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 third 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
Puppy Alert
You know, for our school picnic we went to the Zoo. In March. We saw a lot of wild animals. Vanita ma’am and Sports sir told us many stories about them. One big black colour monkey was there, he was wearing a cap. So funny. There were 40-50 or 60 deers. The father deer, he had horns on his head. They looked like the roots of a tree. Sports sir told me they were called antlers. One snake was also there. He was verrrry fat and long. Grey coloured. He was sleeping all the time. There was one big buffalo, he kept sneezing loudly. I wanted to give him my handkerchief, but ma’am said no.
Appa doesn’t like the zoo. He says animals should be left free. He said he will take me to a park where there are lots of animals and they don’t have to live in the cages. I asked what if they ate me? Appa said they will have bad tummy afterwards. Amma says zoos are not all that bad if the animals are taken care of well and have lots of space. Outside, bad people kill them.
I don’t like bad people.
Binny is very worried that someone will kill Coco, so he keeps him locked inside the house. But Coco jumps out of the window and runs away everyday. Sometimes he comes to my house on his own. He is such a nice cat.
I asked Appa if I could get a dog. He said he cannot handle two curious kids. Amma loves dogs. She is friends with all the dogs in the complex. That Brownie from near the milk shop na? She has had nine puppies! They are so cute, like cotton balls and they try to bite everything. Amma says we can take one home if I promise to take care of it and be a good girl and never hurt it. Also, if Appa says yes.
I think I will take him to see the puppies and when he sees them, he will love them and we will bring one home.
There is this black colour puppy, he is the cutest and the smartest and he wags his tail faster than all the others. He also jumps the highest. Binny and Soumya and I are thinking of names for him.
Binny likes Blackie, Soumya likes Sheru and I like Monster.
Tomorrow I will take Appa to see the puppies. I hope Brownie won’t mind it. Amma would be very sad if someone took me away. I will ask Appa to ask her permission. Maybe we can keep all the puppies and Brownie.
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.
i hope Molu gets to keep the monster:)