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 fifth 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
Discipline is a difficult word
Tushka is a very naughty girl. She never listens to what I say. Appa is very happy because he says she is just like me. But that is not true, I listen to everyone. Also, I did not ask her to take a lick from Appa’s ice cream. She did it all on her own. I did it because I always take a lick from Appa’s ice cream. Bibi told Amma for the seventh time today that she is going to leave.
Day before yesterday, Tuskha swallowed one of the colourful stones that are kept on the centre table. She coughed and her eyes started watering and she was making noises like the pressure cooker. She had to be taken to the vet. Amma said we should be thankful he lives close by. Uncle put a long metal spoon like thing in Tushka’s mouth and pulled the stone out. He said it was not large enough to choke her completely and not small enough to go down either.
Poor puppy, she was given only thin milk the whole day and lots of medicines. So I let her sleep with me on my bed. Bibi is not happy. Also, I think Tushka needs to wear diapers when she sleeps, like Soumya’s brother.
When we go to the park in the evening, Tushka runs all around it. She chases all the balls she can find there. Some children like her and play with her. Some others get angry with her because she runs away with their ball. Sometimes she digs the ground. Binny says she is looking for treasure. I think she is looking for interesting insects. Only, she gets very scared and runs back to us if an insect actually comes out of the hole she is digging.
Yesterday Binny and I climbed the banyan tree in the park. Coco also came. Tushka couldn’t climb up so she barked and barked and went round and round the tree. Then Amma asked if I would hold her if she helped Tushka to climb up. So Binny and Coco and Tushka and I sat on the banyan tree for a long time. Then Tushka sniffed at Coco and Coco got angry and jumped away. Tushka forgot she could not jump and followed her. Amma said it was a good thing the branch we sat on was not too high up.
Appa says Tushka is a very lucky puppy. But she makes very stinky potty. It must be because of all the stinky food she eats, like socks. We will go to the vet uncle again this Saturday. Tushka needs to eat some medicines to clean her stomach. There will be worms in her potty, the vet uncle said. I said I wanted to see them, but Amma said no.
Tushka’s throat is better now, but she doesn’t sleep in her basket only. So we have put her chewy toys in them and her blue ball. And Amma says it is not OK to brush her teeth with my brush.
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.