As told by- The Window
Once some misguided yellow wasps decided to make a hive in a corner, near the roof of a verandah of a house where our young friend lived. Purja, our busybody spotted the said hive promptly, while on his daily afternoon inspection round on Gassy’s battered bicycle. Wasps were fools if they thought they could pull a smart one over our friend. Purja, a veteran soldier of innumerable under and over the bed Indo- China wars, was not going to let any undesirable outsider to take liberties in his territory, namely his home. He took no time in collecting a pile of round and not so round pebbles from around the flower- beds in the garden that were being used by the gardener for an inane purpose of beautification. Only he knew that these pebbles were in fact, missiles in disguise to fool the enemy, namely the intruding wasps. With a neat pile of the arsenal and a catapult of some obscure tribal origin, he started attacking the enemy. The missiles did not impress the wasps much and they kept on with their illegal construction.
“What are you doing with the pebbles, Purja? The gardener would kill you for spoiling his flower- beds. Put them back this minute.” Ordered Sesa, looking around at the scattered pebbles in the verandah. Stickler for cleanliness, she was horrified by the mess.
“Oh my God! Some cheek. Those wasps should never be allowed to build their nest or else, they would be nuisance, for all of us. You know they can kill you by biting.” Gira had as vivid an imagination as Purja. They always thought alike. She was all for defending her territory too. Without delay she joined Purja in aiming pebble after pebble at the wasps.
The ensuing ruckus attracted more interested participants from around the house. Gassy, who had been busy playing monopoly with the outstation cousins, joined the little group outside along with the co-players. The outstation cousins, two brothers known in the cousinly circle as Big Boss {BB} and Bin, were also in the hostel with Gassy and had come to spend a week with their uncles. BB being the eldest of all the cousins did not tolerate any nonsense. He walked and talked with authority, well aware of his superior position. He took in the situation at a glance and decided that the wasps needed to be taught a lesson. A no hold barred attack proceeded there after. Sesa resisted for a while but joined in, not wanting to be deprived of the fun being had by others. Bin and Gassy along with Goltu stood at a distance, spewing instructions from time to time. They kept providing the shooters with a steady supply of the arsenal, collected from various flower- beds. Goltu ran around collecting the pebbles, for once feeling part of the important mission. She absolutely adored her elder cousins who pampered her with chocolates that the daily riffraff, ate themselves.
“No one knows whose pebble hit the hornet’s nest. The wasps got a jolt of their illegal life. Not the ones to take things lying down, they decided to chase and sting the offending parties. Suddenly, the positions were reversed. The children developed wheels for legs and zoomed in various directions. Only Sesa, being slightly on the chubbier side, ran slower than others. The wasps were smart enough to mark the victim. Also they were sharpshooters of Olympian accuracy. No guesses for what happened next. Sesa was the sole recipient of show of their marksmanship. Her wailing brought out the whole household to her side. She was stung badly on her back. Amidst, multiple suggestions, some outlandish, for relieving pain she was brought indoors. Having recovered their breaths from a nearly missed painful event, the children trooped in one by one. Excitement was excitement after all there were no two opinions about it. At this point, someone suggested, I am not sure who, to apply some Kerosene oil to the affected area to relieve pain. On hearing this Sesa cried still louder thinking she was going to be burnt. She had seen the cook use Kerosene to start a fire in the Tandoor. Meanwhile the doctor arrived and things settled down. Oh! What a pandemonium it was!” The window needed to catch its breath.
“What about the hornets nest. Did the wasps settle down? And the gardener must have thrown a fit.” Inquired the Digital recorder. It was unhappy with the timing of its life. What was the use of being born now when all the interesting action had already happened?
“Yes! The gardener was quite miffed for a while. He along with the other staff removed the hive on an express order from their employer. Meanwhile, Goltu had been busy blabbering the chain of events leading up to the stinging incidence. The Wasps, it turned out had been, nearly, as pure as the freshly driven snow. They had only been protecting themselves. The children were called and cross- examined. Purja, it turned out had been the first one to start the avalanche of events with the conclusive sting operation as the grand finale. Non-the less they all stood in a row, bent double holding their ears except Goltu, who stood straight holding her ears. She just could not maintain balance while bent double. Sesa was exempted for obvious reason. While bent thus, BB took Purja to task for spoiling his reputation amongst the uncle community. One could hear the murmured reminders of the as yet undocumented cousinly protocol that had been breached. Bin and Gassy kept falling over each other pretending to loose balance every few minutes. Gira had no problem. She had ample experience of standing in the said posture. Nothing new, just routine everyday status, she felt. Only little pints stayed in total darkness having slept through the whole incidence.” The window hadn’t expected such a roaring response. It looked mighty pleased. Luckily, none of the pebbles had touched it that day.
Once some misguided yellow wasps decided to make a hive in a corner, near the roof of a verandah of a house where our young friend lived. Purja, our busybody spotted the said hive promptly, while on his daily afternoon inspection round on Gassy’s battered bicycle. Wasps were fools if they thought they could pull a smart one over our friend. Purja, a veteran soldier of innumerable under and over the bed Indo- China wars, was not going to let any undesirable outsider to take liberties in his territory, namely his home. He took no time in collecting a pile of round and not so round pebbles from around the flower- beds in the garden that were being used by the gardener for an inane purpose of beautification. Only he knew that these pebbles were in fact, missiles in disguise to fool the enemy, namely the intruding wasps. With a neat pile of the arsenal and a catapult of some obscure tribal origin, he started attacking the enemy. The missiles did not impress the wasps much and they kept on with their illegal construction.
“What are you doing with the pebbles, Purja? The gardener would kill you for spoiling his flower- beds. Put them back this minute.” Ordered Sesa, looking around at the scattered pebbles in the verandah. Stickler for cleanliness, she was horrified by the mess.
“Oh my God! Some cheek. Those wasps should never be allowed to build their nest or else, they would be nuisance, for all of us. You know they can kill you by biting.” Gira had as vivid an imagination as Purja. They always thought alike. She was all for defending her territory too. Without delay she joined Purja in aiming pebble after pebble at the wasps.
The ensuing ruckus attracted more interested participants from around the house. Gassy, who had been busy playing monopoly with the outstation cousins, joined the little group outside along with the co-players. The outstation cousins, two brothers known in the cousinly circle as Big Boss {BB} and Bin, were also in the hostel with Gassy and had come to spend a week with their uncles. BB being the eldest of all the cousins did not tolerate any nonsense. He walked and talked with authority, well aware of his superior position. He took in the situation at a glance and decided that the wasps needed to be taught a lesson. A no hold barred attack proceeded there after. Sesa resisted for a while but joined in, not wanting to be deprived of the fun being had by others. Bin and Gassy along with Goltu stood at a distance, spewing instructions from time to time. They kept providing the shooters with a steady supply of the arsenal, collected from various flower- beds. Goltu ran around collecting the pebbles, for once feeling part of the important mission. She absolutely adored her elder cousins who pampered her with chocolates that the daily riffraff, ate themselves.
“No one knows whose pebble hit the hornet’s nest. The wasps got a jolt of their illegal life. Not the ones to take things lying down, they decided to chase and sting the offending parties. Suddenly, the positions were reversed. The children developed wheels for legs and zoomed in various directions. Only Sesa, being slightly on the chubbier side, ran slower than others. The wasps were smart enough to mark the victim. Also they were sharpshooters of Olympian accuracy. No guesses for what happened next. Sesa was the sole recipient of show of their marksmanship. Her wailing brought out the whole household to her side. She was stung badly on her back. Amidst, multiple suggestions, some outlandish, for relieving pain she was brought indoors. Having recovered their breaths from a nearly missed painful event, the children trooped in one by one. Excitement was excitement after all there were no two opinions about it. At this point, someone suggested, I am not sure who, to apply some Kerosene oil to the affected area to relieve pain. On hearing this Sesa cried still louder thinking she was going to be burnt. She had seen the cook use Kerosene to start a fire in the Tandoor. Meanwhile the doctor arrived and things settled down. Oh! What a pandemonium it was!” The window needed to catch its breath.
“What about the hornets nest. Did the wasps settle down? And the gardener must have thrown a fit.” Inquired the Digital recorder. It was unhappy with the timing of its life. What was the use of being born now when all the interesting action had already happened?
“Yes! The gardener was quite miffed for a while. He along with the other staff removed the hive on an express order from their employer. Meanwhile, Goltu had been busy blabbering the chain of events leading up to the stinging incidence. The Wasps, it turned out had been, nearly, as pure as the freshly driven snow. They had only been protecting themselves. The children were called and cross- examined. Purja, it turned out had been the first one to start the avalanche of events with the conclusive sting operation as the grand finale. Non-the less they all stood in a row, bent double holding their ears except Goltu, who stood straight holding her ears. She just could not maintain balance while bent double. Sesa was exempted for obvious reason. While bent thus, BB took Purja to task for spoiling his reputation amongst the uncle community. One could hear the murmured reminders of the as yet undocumented cousinly protocol that had been breached. Bin and Gassy kept falling over each other pretending to loose balance every few minutes. Gira had no problem. She had ample experience of standing in the said posture. Nothing new, just routine everyday status, she felt. Only little pints stayed in total darkness having slept through the whole incidence.” The window hadn’t expected such a roaring response. It looked mighty pleased. Luckily, none of the pebbles had touched it that day.
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