The morning begins with the sight of the walkers proudly ambling in my balcony porch. They walk in pairs like lovers muttering sweet nothings in their ear. They are the Doves who visit my home daily as a thumb rule. After a customary stroll, they start flapping their wings scattering loose feathers all over my hall. Then they get busy making love and after a week or so an egg is laid at a chosen corner in my empty carton of tennis balls. The mother viciously guards it till a small Dove hatches out much to the joy of my daughter and son who clap to celebrate the arrival of the newborn. Soon, the newborn flies away. The Doves are peaceful but they lack civic manners shitting all over my floor and silk carpet. I wonder whether they can be trained.
There is a big Bee-hive on my terrace tank. Occasionally, the killer Bees wander to our house and set a flurry of activity. The newspapers and Chaitra's badminton racket are the chosen weapons to swat them. A pillow also is used to thrash them. One day, I got stung by a Bee and trust me folks, it hurt. We are indeed scared of them.
The Lizards multiply in fury, hidden in the crevices of our false ceilings. A Lizard evokes revulsion and elicits the loudest shrieks from my family members. We have a bamboo stick to tackle them and scare them away from our house. It normally takes about 11 minutes to scare one away. When I was young, a Lizard in the loo just came from behind the bucket and leapt on me sticking to my shin. It was the scariest moment of my life. I washed my shin for 2 hours with dettol and a soap bar. Then onwards, I always check the wash room and then proceed ahead. they say an egg shell kept outside the balcony scares them but we have not yet tried that remedy.
The Rats are our rare nocturnal kitchen visitors but usually they do not trouble us as they just take their stuff and scoot outside. They have relative hypoxia at high altitudes and hence shun my 12th floor as an option for abode. They are happy in the basement of the car park. A Rat once chew some cable of my car and set my wallet aback by a hefty amount. I call them 'Hit and Run' rats as they hardly stick around.
The Mosquitoes and the Ants with the Roaches have been successfully tackled so far by my friendly pest control guys. They come dressed up as terminators with a steel bag on their backs and a spray nozzle like some machine gun heroes. They are effective though. Their swagger is awe inspiring. They behave like some members of anti terrorist squads.
A solitary Cat is my wife's friend and comes daily on my 12th floor climbing stairs to have her saucer of milk. The lapping tongue finishes the milk in minutes and she vanishes. That is the depth of friendship in today's world. A Cat teaches us lessons in life. She returns next day.
A Doggie is occasionally baby sat by us much to the delight of my young ones. He pees all over my hall proudly although it is not his territory. I am helpless at times. The joy makes it acceptable though.
My mother has a garden in our east side balcony. It has colourful flower bearing plants. A small Sparrow comes there on weekends. It chirps sweetly songs of joy and happiness. A few Butterflies take a fancy and visit our blooming flowers. It is a delightful sight. The Squirrel plays around in the pots. The garden buzzes with life.
A pair of Mynas bring us good luck at times.
I look at my family and compare them with the fauna around. My dad is the 'Lion' whose roars tremble each and everyone around. My mom and my wife are like kind 'Cows' who provide care and comfort to us. Chaitra is the sweetest 'Parrot' who keeps on chirping endlessly. Prithvy has just started walking and destroys everything in his sight. I call him the cute 'Monkey' as he is the most mischievous of all.
I am like a 'Mule' slogging around with the burden of expectations.
This is my life in a concrete jungle.
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