The high point of the Christmas vacation had been the fantastic home baked cake or rather pudding from Jones's grandmother.
The trio had helped her mix mounds of black raisins, brown dates, cherries, cashews, figs, apricots, walnuts, powdered aromatic spices such as cloves, cardamom and some secret ingredients, which Muthu suspected were honey and orange, almost a month before Christmas. This well marinated* mix was the magic behind the yummiest cake Muthu had ever eaten. Jones's grandma had served it hot from the oven, a complete delight!
School had reopened post the all too short Christmas holidays. On the very second day of school in the new year, the sudden pressure dip in the Bay of Bengal had resulted in unexpected heavy rains. School closed early by an hour!
Muthu and his band of boys went about floating boats and playing water cricket and so on, till the relatively timid Bala coaxed them to head home.
Muthu heard a pitiful sound. He stopped despite the rain. The whimper turned into a moan. Muthu went closer to the sound. He could barely make out who was in pain, so heavy was the rain and so dark the area.
There was a half-open manhole close to the footpath. Regulars were aware of it and were therefore careful while approaching it. But any animal/new-comer would have been caught unawares…
His fingers groped inside the hole. He felt a wet, cold nose. On closer inspection, he found that it was a dog. A very beautiful brown dog with the saddest eyes he had ever seen. The pup felt and looked thin. But he wasn't scared of Muthu.
Muthu had noticed that while some people are very loving and sensitive towards animals, some children and even grownups were mean to the poor creatures. While he appreciated that the animal may have provoked such a response, it was his belief that some folks just liked to bully or tease animals.
He had noticed this at the big zoo he had visited in Chennai. Misplaced enthusiasm made people feed the animals despite big signs warning against feeding animals popcorn and other such junk food. Muthu wondered if it was because the animal would get hooked on to junk food or if there would be more severe consequences on its health such as indigestion.
*marinated - to steep (food) in a marinade
