Nov 14th

     So finally Puru has managed to get a government job post retirement. And by the looks of the politicians who have been streaming in (with boxes of stale inedible sweets and of late some come with dry fruits) should be important. Yes Puru has perked up he is no longer the irritable old man. In fact I used to wonder how long I would have to suffer his long diatribes against younger colleagues and politicians whom he had befriended earlier.

    His golfing passion never took off beyond buying himself a set of expensive golf clubs and being part of the exclusive golf club. He does go to watch the women’s event rather regularly as I happen to manage to win the amateur title for several years in a row. No not to cheer me; but rather to watch other younger women participants. Some of them are not averse to talking to a still good looking ‘uncle’.

   Kitty and Pootchie came with boy friend and husband in tow for the brief Diwali weekend. Kitty has taken after her father. She always has a string of admirers and sort of revels in all their attention. No wonder her marriage to that Aakash Mathai didn’t last. My elder daughter my first surviving child, had given me sleepless nights when she began her ‘experiments with truth’.

  The wilder the better seemed her motto. At some point even Puru began to object to those longhaired unshaved, un-bathed creatures she brought home and exhibited as ‘friends’. There was a time when Puru’s mother was home and although semi-blind could make out these filthy creatures lurking around the house. Kitty had enough sense to normally hide them in her room. But one escaped to smoke in the garden under a window below my mom-in-law’s room.

   She came out and collared him and hollered for the maali, dhobi, sentry to first cleanse the fellow with the garden hose, then put him in some freshly washed clothes and cut his hair, etc, etc. By the time I arrived I found a thin boy drenched like a drowning rat trying hard to make his escape amidst grinning cops and a determined old grandmother. Kitty was standing on the periphery trying not to join in the merriment. That Shankar boy was eternally grateful to me for rescuing him from the ‘lynching mob’. He vowed never to have anything to do with Kitty or cops. It was a lesson for Kitty not to let her ‘friends’ loose on unsuspecting grandmothers.

    I was not let off so easily. Puru’s mother held me singularly responsible for Kitty’s outrageous behaviour. Kitty would never be able to find a husband, she predicted. She is already being talked of as a ‘loose-woman’ in the village. Look at her clothes. You always let her wear shorts! A grown woman in shorts! And the tight fitting T-shirt that showed her navel! Chhee! I could feel her pent up loathing pouring down like a stream of lava. Pootchie, managed to get her away from me but the old woman was unstoppable.
She directed her tirade at Pootchie.

 “Don’t think that getting good grades is the only thing in life! A girl also has to know how to cook and look after her husband’s family. Unlike your mother, you can’t hope to have a husband who will always do your bidding.”
Pootchie my wise young daughter looked appropriately censured. She said gently, “See Dadi I know how to make halwa. Didn’t you like the gajar ka halwa I had made?”
She opened her mouth to shut it again as Puru entered the room and smiled brightly at his mother.

   With Puru, his mother was the picture of a concerned parent. Fussing over him, while I heaved a sigh of relief and Pootchie made her escape.

    Girls are supposed to be helpful and look after their parents more tenderly than boys?
That’s a regular myth. Kitty comes and is full of her woes. Although I know she does exactly what she wants to do, but when she comes to us she has no time to listen or bother about our problems.

        Pootchie changed after marriage. She married into a rich tycoon’s family. So the time she spends with us she appears uncomfortable, embarrassed and is clearly relieved when she kisses us dutifully goodbye. Puru post retirement also appeared uneasy with her. She seemed so full of her latest yachting holiday in Australia. Her shopping in Dubai. And her holiday plans for Piyush’s parents’ marriage anniversary.
 Both of them were excited to know about Puru’s latest assignment. There was a long discussion on the moral high ground he should take.

  Kitty and Pootchie were happy that their ‘Dad’ had a meaningful job. Now they could openly boast about it to their friends. Piyush, Pootchie’s (rich tycoon’s son and husband) appeared impressed. His accent (heavy American) was difficult for him to shed. Even his Hindi had the nasal twang. He was full of questions and wondered whether Puru would be able to send the ex-CM to jail for such large economic offences?

 Cherian the pony-tailed silent man Kitty had brought home this Diwali just smiled wisely at Piyush’s naïve questions. His questions were more to the point- For how long could Puru carry on with the investigations? When was the last date of submission of findings? Who did Puru have to submit to? And most importantly whose stooge was Puru?

    Puru was getting irritated and Kitty realizing that interrupted with “Cherry don’t take Papa to be the run-of-mill-officer. Just because you are a political correspondent in the Samachar World, don’t look at everything with a jaundiced eye. Have faith in the system.”
Cherian appeared chastened, “All these past enquiries have been a waste of public time and money. Tell me till to date which minister or Chief Minister has had to face prosecution?” A strange uncomfortable silence descended. Pootchie tried uneasily.
“That does not make the investigator a party to the crimes. And even if no justice or conclusion seems to come out of it, is not reason enough to stop these enquiries.”

    The uncomfortable pause was broken by the plaintive wail of Barbie-III, a mix of poodle and Spaniel. She was in her prime and the stray dogs were out waiting for her.
Pootchie shouted, “Shut up Barbie. Can’t you practice some discrimination?”
It was common knowledge that Barbie had shied away from regular suitors arranged by our veterinary doctor. Yet she appeared so eager for these mongrels outside.
Kitty picked Barbie up and went outside whispering sweet nothings in her ears. She appeared to calm down but once outside the gate she sprang out of Kitty’s arms and vanished.