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belly was covered with snow-white fur.With his whiskers,
and a pair of dark, prominent, alert, naughty and very
expressive eyes, he completed the look of a perfect rodent
‘dandy’.
He was a gorgeous ‘glider’, enjoying his ‘glide’ from one
corner of the verandah to another, sometimes resting on
the nets and looking at us as if expecting a standing
ovation. The fans were kept switched off to avoid any
mishap – even when it was too hot.The potted plants were
his ‘forest’ playground. Before we could realize the
necessity of being alert, he nibbled away many a showpiece
in the verandah and of course, a couple of socks and shoes!
Because of this natural habit of his, we had to keep our
verandah, side doors and windows shut to restrict his
entry.
He used to sleep in the day time in his cozy home, and
the deepness of his sleep would put ‘Kumbhakaran’ to
shame! With lots of coaxing, he might just open
one-fourth of his eyelids. It was the sleep of a happy child,
tired after long hours of play – mouth slightly open,
showing his front pair of teeth.
Yes, he was just like a human child! My wife would scold
him as he ‘peed’ on the cushion or suddenly slipped inside
the quilt unnoticed. He would understand and react just
like the other two children in the house – frightened but
always ready for another prank. When ‘mother’ got
irritated beyond her limits, Chickchick, along with his two
companions, lost no time in hiding behind the door, in the
jaali-verandah, under a table or in my lap – and pretend
as though nothing had happened! Just like a human child,
he could make out when ‘mother’ had got food for him
that it was time to make peace.
With me, his relationship was different. By the time I
returned from work in the evening, Chickchick was wide
awake. As I entered, I would find him watching me with
his dark, twinkling eyes.The next moment, he would glide
onto my shoulder or head, peeking for his usual evening
snacks – nuts and fruit pieces which I would hold out for
him on my palm. Sometimes, I would keep these treats in
my pockets and he enjoyed eating from there. In between,
he would lick my arms and sometimes bite the tips of my
fingers or earlobes.
After taking a shower, as I sat in front of my computer
with my evening cup of tea, restless scratching was heard
on the windows and on the door. Remarkably, he enjoyed
human company. He would not accept being left alone
outside, as he was an important member of the family!
Naturally, he was let in. With some hopping and gliding,
he would settle on my lap, making it his ‘area’.
In the silence of midnight, when everyone was asleep, I
would switch off my computer, collect Chickchick from
the ruins of some CD covers or a stolen hanky and bid
him “Goodnight.”
We soon discovered that our Chickchick had a fascination
for rum but disliked whisky! Whenever we had guests, we
had to take special care to save our drinks from Chickchick
or the other way around. His partiality for rum made my
wife confident that he must have been a tea planter in his
previous life!
By the second year, he was a full-grown male. We were
planning to free him in the neighbourhood where he could
find a mate and complete a normal life cycle, but destiny
had planned otherwise...
We had to take special care to keep Chickchick warm in
winter. His house was kept inside at night, covered with a
warm piece of cloth. One December day, we lost our
Chickchick... We were shocked and devastated as he was
quite healthy and active and had shown no sign of any
sickness...
Tears cannot bring back our dear ones. But often in the
evening, long after he had left us for the next world, it
seemed that we could hear him call, “Chickchick,” and
scratch on the window panes...
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