Surangi, The Child Bride

Part 41

A longish update guys, hope you enjoy reading it, romance will be up in later updates! Let me have your comments too, I need the feedback.

"See that squirrel? He was my first friend in Bombay!" Vidya laughed as she pointed to the feisty creature who was chattering away furiously while flicking its bushy tail. It was an ordinary palm squirrel, a fairly common rodent in India and Surangi wondered what made him so special to Vidya. Back in the garden of her in-laws house there was one living in almost every large tree in the yard. 

Vidya explained that when, after having the baby, she moved to Bombay to set up her new home with her lawyer husband she was mostly confined to the house because Gaju was very young and she did not have much help to manage him nor the home. Initially she missed her mother and was quite homesick, after all the pampering she had received during her pregnancy and childbirth. Her husband often worked long hours and when Gaju took his regular naps during the day loneliness drove Vidya to befriend the little furry creature living in the wild almond tree, an abode it shared along with a number of feathered  friends.

"He's quite a villain, really! All the resident birds in that tree are wary of him and his temper. Initially he was bold enough to come nosing around the kitchen window while I was cooking. He would stare at me authoritatively and continue to chatter until I handed him morsels of cooked rice or fruit. When his belly was full he just waltzed away back to the tree as if he was returning home after a hearty meal in a restaurant. Look at him, playing the gangster and making the birds in the tree nervous. He won't let any strange bird settle on the branches, he thinks the tree and the adjoining neighbourhood is his fief. Watching his antics kept me entertained for days." Vidya laughed.

"Are those stripes really Rama's gift to all squirrels?" Chandri wondered aloud. According to a legend in the Hindu epic Ramayana the stripes on the palm squirrel's back were a reward for the animal's contribution to help build the land bridge to Ravana's Lanka, just before the war.

"That was just a parable to preach that the doer of even the most insignificant tasks contributes in his own way toward the benefit of society at large! Actually squirrels can be quite pesky because they damage fruit crops." This had to be the opinion of Madhav, the perpetual realist! But as usual he was right. Squirrels were quite a nuisance when it came to ruining the choicest mangoes in his father's orchard; but they had to be tolerated. No matter how troublesome they got Hindus would not harm palm squirrels physically because of the belief that the creatures were once blessed by Ram himself. Also it was against Brahmin dharma to harm any living creature purposefully. 

"Madhava, why don't you take the girls downstairs to help them pluck some fresh gardenia blooms for their hair? Take Gaju along too, that way I can change into a fresh saree before we step out!" Vidya wanted to freshen up quickly as her husband was due to arrive soon.

Madhav, Surangi and Chandri climbed downstairs with Gaji in Madhav's arms to reach the neatly tended garden. It was not very big, considering the paucity of space in the large city. Soon the girls were choosing the most fragrant blooms to wear in their hair. They even took some for Vidya. While they were admiring the garden the territorial little squirrel threw a temper tantrum and tried to intimidate the children with its chirping.

"We are not here to take over your home! We are just borrowing some flowers, that's all!" Surangi tried to make peace with him.

"As if he understands what you are trying to say,  a pebble flung at him will yield better results!" Madhav muttered.

"Why do you have to be so mean to him, he is so cute!" Surangi argued with her husband.

"Wait till you see these guys spar with each other over mating rights! The battles are quite bloody and only the toughest of the lot gets to keep the girl for himself!" Madhav grinned to see Surangi's shocked expression.