Jayan walked out of his house in the morning for the office and he came across an incident in the neighbourhood.
Every day in the morning before 7 am, Mr Perumal went out for his morning walk. A man with a quick to rise temperament, preferred the peace of the morning with less people on the road.
He would enjoy his time alone, walking long and far, to the point from where he could see a train or two passing by from far. On his way back he saw this café that opened early, but he resisted the temptation for a cup of coffee except on Sundays. He would take his time looking around at the parks for new flowers or plants, or even the occasional birds.
Religious by nature, Mr Perumal visited two temples on his route to offer brief morning prayers. At one of these temples he would sometimes meet someone who considered him a friend but Mr Perumal didn’t have any such thing in mind for him, right from their school days.
Before beginning the final stretch of walk towards home, Mr Perumal would buy milk and if necessary, bread and the occasional packet of cheese slices and then he would return home.
Prabhu, a sixteen year’s old boy, loved his pet German Shepherd Kittu and Prabhu’s morning walks along with Kittu. Both enjoyed the walk with each other, sometimes even running briefly.
Prabhu was very considerate of people and other dogs, who would be scared of Kittu. Although a gentle dog by nature, even the most well-behaved dog can be taken by surprise some time.
At the bend of the road, Mr Perumal who was busy admiring the flowers in a small house garden, did not notice Prabhu coming with Kittu and Mr Perumal was quite afraid of dogs.
Prabhu decided to pass by quietly while Me Perumal was busy but Mr Perumal noticed Prabhu and Kittu and took a startled step back that startled Kittu and he let out a low bark.
The milk spilled out of the fallen container as Mr Perumal’s fear carried him to the ground on his back right in the small house garden. Prabhu was confused whether he should walk away with Kittu to not cause any further scare to Mr Perumal or whether he should help Mr Perumal up. Just then Prabhu noticed Jayan approaching and Jayan helped Mr Perumal up all the while Mr Perumal asked Prabhu to stand at a distance with Kittu and not come closer.
The temperamental Mr Perumal walked away to his house without saying anything and he didn’t come by to Prabhu’s house with any form of complaint. Jayan wondered if Mr Perumal might be becoming more understanding with time while Prabhu wondered if having a dog keeps people safe from Mr Perumal’s temperament.
Written by Anuran Chatterji
Early Morning Memories 