THE ANIMAL TRAP !!

This  is  a  very  interesting  story  or  more  of  an experience I  had  with  my very  jovial , lively , having  a  great sense  of  humour  , neighbours the Bhatias  !! 

They  have  moved  to  our  neighbourhood  very  recently . Very  affluent . They both  are  in  the  education business , yes , now  a  - days  even  education is  a  big money  spinner  and has become a  very  lucrative proposition . In  the  good old  days , this  was  the  last  commodity  one  would  ever  think of  to trade , but  to  day ??? We  trade  even education  !! Well my  idea  is  only  to let  you   have a glimpse  in  the  life  of  the  Bhatias , so that you  can understand the  story  better . 

Mr. Bhatia's  insatiable  interest  in spreading the fruit  of  education is  not  only  confined  to  the  number of  schools and tutorial  and  coaching  classes  he  is running  throughout  Nagpur  , but never    lets  go  even  the  slightest opportunity to  do  so personally too. I  hope  you  are  getting  nearer  to  my  point  . Yes  if  you  have  the  good(?)  fortune of  coming  across him somehow , anywhere , he  will see to  it  that you  are  thoroughly  educated , before  he  lets  you  off , on  the  topic which  might  have  been bugging  him on that  particular  day . It can be  anything  , it  is  your  luck what topic  he is in love with on that particular  day ! Cricket , nuclear  pact , racial  discrimination whatever, you  cant  imagine  the  breadth  and  length of  his vast  knowledge !! 

And  Mrs  Bhatia ?? She  too follows  suit  , but  a bit
differently .  She  imparts  education in slightly different  strokes  !! Her  area  of knowledge  doesnt cover such  vast  dimensions  as  her  husband . She  is  a  chronic  diabetic , She  is  taking  all kinds  of  medicines   &  therapies , ayurvedic, yunani , desi , you  name  it  she  has  tried  it.Any practioner   whose  medicine  or  therapy she  might  be  undergoing on a  particular day or a  particular period , has  to  be  the  best , the  costliest and  most  effective , but  surprisingly  before  she  ventures  into the  new therapy , her  old  one becomes  the  most  ineffective  and faltu  one  !  Ha Ha Ha !!You    have  guessed rightly in  what  direction  her  imparting  of  education  must  be  heading towards !!   Before  you  leave or  she lets  you  leave , you  feel  why not  to start a diabetic cure clinic  yourself  ????

Most  of  the  time both  of  them  are  together !!!! Their  team  work  in imparting  their  knowledge  is  praiseworthy !When  one  leaves the other takes  over! The  change  over is spontaneous!  You  never  come  to know  about  it  ! When  any  fortunate  soul gets  the  chance  to  come  out  of  their  clutches  , he  certainly  takes  a  vow in  the  name of his  most revered God  or  Goddess , not  to venture anywhere  near  their  sweet abode  again !!

That  unfortunate  (?)  day  I  happened  to  pass by  their residence .It was  a  summer  evening  , slightly  cool , I  was  out  for a  stroll .From  a  distance  I  could  see Mr. Bhatia  standing  outside  his  gate .But  my  bad  luck , he  sighted  me ,  as  soon as  I saw  him , I  was about to take  a  U turn and  before  the  U turn could  materialise , I  heard  his  very  intimate  voice  calling  me. I knew  I  was  in the  worst  trap ! I could  see the twinkle  in  his  eyes and a  very  victorious look as  if  saying "Sinha  saheb , you thought  you will escape  ???""

I had  no  choice  other  than to  go  ahead  and  meet  him with  a  very  reluctant  but a  welcome  smile on  my face !
"Oh  ,Bhatia  saheb ! Good  evening  , how's  everything ??"

I saw  that  he  was  supervising  some civil  work ,while  standing near  his  gate !  He  has a very  long  boundary  wall , and  along  the boundary  wall  outside , he  had  planted   seasonal  flowers throughout , except  at  the  end  some 5  ft,  space  was  vacant , where  the  construction  of  a  brick water  storage tank  was  going  on.  After  the  hurdles  of  initial  greetings  were  over , I  asked him   what  that civil work was  supposed  to be and what  for ?

This  was  the  cue  our  Bhatia  saheb  was  waiting  for . He lapped  it  up . That  day  his  educational appetite  was  towards his  love  and affection  for   animals . 

"Sinha  saheb , you  know how  much  I feel for animals . "

I thought  " why  not  , they are your  very  own kind ? "  and I smiled !   Bhatia  ji  didnt  have  any inkling about  the purpose  of  my  smile !
"Yeah  , you see thatswhy  I  like to share my  knowledge  with  you.  Your smile  tells  that  you also  think  the same  way  !! "

"Oh  of  course !  why not ?"I had  to , no other choice  was left .

This much  encouragement was  more than enough  for the educationist in  him to  pour out his  knowledge . And  then  there  was  the outburst  about  the  attitude  of  society  towards  the  cruelty to  animals , then  Maneka  Gandhi , his  close  proximity  with   her and  her  cause , and  so  on  and  so forth ! 

"You  see , this  is  summer  time  , no  one  thinks  about  these  stray  dogs  and  cows  , how  will they  quench  their  thirst  ? "

"I see, but  what  have  you  thought ?"

"Exactly , do you see the work  going  on at  the  end  of  the  boundary , Mr, Sinha ? "

I  could  see there were  some  people engaged in  joining  bricks  and  making  a  water  storage  tank   sort  of  thing , it  was  nearing  completion  !

"I  will store  water in the  tank , and  the stray  animals  will come  and  quench  their  thirst !"

"Very  noble  cause Bhatia  saheb  ! The  animals  will really  be so  grateful to  you . "I was  talking  to  him and  was  glancing  inside  the  gate  also  to  see  whether the  better half  was emerging   out  or not  to  have  her  share  of  educating  me !Thank  God  there  was no  sign  of  her . 

""Yeah  come  on , let  us  have a  look "  Bhatia  ji offered , which was not possible  for me to  refuse . 

Both  of  us  went  to  the corner  where  the   tank   was  being  constructed !  It  was complete  when  we  reached  there , just  the  finishing  touches  were  being  given .It  was  quite  big  and  wide  too , so  that  the  animals  wouldnt  have  much  problems . 

But  when  I reached  there what I saw , made  me  re- think about  my  friend's animal  love. Just  along  the  length of  the  tank there  was  a  manhole   covered  with a  lid  which  had  quite  big  holes at  regular intervals , so  big  that any  animal which would  come  there  to  quench  its  thirst  ,  was sure  to be  trapped  into the  hole and  break its  legs  before  the thirst  would  be  quenched  ! 

"Bhatia  saheb  , did  you  see  this  trap ??  Your  loving  friends  will simply  break their  legs !"

"Sinha  saheb I gave a  great thought  to it , but  what  to  do ? VASTU  SHASHTRA  says  that the  tank has  to be  in  this corner  only ! So  the  tank will remain  there , those  animals  having better  luck  and  bigger paws can  have  water , otherwise I am helpless . I did my best  for their  cause !''And  raised both his  hand towards heaven !!!

I  knew  it  was  final and  I  would  be only  breaking  my  head against  a  wall  if  I tried  to convince  him  to  shift  the  location  of  the  tank  ! And  there  was  another  worry  all the  time  urging  me  to leave  , yes  you  guessed  right , the  fear  of  HER  emergence  !!!

"Well  so nice  of  you  Bhatia  ji , you  did  a great job , towards  prevention  of  cruelty  towards  animals  !! "

And I took  leave  of  him !!


My  hats  off  to the  great  Animal  Lover !!!!! 

Tags: animals, trap, water tank

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