Uma Iyer has dreamt of Molu, a mischievous six-year-old for almost a decade now. She shares with the young readers of Unboxed Writers, ‘Meet Molu,’ a yet to be published first book of hopefully what would turn out to be a Molu and Tushka series. Agni, or ‘Molu’ as she is commonly referred to, is a six-year-old girl whose life revolves around her parents, her friends and her puppy, Tushka. The book is a view of the world around her, through her eyes and consists of 12 chapters. This is the sixth chapter.
Main Characters:
Molu: Six-year-old girl, brown skin, big black eyes that shine and sparkle, curly hair, extremely curious, chatter-box, loves chips, ice-creams, water and Tushka, usually dressed in shorts and t-shirts, occasionally considers wearing summer frocks.
Tushka: Approximately five-month-old puppy, black as the night with brown eyes, of indefinite lineage, tends to cock her head to one side when Molu speaks with her, loves chips, ice-creams, water, balls and Molu, wears a neon green belt around her neck with a bone medallion.
Etc. Characters:
Amma: The mother
Appa: The father
Bibi: The maid
Coco: The cat next door
Binny: The boy next door
Cats and Dogs
I am going to cut Tushka’s nails; they get stuck on the mat. And I am going to hide her under the bed. Bibi is going to be big angry when she sees the curtains in my room. And my t-shirt. They are both full of holes. I asked amma why Tushka bites everything. Her chew toys are so dirty and sticky. I put them in dettol-water. Amma says she is teething (which means she is getting teeth) and her gums itch and that is why she bites things.
Tushka doesn’t like the taste of dettol-water. She told me, and I told her it was bad to keep things sticky and I will give her a bath in dettol-water. She has gone to hide under the bed on her own.
On Sunday, we had gone to see the flower show. There were many 100 flowers in all colours. Appa clicked a lot of pictures. Amma bought two pots, shaped like frogs and two plants that will have yellow and red flowers. Tushka tried to make friends with a big brown dog there, but that dog tried to bite her. Very rude dog. Just like that silly Millie in my class. She never shares her tiffin box or crayons and she always makes Soumya cry. Soumya is her bench partner. Binny said I must not call people names. I also don’t want to call her names. I want to punch her. Appa thinks that is funny, because Amma would do the same.
I promised Binny I won’t do anything bad like that, because then I will not get another gold star. But it is very difficult. Maybe I will let Tushka bite her after she gets some teeth. She can also protect herself from Coco then.
Coco is being so bad these days. He used to always come and lie on my lap and listen to me and purr when I read from the Noddy book. Now, he is always trying to scratch my Tushka. Appa says it must be because of something he ate. Amma says food is not always the reason for everything. So I asked Binny, who asked his daddy.
Binny’s daddy, Jo uncle is very tall and he always wears white shorts and runs round and round in the park in the morning. Appa and he are always laughing loudly about something. Mostly on Manu aunty and Vipul uncle. Appa says they are faker than a fake penny. I don’t know what penny is, Binny says it is American money. Why is American money different from Indian money? I only know that when Manu aunty speaks, she always starts her sentence with “In Amreeka…” and Vipul uncle sounds very funny and all his words sound different and he walks like Tushka does when she wants to do potty in a hurry.
Jo uncle says dogs and cats don’t much like each other, that is why Coco doesn’t like Tushka. But Tushka wants to be friends and how can anyone be Tushka’s enemy? Only one time Tushka bit Coco’s tail and that also because she is teething you know?
Uma Iyer is a writer, a mother and a freelance consultant for marketing communication to several organisations. She was raised in Mumbai and currently lives in Delhi. Her retirement plan includes two dogs, many books and a shack by the sea.