By Savitri Narayanan
It was early in the evening but the sun was nowhere to be seen. It rained in the morning; the sky was still cloudy and it drizzled off and on. Apart from two or three workers trimming the hedges, the park was deserted. The seesaws, swings and slides, washed clean by the rains, waited for the sun to shine and the children to come out.
“Come my darlings, you must be hungry,” said the mother millipede, “Let’s look for food.”
Their home was below the ashoka tree, under a large stone which was almost hidden by drenched leaves.
“Follow me,” said the mother millipede, wading her way out through the leaves. “And stay near me too!”
The older millipedes Jollie, Jonnie and Mollie were used to and respected the tone of command in their mother’s tone. Once out in the open, they surveyed the grass looking for food.
For Minnie, the youngest, it was her first outing. “Such a big lawn! Can’t we explore?” she questioned.
“Watch out for the crows and mynahs,” cautioned the mother. “They too will be out looking for food!”
“You mean the crows and mynahs will eat us?” asked Millie in alarm.
“They might, darling,” said the mother millipede. “Keep in mind, when our life is at risk, there’ll be nobody to help us out! It’s up to us to watch out and protect ourselves!”
The others had heard this before so started to creep out slowly.
“Once again I remind you darlings, stay within this garden; never ever cross the concrete pathway!”
“What if we do?” asked Minnie. It was her first outing and she was curious, “What’s there on the other side?”
The elder millipedes paused. They too were curious to know but had never raised the question!
“I don’t know darling!”, confessed the mother millipede. “I followed my mother’s instruction and have never gone out of this lawn; I’ve heard that there is a bigger lawn, a swimming pool, more gardens and also many bungalows out there!”
‘How exciting!’, thought Minnie but what the mother millipede said was, “We get plenty of decayed leaves here and that’s all we need! Also, we’re safe here, so why break the traditions?”
Minnie was bent on exploring! While her siblings got busy eating, she quietly went towards the concrete pathway. It took a lot of effort and time to creep up and across the pathway. The concrete was hard and rough and warming up too. Soon Minnie’s underside was in pain but she struggled on. She reached the edge, fell onto the grass and instinctively curled into a spiral-shaped circle.
Slowly, she uncurled herself and looked around. At the far end of the lawn, she could see a blue expanse of water. A few people around.
‘Must be the swimming pool,’ thought Minnie.
There stood a man holding the handle of something made of metal. Suddenly the machine came alive with a loud sound. The man pushed it slowly around. Minnie had never seen a lawnmower but could sense danger.
‘Let me get back!’ thought Minnie and turned back. She was lost! She had wandered far and didn’t know how to get back home!
The hibiscus bush plant was where she’d started and had crossed in a straight line. To her dismay, now she could see two concrete pathways, one straight ahead and one on the left. Which way to go? Where was the hibiscus plant?
“Mom, where are you?” she called out, “Jollie, Jonnie, Mollie…,” Minnie was in tears as she crept back to the concrete pathway.
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As the sky cleared, one by one the doors opened and the children came out. It was great to be outdoors.
“Cricket?” asked John, “I’ve the bat!”
“How can we? Just four of us!” said Kiran.
“I’ve a new ball!” said Ganesh, “Let’s play throwball!”
Soon they were immersed in the game. The sky remained cloud-free adding to their joy.
“So much fun outdoors!” said John as he threw the ball with an extra push. The ball bounced away to the other side of the pathway. Kiran ran and retrieved it.
Instead of getting back to the game, John paused, bent and kneeled down on the pathway.
“Come soon, see what’s here!” he signaled and the others too came over.
Minnie was shocked and scared as all the three boys knelt down around her. John prodded her with a stick.
“It’s a living thing!” he said. “I think it’s breathing!”
“Millipedes have been living on this earth since millions of years ago, their food is decayed leaves and dead plant matter,” said John. “At home there’s a book about millipedes.”
“Let’s hit it with this ball! If blood comes out, it’s a living thing!”
“Will a millipede’s blood also be red in colour?”
“Does a millipede have bones?”
“Let’s just crush it with this ball and find out!”
“Never!”, said Ganesh. “It’s wrong to take life! We can kill only in self-defence says my father.”
“But we’re killing it to learn – to know the colour of its blood!”
“And to see if it has bones!”
“Nobody will kill this millipede!” Ganesh stood firm, hands spread out to protect Millie.
“I think Ganesh is right!” John said thoughtfully. “In our church meeting last Sunday, the priest said, ‘what you do to others will be done to you!’ which means if we kill this millipede today, we will be killed by somebody, some day!”
“I’ve got more interesting things to do!” said Kiran as he walked away. Ganesh and John plucked a leaf and gently rolled Minnie on to it. To her great relief, they dropped her in the lawn and went home.
“Mom, Jollie, Jonnie and Mollie, where are you?” Minnie called out.
“Thank God, our Minnie is back!” the family crept closer in joy.
“Hope you’ve learnt your lesson!” chided mother millipede. “You’re alive today only because there are still some good people in this world! Enough of the outing, let’s go home!”
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(Savitri Narayanan is a retired educationist at present in Bangaluru. A mother and grandmother, loves readig, writing and travelling.)
