came skipping down the slope. After the routine foreleg-pranaam and some extra tickle and rub, she trotted happily beside me, office bound.
" You know,' She said conversationally, just as we rounded the bend near the hospital, "There's a new God these days......"
I wasn't sure I had heard right.
"God?" I asked Alu. "Did you say 'God'?"
"Yes, I did." Alu said, without slackening speed. Her tail fanned the air in rhythm with her trot.
I had a sudden vision of Alu as this evangelical preacher....waving a white robed paw and threatening the world with doom if they didn't bow down to this God.
The vision was so preposterous that I shook my head to dispel it and asked her: "What God?"
Alu didn't answer me at first. She swooped down into the कुल flowing beside the road, took a great swig of it's mountain water; and then joined me once more on the road.
"It's a completely new God. Very powerful. Potent."
"Whose God is it?" I was now extremely curious.
"Ours." Alu shrugged. "Well, at least their's."
"Whose? The animals'?"
"Yeah. And the birds'. And insects'. And the trees'."
"Okkk. A god of the wild animals. Something like the Lord of the Jungle! Tell me more, Alu." It was a most interesting conversation.
"Oh, this God is a hot favourite, Aibee. Everyone is a convert by now." Alu confided.
"And why is that?"
"The God is very powerful. And it has done wonders to the forests. And the rivers. And the mountains. And the deserts."
"Really?"
"Yes. And even for the cities."
"Huh?"
"Yes, yes Aibee. Everyone is raving about this new God. IT has paved the way for the wild to become the king again. The two-legged are all but pushed back, back into hiding."
I could now see where all this was leading.
"Oh, so you mean the Corona Virus?" My voice was scathing.
"Yes. The Crown God." Alu bobbed her head and a few drops of the कुल water from her fur landed on my nose.
" See Aibee, see how the world has cleared. The roads are dotted with fallen leaves, the skies are a clean blue, no one steals the peaches from the trees, the plum headed parakeets are back on the tune trees....and when darkness falls, the silver lamps in the sky are brighter than even the lights of Dharamshala..."
I had to agree. I had seen the night sky yesterday, shining proudly like a gaudy black zardozi sari. I know what she was talking about.
"But people are dying, Alu. All over the world."
It seemed as if Alu had not heard. She paused, sniffing the air.
"The ducks are back in the canals. And the dolphins in the waters near the pier. Neelgais are roaming on the streets of Ludhiana. And a naughty sambhar is pretending to be a reindeer in Jaisalmer."
"Aibee, can you see them?" Alu was wagging her great cream bushy tail in excitement.
"Aibee, isn't the Crown God great and wonderful?"
I did not know what to say.
We were nearing the flagpole now.
'The two-legged are dying, Alu. What's all this to me if my people are dying?"
Alu had stopped and was sniffing at the grass. She lifted her head and gurgled, kind of like Professor Trelawney from 'Harry Potter', only the glasses were missing.
"IT has pushed the two-leggeds back. Now they sit, quaking in fear inside their burrows and nests. Our world is emptied of them. The Crown God reigns supreme."
"Yaar Alu....dimaag tera ghoom gaya hai.... What BS!"
But Alu went on: "They will reclaim what is rightfully theirs. Very soon. Very, very soon...."
She looked at me, her deep dark eyes great pools in which the future swum.
"They are gathering around. All around. In the forests. Within the oceans. In the rivers and deserts and mountains. And in the great underbelly of your towns and cities. Under this Crown King, they will reclaim their rightful territory."
It was a bit too much for me to swallow.
"Bunkum" I declared. "Awwwww, come on Alu darling. Don't be a Doomsday prophet."
I dismissed her portents in a howl of laughter and jogged down the last few metres to the office.
Alu, now back to being my familar Alu, raced with me tail; waving, ears flapping.
But did not deign me with a reply.
When we finally returned home and I was just shutting the wicker gate behind her, I couldn't help but ask:
"So tell me Alu, haven't you joined these Corona devotees?"
"Nope." Alu scratched the back of her ear. "I won't."
"I'm a part of La Résistance."
"Oh!" My eyes touched my scalp in surprise. "You are, are you?"
"Yes. I am. And there are others too."
"Like?"
"The hedgerow sparrows you feed every morning. And the starling that lives in the storm drain in the garden. And some of my pals from Slate Godam village. And the civet that lives inside your office roof."
"And many others too."
I was floored. "What does your Resistance movement fellas do, Alu?"
"No violence." Alu assured me.
"We do IEC."
"What the....! What the hell do you know about IEC?"
Alu cocked an ear at me. Her eyes had a disdainful light. "More than you think I do. We tell them that not every two-legged is bad. And the Crown God is no one's God, just an opportunist."
I was impressed.
Alu had climbed onto her guard post, the pillars of our block gate and was standing tall, surveying her kingdom below.
I sat on the garden swing and watched the world around shimmering in the crystal like air.
"Alu, why did you tell me all this?" I yelled at her.
She yelled back from her post.
"So that you let your two-legged clan know."
"What?"
"Ki sudhar jao."
"Who's going to listen to a fat fish-fry like me?"
"Use that light and sound box in your hand." Alu advised.
"And don't worry about who will listen. You tell them. Someone might pick up the waves. Even if one two-legged listens, it'll be worth it."
Her night check done Alu returned to her chair on my porch which is her bed.
As I crossed her while entering the house, I stopped and asked:
"So tell me Alu Boss, why did you join La Résistance?"
Alu yawned, a great big yawn with tongue out and teeth bared. Then she put one paw out and touched me softly, head cocked to one side: "Because I like you, sweetheart."
Filled and fulfilled I climbed up the steps to my home.
"Heyy Alu," I called out. "Want to come along?"
I was going down to the office. With Corona lurking aound the corner, fierce planning was underway and I was spending most of my waking hours locked within its flimsy walls.
Alu considered my proposal for a wee minute. Then mind made up, she came skipping down the slope. After the routine foreleg-pranaam and some extra tickle and rub, she trotted happily beside me, office bound.
" You know,' She said conversationally, just as we rounded the bend near the hospital, "There's a new God these days......"
I wasn't sure I had heard right.
"God?" I asked Alu. "Did you say 'God'?"
"Yes, I did." Alu said, without slackening speed. Her tail fanned the air in rhythm with her trot.
I had a sudden vision of Alu as this evangelical preacher....waving a white robed paw and threatening the world with doom if they didn't bow down to this God.
The vision was so preposterous that I shook my head to dispel it and asked her: "What God?"
Alu didn't answer me at first. She swooped down into the कुल flowing beside the road, took a great swig of it's mountain water; and then joined me once more on the road.
"It's a completely new God. Very powerful. Potent."
"Whose God is it?" I was now extremely curious.
"Ours." Alu shrugged. "Well, at least their's."
"Whose? The animals'?"
"Yeah. And the birds'. And insects'. And the trees'."
"Okkk. A god of the wild animals. Something like the Lord of the Jungle! Tell me more, Alu." It was a most interesting conversation.
"Oh, this God is a hot favourite, Aibee. Everyone is a convert by now." Alu confided.
"And why is that?"
"The God is very powerful. And it has done wonders to the forests. And the rivers. And the mountains. And the deserts."
"Really?"
"Yes. And even for the cities."
"Huh?"
"Yes, yes Aibee. Everyone is raving about this new God. IT has paved the way for the wild to become the king again. The two-legged are all but pushed back, back into hiding."
I could now see where all this was leading.
"Oh, so you mean the Corona Virus?" My voice was scathing.
"Yes. The Crown God." Alu bobbed her head and a few drops of the कुल water from her fur landed on my nose.
" See Aibee, see how the world has cleared. The roads are dotted with fallen leaves, the skies are a clean blue, no one steals the peaches from the trees, the plum headed parakeets are back on the tune trees....and when darkness falls, the silver lamps in the sky are brighter than even the lights of Dharamshala..."
I had to agree. I had seen the night sky yesterday, shining proudly like a gaudy black zardozi sari. I know what she was talking about.
"But people are dying, Alu. All over the world."
It seemed as if Alu had not heard. She paused, sniffing the air.
"The ducks are back in the canals. And the dolphins in the waters near the pier. Neelgais are roaming on the streets of Ludhiana. And a naughty sambhar is pretending to be a reindeer in Jaisalmer."
"Aibee, can you see them?" Alu was wagging her great cream bushy tail in excitement.
"Aibee, isn't the Crown God great and wonderful?"
I did not know what to say.
We were nearing the flagpole now.
'The two-legged are dying, Alu. What's all this to me if my people are dying?"
Alu had stopped and was sniffing at the grass. She lifted her head and gurgled, kind of like Professor Trelawney from 'Harry Potter', only the glasses were missing.
"IT has pushed the two-leggeds back. Now they sit, quaking in fear inside their burrows and nests. Our world is emptied of them. The Crown God reigns supreme."
"Yaar Alu....dimaag tera ghoom gaya hai.... What BS!"
But Alu went on: "They will reclaim what is rightfully theirs. Very soon. Very, very soon...."
She looked at me, her deep dark eyes great pools in which the future swum.
"They are gathering around. All around. In the forests. Within the oceans. In the rivers and deserts and mountains. And in the great underbelly of your towns and cities. Under this Crown King, they will reclaim their rightful territory."
It was a bit too much for me to swallow.
"Bunkum" I declared. "Awwwww, come on Alu darling. Don't be a Doomsday prophet."
I dismissed her portents in a howl of laughter and jogged down the last few metres to the office.
Alu, now back to being my familar Alu, raced with me tail; waving, ears flapping.
But did not deign me with a reply.
When we finally returned home and I was just shutting the wicker gate behind her, I couldn't help but ask:
"So tell me Alu, haven't you joined these Corona devotees?"
"Nope." Alu scratched the back of her ear. "I won't."
"I'm a part of La Résistance."
"Oh!" My eyes touched my scalp in surprise. "You are, are you?"
"Yes. I am. And there are others too."
"Like?"
"The hedgerow sparrows you feed every morning. And the starling that lives in the storm drain in the garden. And some of my pals from Slate Godam village. And the civet that lives inside your office roof."
"And many others too."
I was floored. "What does your Resistance movement fellas do, Alu?"
"No violence." Alu assured me.
"We do IEC."
"What the....! What the hell do you know about IEC?"
Alu cocked an ear at me. Her eyes had a disdainful light. "More than you think I do. We tell them that not every two-legged is bad. And the Crown God is no one's God, just an opportunist."
I was impressed.
Alu had climbed onto her guard post, the pillars of our block gate and was standing tall, surveying her kingdom below.
I sat on the garden swing and watched the world around shimmering in the crystal like air.
"Alu, why did you tell me all this?" I yelled at her.
She yelled back from her post.
"So that you let your two-legged clan know."
"What?"
"Ki sudhar jao."
"Who's going to listen to a fat fish-fry like me?"
"Use that light and sound box in your hand." Alu advised.
"And don't worry about who will listen. You tell them. Someone might pick up the waves. Even if one two-legged listens, it'll be worth it."
Her night check done Alu returned to her chair on my porch which is her bed.
As I crossed her while entering the house, I stopped and asked:
"So tell me Alu Boss, why did you join La Résistance?"
Alu yawned, a great big yawn with tongue out and teeth bared. Then she put one paw out and touched me softly, head cocked to one side: "Because I like you, sweetheart."
Filled and fulfilled I climbed up the steps to my home.
