Tom and Jimmy

Tom and jimmy occupied a place of pride in our house. They were so good natured and the moment the word lion was uttered, scurried for cover and hid themselves beyond anybody’s reach. Cashing in on the fear of the live lion, we the youngsters used the mantra often to scare the daylight out of them. Poor pets had no way of knowing, given the chance of seeing even a caged lion we would do the same.

How they came into our care was an interesting story in itself. On a summer holiday, we were just lolling about in the hot sun, rebelling against the family diktat that hot afternoons are time to stay indoors. All of a sudden, a well grown cockerel came into our view giving a hot chase to a scrawny-looking hen for no apparent reason. As this was a common sight in the village, we did not pay much attention to their dispute.

Nearby, a huge heap of dry straw was stacked and a stray bull was just helping itself to a feast. The hen running out of steam, gathered all its energy tried to land on top of the stack but managed to do so on the bull’s neck. The sharp talon of the hen must have hurt it and in an involuntary action let out a sharp bellow. The bedlam broke loose; cockerel and hen vanished from the scene, the annoyed bull ambled away. With a time delay, a kitten and a pup emerged from the stack and at breakneck speed dashed into our house, which was a few yards away.

We children could not understand why they hid in the stack, how both of them came together to hide and why they chose to take refuge in our house? The weighty question was why they got separated from their mother’s? The other children in the group tried to convince us that the kitten and the pup could be raised as pet animals. Though, the idea sounded wonderful, the implementation part appeared difficult. In our house only voices will be raised not pet animals. The proposers of the idea might have been quick thinkers in pointing out the carrot and sticks, in front of us, in one go!

The hay stack escapees were intelligent survivors. Believing that closing the eyes and running for dear life will ultimately lead them to safety proved right. They found the open space in the backyard and decided to settle down, may be for just that day. The darkness in an unknown place might have frightened them to give out distress calls. Lucky for them these calls were received and acted upon, stealthily, by the women folks in the house. Food, water and rags were provided for their immediate protection. Thinking about plans to tackle the men folk at daybreak, the ladies retired to bed.

Unaware of these happenings, we dreamed up names for the kitten and the pup as Tom and Jimmy. Our worry was to get the names accepted by the other friends, as it was an established practice to work along with them as a team. The penalty for violation would be exclusion from summer games of the group and finding your own ways to kill the hot afternoons. It will be the most gruelling time in a village, enjoying power cuts at will.

 We understood the power of women in the household from the way they took neighbours on board, fed the pets and managed to hide them from the eyes of the male members, like it was a magician’s show. They simply banished them from going anywhere near the backyard , by making available all the services with a knowing smile. This sudden attention perplexed the breadwinners a little but their own worries in agriculture and business prevented any detailed analysis on the nature of the behind the scene activities.

Even the best kept secrets have to see the daylight one day. On this particular day, a relative who was disliked by the men in the family came to visit us. We liked him as he brought something or other for us and my father and uncles hated him for bringing along his pet dog. Out of respect to our grandmother, they refrained from taking the dislike too far. This pet dog had the nasty habit of wandering throughout the house at will and it ended up at the place where the two refugees were sheltered.

A barking contest started, calling the attention of everyone in the house. The assembly witnessed, rather heard, full throated barks punctuated with whimpers and meows .Finally the cat was out of the bag. Mixture of annoyance and anger flashed over the faces of my father and uncles. It was about to turn into a violent display when my grandmother deftly intervened and announced that she had brought them home and will continue to nurture them. For good measure she glared at her sons and said loudly, “come what may”.

That was all it took to subdue the volcanoes about to erupt. Remembering the hardships she had endured on their behalf, the men folk silently withdrew from the scene of action. The relative felt that he will be a welcome guest in the house from now onward. When we thought that all was over, our grandmother looked at us and said, “I hope this was not your idea to bring them home”.

We, Tom and Jimmy stood wondering at what she said. We did not plan any such thing and the pets did not know what it was all about. Even after months of training both the pets still continue to do the vanishing act at the mere mention of “lion”. We are yet to find out in what way their lives are linked to a lion? Is anyone ready to help us?