On a makeshift stage wooden
In front of my building, in the narrow space
In a red dress trimmed with false gold lace
She stood quivering and lowered her face

The milling crowd buzzed in impatience
People in clothes drenched in sweat
Let the music begin they cried
The night’s young and the mood is set

As the loud strains of a popular movie song
Hushed the crowd into a tranquil still
She began to dance sinuously to the music
In fluid movements of an effortless skill

The crowd watched hypnotized
The dance of the twelve-year old
Transformed into a beautiful young goddess
A shimmer of red and gold

And silently in the dark
I watched her from my bedroom window
Sitting on the window sill, my legs dangling
Remembering a time a long while ago

When I too had danced to the rhythm of the music
A young girl dressed in blue and green
With the naïve enthusiasm that youth affords
Unaware of the bitter life ahead unseen

You know you’re single when
~ The only guy who you meet up with on the weekend is the Security man in your office (who recognizes your name from among the 100 employees in the office)
~ The only physical comforting you get is when the adopted office stray chooses to hump your leg
~ The only guy who calls you twenty times a day is your Client
~ It is taken for granted that your (female) roommate will be your date for all evening outs.
~You get invited for every office do. You obviously don’t have a boy friend you’d rather spend the evening with.
~ People assume that they can dump you with all the work they don’t want to do and that you, of course, have no life BECAUSE YOU ARE SINGLE and would welcome any such work.
~ When you go for funerals and amongst all the weeping and sobbing the elderly folks find time to pass comment to your parents about your marital status.

I remember the first time I saw Snoopy. A tiny black nose on a tiny black face sticking out of my mother’s black shawl. At first I didn’t even notice him. My parents had meant our first pet to be a complete surprise. I was not expecting a pup cradled in my mother’s arms. But there he was, the most adorable tiny thing God ever made. As we whooped in joy, Snoopy shrunk further under the folds of my mother’s shawl, shivering in fear.

He grew up spoiled, loved and cosseted. His initial fear soon turned into an unending curiosity about everything around him. How aptly my brother had named him! He sniffed and smelled everything that he could reach. Snoopy in wonderland.

I still remember the expression on his face when he had barked for the first time. I think he had thought that when he finally opened his mouth he would speak English and Bengali like we did. To say he was surprised would be an understatement. He was shocked. He looked around to see where the strange sound had come from. He barked in frustration when he could not figure out what was happening. It was then that he realised that it was he himself who was barking. I think he went into a teeny-weenie depression after that. But he came out of it. Like he did every time.
Like the time when floor cleaners in our house accidentally spilt acid on him.
Like the time when we brought another dog (Whooopy) into the house. When she took over his bed, his toys and all the attention in the house. When, resigned, he had tried to sleep in Whoopy’s tiny bed (which was a cardboard box that he broke because he was too big for the box).
Like the time they (Snoopy and Whoopy) had babies and he ran around petrified of the little pups, one-tenth his size, that ran behind him.
Like the time when he grew deaf and blind.

Snoopy passed away today morning. I’d like to think that he came out of this as well. Painlessly and peacefully.

Snoopy, my sweetest darling, I hope there are oranges and dog-chews in heaven.

I realised today that I no longer giggle when somebody uses the word ‘sex’ or ‘masturbation’. I no longer exchange embarrassed smiles with a friend when somebody says ‘periods’ or ‘vagina’. I seldom have a silly grin on my face, a trademark of mine in the days when I was younger and gigglier.

What I would do for one crazy unstoppable giggling fit!