Sukesh Sahni

Translated from the Original Hindi by

Kanwar Dinesh Singh

There was no sleep in Mickey’s eyes. He was very sad thinking that he would not be able to keep the puppy with him. He had woven many dreams about the puppy, but everything had ended as soon as we arrived home. The moment the mother saw the puppy, she shouted, “Hey, what have you brought? If your father sees it, he won’t spare anyone. He hates dogs. Go, leave it back.” Grandmother made a bad face, “Ram-Ram! The one who keeps the dog is also a dog. Throw it out.” Hearing all this made him cry. After so much coaxing, the friend agreed to give the puppy to him. Since the friend’s house was far away, he was allowed to keep the puppy at home for one night. Before his father arrived, he had spread sackcloth in the corner of the verandah and made it sleep.

He was startled by the whining sound of the puppy. There was dim light in the verandah due to the street light. The puppy was feeling cold and was trying to climb onto the cot of grandmother sleeping in the verandah. He got scared… ‘Grandmother doesn’t even let anyone touch her bed, let alone sleep… If she wakes up, she will make a lot of fuss… If Father wakes up, he will grab the puppy from the third floor and fling it down…’ He became sweaty under the quilt. Mother had kept one hand on him while he was sleeping; he could not get up even if he wanted to. The sound of the puppy screeching and scratching the cot with its claws seemed quite loud in the silence of the night.

Grandmother had lost her sleep and was tossing and turning. At last she got up and sat down.

Just imagining the dreadful situation to come gave him goosebumps. He sensed the grandmother staring at the puppy.

Grandmother glanced left and right, picked up the puppy, laid it at her feet, and covered it with the quilt.

*-Dr. Kanwar Dinesh Singh

Poet, Storyteller, Critic and Translator, Editor: Hyphen (A Literary Journal)

Email: kanwardineshsingh@gmail.com

Cell: +91-94186-26090