From top left to bottom right: Niki, Bunty, Neal and The Gang Together
Ever since I was a teenager, I wanted to have my own, nice, small fishbowl with crystal-clear water and a pair of Beautiful, Bright, Shiny, Orange, Pet Goldfish in it. But, at the same time, I was not very much convinced with the idea of keeping the fish in small vicinity. I always felt that the fish belonged to the Sea, as that’s its natural habitat and it would feel free with plenty of room to move around along with a sense of belonging. And the same thought was very well portrayed in words in the song “We belong to the sea…by Aqua.” Yet the silent desire to have one always lived secretly in some corner of my heart. Rajesh, one of my dearest friends and I would often talk about marine life. I remember telling him about my fantasy of having a Pet Fish sometime. One fine day in the month of October, last year, he called me around 9:30 pm asking to see me. I had just returned from the office ten minutes before and was really tired. I told him; “hey, I’ve just reached home from work and am too tired to entertain you now, please come tomorrow.” To that he replied, “Renu, I got a small fishbowl and a pair of Goldfish for myself and I wanted to show it to you.” As soon as I heard that word ‘FISH’, I told him straightaway “Okay, you can come.” (I was waiting eagerly to see the fish.) At 9:50 or so, he arrived with one of his friends. He showed me all the stuff, including, the globe, a pair of beautiful and very young Goldfish (with an orange basecoat along with a tinge of black and white throughout the body, more or less like Koi Carps), food pellets, a net, medicine, plentiful of pebbles and a couple of twigs of live plants. I was enjoying the mere look of it, and suddenly he asked me “Where should I place it?” I was speechless. And when I opened my mouth, I said, “What?” And he says, “I got it for you.” I was so happy. I couldn’t thank him enough. It was so thoughtful of him. He cleaned everything properly and nicely decorated the bowl with white and blue pebbles and the dual twigs, and introduced the fish in to the bowl later. He also added about five drops of the Blue Medicine, which had turned the still, crystal-clear water into soothing, lovely blue. He left afterwards. I thought of surprising Samar, my husband. So, I gave him a call and asked him to be home on time. I couldn’t wait for him to be home. Just seconds before he arrived, I turned off all the lights and there was only the playful and startling darkness around. I had blindfolded him. I held his hand and walked him up to the dining table on which the bowl was kept. I made him touch the outer surface of the glass and guess what it could be. He tried really hard, but couldn’t get it. Then I turned on the lights and uncovered his eyes and he was so “amazed and pleasantly surprised” to see the fish and the entire setup. He was delighted. We called our friend-cum-neighbour, Saswati also to see it. All three of us were gazing non-stop at them for quite some time and enjoying their curiosity to discover the new home, and I am sure they were staring at the three of us too. After Saswati left, Samar and I sat around the table for another hour watching them and selecting names for them. Finally, we both agreed on Bunty and Babli, as I wanted rhyming names. These names were surely picked up from Rani Mukhurjee and Abhishek Bachan’s movie “Bunty aur Babli.” It was definitely one memorable evening and will always remain safe in my memories. And now that Gift of Rajesh has transformed into a mesmerizing, engaging and enjoyable hobby. All thanks to Rajesh.
