A walk down the Red fort area is never a pleasant experience and more so on a humid Sunday afternoon. With sweat trickling down my forehead and my feet finding all the right mud puddles in the dirty by lanes of Jama Masjid, I was not exactly feeling elated. But the thought of the lip smacking Chicken Jahangiri at Karim's filled my senses with its aroma; it brought a spring into my step and it helped me find an even bigger puddle of dirt but that did not deter me at all.

The nice thing I found about walking in that area was that I did not need to exert myself much; the mass of population simply pushed me along with them. I was wondering if this was the place which animal and bird lovers considered a paradise, the Gods should actually have sued these people, after all this place didn't actually give paradise a good name. Maybe the stink and dirt was too much for them to contemplate action and maybe they hadn't heard about Karim's Korma or Estew or for that matter even Chicken Jahangiri. I was shaken out of my stupor by the sight of a shop right across the street, which very professionally stated "Karim Ki Dukaan". I broke my rank from the crowd and pushed my way across to the shop,

I wondered if someone had taken to the Britishers "Divide and Rule" policy, which made Karim's split up into different units. But it was not to be, when I reached the shop I was disappointed to find that it sold live birds and animals and not the aromatic cooked kind I was after. A gentleman in white dhoti kurta was arguing vividly with the shopkeeper. "Sahib take this white rabbit, it will cure you of your disease." "How much would it cost me?" queried the bespectacled gentleman. "Sahib, market rate is Rs 50 for each rabbit but if you buy two I am willing to give them to you for Rs 45 a piece."

Disappointed by the fact that there was no Chicken Jahangiri here I was just turning back to join ranks with the crowd, when the fear in the eyes of a white rabbit in the whole bunch of them, caught my attention. It was as if he had a premonition that something bad was going to happen to him. I walked over to the shopkeeper "Karim Bhai, how much is the white rabbit for?" I said pointing my finger at the shivering white rabbit. The bearded shopkeeper was astonished "Sahib, how did you know my name?" A chuckle escaped my throat. The exotic birds seemed to understand me and started chirping in laughter. "Of course, sahib the white rabbit is still for sale but only if you are willing to pay Rs.60. This gentleman here is willing to pay Rs 50 for it" said the shopkeeper.

"Why the special price for me?" "Sahib, this is a special white rabbit, it barely survived its birth but my special care saw it through. He was almost like a son to me. I think if I am going to sell him then he should be worth his meat. Moreover the gentleman here is willing to pay Rs.50 for this rabbit. You too can have any other rabbit for Rs. 50. " I promptly took out a fifty-rupees note and a ten-rupee note from my wallet and put them in the shopkeeper's hands. The shopkeeper was happy that his argument had got him a profit, he turned to the gentleman and said "Sahib, the white rabbit's meat will definitely cure you of your Syphilis. You will not get a better deal anywhere else in this market. And if you keep on discussing like this then all the rabbits will be sold before your eyes. Don't blame Karim Bhai afterwards that he didn't warn you."

I gently took the white rabbit into the palm of my hand and said "Haan Chakmak, how are you my son?" The amazed shopkeeper turned back to me with a jerk and surprise in his eyes "Sahib, I had enough surprises for today - first you know my name, then you also address the rabbit by his earlier name. I used to call him Chakmak too. He has a fire in his eyes, which you will not see in other rabbits, so I had named him Chakmak. Are you a mind reader, sahib?"

Mind reader??? A good mind reader I turned out to be. Judging by my wife's reaction I knew that the Holocaust would look like a picnic "What? You brought home a white rabbit? Where did you get that little brat from?" On the back foot I replied, "Arrey Bhagwan, his name is Chakmak and I found him in a shop near Jama Masjid." "Jama Masjid??? You were supposed to go and meet Mr. Joshi at his Lodi Garden residence. How did you get to Jama Masjid?" her eyes were livid with surprise and anger.

"Oops" In my quest for Karim's Chicken Jahangiri I had forgotten all about my appointment with Mr. Joshi. Worse still after buying Chakmak I had even forgot about Karim's Chicken Jahangiri. "Damn, make some excuse, say anything or at least something." I coaxed my mouth. But it seemed that my brain had turned a politician and changed sides "I stopped on my way to buy Karim's Chicken Jahangiri." No sooner had the words left my mouth I knew the plight of Napoleon when he went to Waterloo.

"We are already five members, and now you bring in a sixth without even discussing it with any of us." my wife gushed in anger. "Cool down, even I too did not know that I was going to buy Chakmak. It was that some guy was buying him to kill this poor little thing for his meat." I reasoned. "Should I be grateful that you did not buy the whole market or what? You went to meet Mr. Joshi instead you strayed to eat chicken and here you end up with a white rabbit in the house. I keep wondering when you will buy chicken to keep them as pets?" my wife thundered.

Oblivious to my crucification, my son 14-year-old son Sidhu had taken out green leaves of turnips from the refrigerator and had placed them in front of Chakmak. Chakmak took an instant liking to Sidhu; he hoped over and started munching his tiny little teeth into the green leaves. Sidhu looked on in fascination at this white ball of wonder. Neena, my lovely 4-year young daughter, meanwhile was studying Chakmak with the intensity of a scientist. She was the brains in our family. Our house was free of insects mainly because of her efforts. No sensible insect fly within 10 yards of our house, they knew that even Frankenstein would look like a handsome young chap, once Neena got her hands on them. Most of the insects which flew in by mistake, never returned back to tell their end of the story. The only one to have escaped this black hole was a frog that paid a surprise visit to our house. The surprise was on the frog because he soon found himself flying like Superman. Neena had tied his leg with a thin thread and swung him in air like a sling, as if she intended to bring down Goliath in a single blow. Only after much insistence on everybody's part did the frog limp away to his freedom. I wondered what plans Neena had for Chakmak.

Lika on the other hand did not know how to react. With a wagging tail, Lika got up and started sniffing her way to Chakmak. Chakmak stopped munching on his leaves briefly, looked around at Lika, took a situation analysis and satisfied he returned to his food paradise. It was but obvious that Lika did not like the brash, confident attitude of the new comer and to show her displeasure, barked at Chakmak.

Chakmak was clearly much ahead of his age. Knowing that he might have offended the sensibilities of Lika, with his "Devil-may care" attitude, he immediately stopped eating and hopped over to Lika and started rubbing his nose on Lika's legs, which was his way of showing love and affection. In a flurry of moment, Lika rushed back to me and jumped into my lap, seeking my attention. This was the sign that World War III was on the anvil; Lika had already started feeling insecure. I looked back at Chakpak, who had coolly returned to his food abode and resumed his mission " What a clever brat, he will definitely keep all of us on our toes."

Little did I know that I had put Nostradamus to shame by such a prediction. It took him 300 years before his predictions came true while mine came true the next morning. The house was a minefield of small black balls. My wife was the first to notice it and woke me up immediately "Look at that." Chakmak had put up a security system in place; no thief could leave the house without leaving a trail. My wife toed her way to the nearest broom and cleaned the whole house of the black mines before she gave a green signal to us. Days passed and we soon learned to live with the balls of thunder.

Chakmak sunk his shiny white teeth into my left hand's little finger. With a stifled cry I stood up from the bed and was jumping around with pain but Chakmak did not oblige me and hung on to my little finger. With a jerk I freed myself from Chakmak, he fell down onto the bed and with a satisfied look on his face he sprang back to his carrot. The war had begun. I felt sad for Lika because I could understand her insecurity and her inability to overcome this new chap in the competition for attention. I was resting on my bed when Chakmak hopped up to me and snuggled onto my neck and was rubbing his tiny little nose against mine, while Lika slept beside me. With a thought of showing my love to her and assuring her that she was still very important to me I started stroking her white fur. It was at this point that Chakmak stopped rubbing his nose against me and hopped over to my left hand with which I was stroking Lika and sunk his teeth into my hand to show his displeasure.

The war was tactical; Lika would try to occupy my lap whenever possible while Chakmak would try to snuggle up to my face to rub his nose against mine. Each side had a strategy and 2 months into the induction of Chakmak into the family, the days witnessed an intensification of the conflict. Hitler would have been proud of Lika because one day she came up with the unique strategy of starving her opponent to death. She went over to Chakmak's corner and ate up all his green leaves as well as carrots. Chakmak after his umpteenth expedition of the house came back to his corner to find it empty. He was confused, he was sure that he had seen Sidhu replenish his stock of green leaves and carrots. Sidhu knew that rabbits had to have a continuous supply of ration to be themselves, Neena had told him that. So he made sure that Chakmak's corner was never empty.

The next 2-3 days saw Lika in a spirited mood. The converted vegetarian would bark around happily and there was a spring in her step. After all her strategy was succeeding. The number of black balls in the house had decreased and I was surprised to see that Chakmak was not as active as before. His expeditions had reduced drastically and he kept very much to himself, though he would still find every opportunity to rub his nose against mine.

"Maybe Chakmak is ill and I think I will take him to Dr. Malik tomorrow morning for a medical checkup." I said in a worried tone to my wife, who agreed immediately. She too was worried for Chakmak; after all he was family too. But the following morning I was surprised as well as happy, the balls of thunder had increased again. It seemed the Grace of God had sorted out Chakmak's problem.

Lika was baffled; her milk bowl was as full as a pond in dry Sahara desert. Chakmak seemed to have learnt the fine art of war from Chanakya himself. He had taken the war to the enemy. Lika on her part was very alert and wanted to solve the mystery of the disappearing milk but whenever she returned from her mission to the enemy camp, she found her milk bowl empty. Lika tried to play Sherlock Holmes for another 4 or 5 days but when the mystery was beyond her deductive powers; she was sure that Professor Moriarty was behind her defeat and decided to give a 24-hour guard to her milk bowl. As soon as Sidhu or Neena poured milk into her bowl she would guard it like McKenna's Gold and did not sleep until she was sure that she herself had drank the milk. Chakmak was more than happy to return to his diet of green leaves and carrots. His expeditions around his territory intensified.

One night as I sat sipping my glass of Rum, Chakmak hopped to me and kept running around my feet. Chakmak was bored of his green leaves and wanted to try something new in his life and he looked eagerly at the bottle of rum on the table. His hop turned into a swagger as soon as he munched on the rum dipped bread I had placed in front of him. Like a tumultuous ship in a storm, Chakmak reached his place stumbling every step of his way, his limbs flaying left and right.

Chakmak decided that Rum was a better liquid than milk and every evening he would hop around me in anticipation of the heavenly drink. Chakmak's respect for me had increased manifold and he would hang onto every word and movement of mine. During one of our intoxication sessions he hopped up to me and whispered into my ears the great ambition in his life. With a fire in his eyes he said, " A life in the forest, where a big green bush would be my territory for life, that's what I want, nothing more and nothing less". I tried to explain to him "Look son, you are a city rabbit and you might never be able to adjust to the ways of the wild. It is better if you stay with us. Moreover you don't get rum in the jungle." As rebellious as any teenager, he just would not listen to my argument but the last point seemed to strike a chord in his mind and he decided to stay put with us. But the fact remained that he was fed up of this concrete jungle and wanted to be back in nature's lap.

Lika did not have any such ambitions and with passing days she saw the futility in trying to compete with Chakmak. She took up a new strategy. One of the mornings I got up early and was amazed to see Lika spread like a blanket on the floor. She looked like a White compass - her legs acting as the direction indicators. The only thing that was visible from a distance was her head sticking out like a hunter's trophy. I was puzzled and could not understand her new sleeping posture. Soon enough she stopped jumping onto my lap and would try to rub her nose against mine, just like Chakmak. I remembered the saying, "When you can not beat them, join them." After a week of playing copycat, Lika one day jumped back into my lap. Pleasantly surprised I enquired on her and she confessed that the new sleeping position was causing pain in her legs and that she was not as flexible as before. I cuddled her because of her sweet confession and immediately Chakmak tried sinking his teeth into my shoes but the leather was harder than he anticipated, so he started rubbing his nose against my leg.

Chakmak stuck his head out of one the car windows while Lika monopolized the other window. It was the first time in his conscious memory that Chakmak was out of the concrete structure that had been his home. His bright, excited eyes capturing each and every moment. Sidhu, Neena had been pulling me to take them to our village ever since their school summer holidays were announced. Everybody was excited but none matched the intensity of Lika and Chakmak. The summer heat was beating down on our car and Chakmak's insistence on catching fresh air by sticking his head out of the window didn't allow me to switch on the AC.

Sitting under a big tree, we unpacked our lunch. My mind went back to Chakmak's ambition "Maybe he is right after all. It is so peaceful here and so green I could spend the rest of my life here." The kids were running around while my wife served the dishes and called out "Sidhu, Neena, come have your lunch". Hardly had we finished when Lika came scurrying back to where we sat and started barking towards a bunch of bushes. I got up and hurried over to where Lika literally dragged me by my pants.

The greenery of the trees and the atmosphere did what none of us could do. Lika and Chakmak were playing around, old rivalry forgotten and new frontiers forged. Chakmak saw his dream come true - both of them had chanced upon big green bushes, which looked like giant mushrooms. Chakmak was delighted; he could not believe his eyes, he felt like Leonardo Di Caprio abroad the Titanic shouting, "I am the King of the World." What he had only seen in his sleep was here in front of his eyes. Playfully he hopped over to the bushes and suddenly disappeared in the dense undergrowth, taunting Lika to find him. Lika sniffed around the bushes for a long time before she decided that it was time to call reinforcements.

I was just bending over the second bush when with a squeaking sound Chakmak rushed out of the bushes. He was yelping in pain when I picked him up. I tried to find the cause of his misery but couldn't see anything. Neena rushed to me and took Chakmak into her little hands to soothe him, it seemed that her magic touch had eased his pain and he seemed pacified.

"Dad, Chakmak is sleeping in a strange way." Neena's squeaky voice cried. "It must be the heat, he must have been tired with all the running around. Let me switch on the AC" I said. "No Dad, have a look at this." insisted Neena. I pulled over the car on the sideway and looked back at Chakmak sleeping in Neena's lap. His head was hanging limply on the side and his breathing was forced. On a closer look I got a shock and immediately started the car "He has been bitten by something. He is frothing at his mouth. We need to get to a doctor immediately. Neena hand over Chakmak to Sidhu and take care of Lika." I shouted.

"Sorry sahib, he will not survive. Take a look at this." The dhaba owner pulled back Chakmak's skin to show the bluishness that had spread all over his skin. "It is a snake bite. It is common around this area, many times even my rabbits have been bitten but I treat them immediately with the herbs and they are OK but this rabbit must have been bitten about half an hour ago. He has got no chance." I broke the news to my wife and kids and a gloom spread over their faces. Even though Lika did not understand a word I said, tears rolled down her eyes.

We took a handful of ice from the dhaba owner, wrapped it in a towel and decided to move on. Neena and Sidhu took turns in applying the ice pack to Chakmak, who was struggling for breath. Tears kept on rolling down Lika's eyes; she just couldn't stop thinking about life without her rival.

Chakmak saw the big green bushes in front of his eyes. Here was his dream, now it was the reality. He closed his eyes. " Dad, Chakmak has stopped breathing." Sidhu said tears rolling down his cheeks. I brought the car to a halt immediately. I took Chakmak in my hands and looked at him, there was a look of peace on his face. He had found his kingdom.

Monsoons had begun and the whole countryside was drowned in foot deep water. All of us were searching for the spot where we had buried Chakmak 3 weeks ago but all we could see was puddles of water everywhere. There was no indication of the stick we had placed over his grave. For a day after the sudden departure of Chakmak we couldn't eat anything but Lika refused to eat food for 3 whole days as if she wanted to continue fighting Chakmak into the Other world.

3 young shepherd boys ran up to our car and enquired, "Uncle, what are you looking for?" Hopeful that they might know something I asked, pointing in the direction of water "There was a stick over there, do you know what happened to it?" "Oh that, about 2 weeks ago some dogs dug up a rabbit wrapped in a towel and ate him while raju took the cloth as he reached there first. Oye raju, show uncle the towel you took from there." Commanded one of the shepherd boys. The second boy produced a soiled towel with which we had wrapped Chakmak and lovingly cremated him. With a sigh I started the car and pushed the accelerator to the floor.

THE END