Tales of blood and gore from my living room

  

From the time he was four years old, Nachikaet had wanted to have a pet. The 'pet' would depend on his current obsession. So at the beginning of the year it would be a pet pig that he was 'just dying' to have after watching Babe, where Babe the pig was trained to behave like a sheepdog. He would spend hours planning and deciding what to name the pig, how to train it, whether the pig would be allowed to accompany him to school and such intricate details. After finding out that most ‘normal’ pigs love a mud bath, he decided that it would not be ‘feasible’.  Then he shifted his focus to more ‘practical’ and ‘cleaner’ pets like an elephant calf , inspired by colonel Haathi’s march in the jungle book or a baby dragon which he aspired to train how to fly, with him on its back.

So when one day, his friend who stayed in the next apartment got a puppy dog as birthday gift, all hell broke loose  and Nachikaet to keep up his honor, conceded to have any pet that can be acquired in half a day. That was how he got introduced to the beautiful world of ornamental fishes and they caught him hook line and sinker!!!!

By the end of that day, he was the proud owner of three chicklets, two jewel fishes, a huge fish tank with ornamental plants, hiding places for the ‘shy’ fishes and two sharks to add a bit of drama.

It was amazing to see Nachikaet take to them like well, a fish to water. He would run to see them as soon as soon as he opened his eyes in the morning. In the evening, Nachikaet and his father would feed the fish and hold lengthy discussions about their health, and how to make the aquarium more comfortable for them.

At first, all was calm in the little water kingdom... but little did we know that it was the calm before the storm. One morning, he noticed that the chicklets were always in hiding, sneaking behind the water plants or burying themselves deep into one of the hiding spots provided. Further investigation revealed that the chicklets were actually being attacked.

All evidence pointed to the sharks, their huge size and menacing looks didn’t make matters easier. During the feed time in the evening, Nachikaet let out a blood curdling scream that  gave me goose bumps. One of the chicklets was dead and the other was actually swimming around in a trail of blood with its tail bitten off. It had been badly injured.

Nachikae,t wanting to avenge the underdogs was insistent on taking out the villainous shark. Then came the twist in this ‘fishy’ tale’. During the quiet of that winter afternoon, Nachikaet’s dad chanced upon the seemingly mild mannered jewel fish, devour one of the chicklets. With the speed of Israeli commandoes Nachikaet and his dad swung into action. The poor hapless victim was rescued and the villains  were moved to a 'restricted zone' (a take away container filled with water)

Finally, when it  looked like peace was restored in the turbulent kingdom, one of the sharks was missing. Then started the rampant ‘aquarium wide’ search. While each square inch of the aquarium was prodded   with a net, Nachikaet noticed something under the table on which the aquarium was kept. It was the shark and it was still alive!!!!

By that time all of us were ready to call it a day, and left the fishes to fight their own battles. Last heard Nachikaet was convinced that a dog would be the best choice for a pet..after all it is not called man’s best friend for nothing!!!  At this point in time I wouldn’t mind being someone’s pet myself!!!