PEDRO MEETS JUMBO

I and Pedro are now good friends and his wild imagination leaves me amazed! We have found a way to communicate regularly and I must tell you, my friend Pedro is really good at it! Each morning, I am greeted with an sms from Pedro – Yes! He has been successful in coaxing his parents to buy him a mobile phone and my friend is now busy discovering it and satiating his knowledge-thirsty mind! One rainy monsoon morning, I receive a text from Pedro which says – Hd gn cyclin wid frens 2 d forest & guess wht? We cm across n elephant, huge & starin at us! Sleep leaves me and I am all agog! “What the hell?” my mind remarks! I call him up and instead of a petrified Pedro, giggles greet me from the other end. Then he relates the instance to me. My curious friend Pedro is always inviting mischief and ‘antsy’ is how I would describe him. So Curious, Mischievous, Antsy Pedro called up his gang of equally hyperactive friends one fine evening and decided to go cycling the next morning, to the nearby Baikunthapur forest. They set off early next morning, equipped with sandwiches, a flask of tea and ‘aloo dum’, hoping to enjoy their breakfast in the wilderness. They first cycled for about six kilometers on the NH31A, listening to the early morning rendition of birds, joining them at times. They then deviated from the highway and took the cobbled path which leads to the Baikunthapur forest. I must tell you here that Baikunthapur forest is a part of the Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary – home to variety of flora and fauna. Pedro and his army penetrated deeper into the forest, enjoying the lukewarm sun on their backs, filtering in through the thick foliage. Water drops glistened on the leaves and as they rode deeper into the forest, the shrill call of the cicada grew louder and almost deafening at some points. They could hear the peacock’s cry and the chirping of birds echoed in the vast expanse. The boys enjoyed every sight and sound and stopped at places to capture a picture or two. Finally, after about an hour and a half of pedaling, they reached a Kali temple built on a clearing. The gang decided to rest there but not before exploring the place. Pedro, the leader, led the expedition and the rest trailed behind him. They came across an old well on the right hand side of the temple. The area around the well had soft, lush green grass so the boys decided to settle down there and enjoy their breakfast. Pedro caught a cicada and decided to dangle it between his fingers. Poor cicada had no option to scream louder for its life! The boys laughed their hearts out on the poor cicada’s plight! They laughed so much they ended up all snotty and red – nosed! (You should’ve seen the light in his eyes when he narrated this part of the story to me!) GrowwwL! Amidst all the laughing growled Pedro’s tummy and that’s when they settled down with their breakfast packs. Just as they opened up their boxes and were pouring tea into paper cups, they heard a rustle in the nearby grove. They all turned towards the sound and saw the leaves move. Out came a grey trunk from the bush first and before they could react, a huge elephant appeared like an apparition in front of them! Luckily, the elephant did not see them as it appeared so the boys gathered up their wits and one by one slid behind the well. The boys forgot to breathe as the elephant turned to the place where their breakfast was laid out. The elephant sniffed around, tumbled the flask of tea, and picked up a banana from one of the boxes, shaking his head in excitement as he did that, stamped his huge feet on the ground and turned to leave, fanning away with his tail, the dragonflies hovering around it. “Ruuuuuun” – the forest echoed! And who made this brave cry? Our brave leader of the pack, Pedro! The boys hustled into their bicycles and rode as fast they could! Beep, beep “I m nvr goin 2 venture into the forest agn! To c one wild jumbo in a lifetime is ok, nt more: P”, Pedro wrote to me this morning 

HOW PEDRO WAS RESCUED?

2010 – The FIFA World Cup year and the whole world was reeling to Shakira’s ‘Waka Waka’ and K’nan’s ‘Waving Flag’. Everyday action in the field covered to the minutest detail by the media, newspapers with colorful blow ups of Lionel Messi, Ronaldo and other footballers. One even had an article on the ladies behind each of these players, fiancés and wives – a kaleidoscope of World Cup 2010! Amidst the “will they?” and “will they not?” of Paul, the Octopus’s predictions and the world’s curious eyes on the two finalists – Spain and Netherlands, I receive a text on my cell phone which says, “Today, Pedro my cousin is all set 2 watch the WC Final. He has his Spain jersey on and has been sitting in the front of the TV with his football. I plan 2 tie him up lest he break the TV in his excitement!” Curiosity arose…I had to meet Pedro the eccentric football fan! Calls were made and appointments fixed to meet this character who loved the game of football so much. I am amazed by the fact that while the whole of the nation basks in the glory and ‘not-so-glory’ (I’d rather not elaborate the meaning of this term I have coined, for all newspaper reading people and the TV watching lot would know immediately what I am hinting at!!), of cricket, somebody was there who not only loved football but actually lived it even though he was not there in the field playing. So, on a bright July morning, I set out to meet Pedro. Excitement, curiosity filled up my mind and this braved me through the unruly traffic of Siliguri to Pedro’s house. My car chortled to a by-road, off NH – 31A and suddenly the common din started to slowly become distant. I arrived at a blue gate and there stood Pedro’s house overlooking the gate. A two storeyed house, painted blue against a backdrop of all green…my thought is cut short by the rumbling of the gate! I enter. There on the porch was Pedro’s family, all ready to welcome me. I am sure they too nursed the same curiosity about me as I did of Pedro…an eccentric wanting to meet their son! Curious but warm smiles showed me to the drawing room- neat, clean and airy. Still I did not see any signs of Pedro! After exchanging certain pleasantries, I enquired about Pedro. They then led me to Pedro’s room. For some unexplained reason, butterflies did a jig in my stomach! As we headed for Pedro’s room, football commentary wafted into my ears and I knew immediately- Pedro was doing what he loved best! We entered a room at the end of the corridor and the sight which met my eyes then is still vivid in my mind. There seated on a couch, in front of the TV, was the person I had come to meet. I went closer to greet him and what I saw shocked me! There was Pedro, tiny little wan fellow flashing a toothless smile at me...and to my horror of horrors…he was actually tied to the couch! It was quite a sight…Spain jersey clad Pedro, with his ‘faithful’ football resting at his feet, with two missing front teeth, his gum gaping at me and poor boy could not move from his couch! Just then there was action in the field and Pedro did a kind of a half jump on the couch and that’s when I realized why Pedro had been tied up! His feet managed to rock the metal vase on the table in front of his couch and what followed was chaos!! The vase tumbled over, went and hit the glass of the adjoining showcase and the glass door of the case ended up with a spider web crack! None got time to react!! Silence is what followed… Then I noticed Pedro’s inquisitive eyes well up with large droplets and his thin nose turned red. That’s when my heart went out to poor Pedro…I requested to his family - Pedro be released immediately. For the next few minutes what I felt was like I had hit a bee hive and the droning caused irritation to my ear drums, as all those around me expressed their apprehension collectively in a chorus! I pleaded with them and made Pedro promise he would be less action-packed while watching the games. With this promise, Pedro was rescued…not by any knight in shining armour but by me…the damsel! Pedro as a reward took me on a tour of his room and showed me his prized possession…his scrap book. His scrap book was a reflection of his passion for the game football…paper cut outs, cartoons of footballers sketched by Pedro(another passion I discovered)…every minute detail had been put down in the scrap book in Pedro’s scrawly baby handwriting. Now when I think of it, the image that comes to my mind is an enthusiastic, keen, excited Pedro turning each page of his scrapbook with haste. He did not want me to miss even a single page and each page resulted in a beautiful twinkle in his eyes. Pedro would have gone on and on about how much he loved football and about his favourite players but I had to cut him short as it was time for me to get back to work. By the time I left, Pedro was already clinging to my dupatta which denoted I had made a new friend. With a promise to visit him again, I left Pedro’s home thinking about World Cup 2014. Would Pedro remain as crazy about football in this cricket loving nation? Would he have another scrap book to show to me the next time I would visit him? Would he be tied up on the couch again in 2014? Would I have to rush to his rescue again? Well! Then I decided to let the questions remain mere rhetorics for the time being but not without nursing a hope of rescuing Pedro again in 2014!