There she was, not very neatly dressed, cowering over something or rather someone in her lap. ‘Must be her baby’, I thought. That was the only seat empty in the bus. I decided to grab it before anyone else rushed to stake their claim. I went and sat besides her, glancing casually at her baby. ‘What!’, I glanced again. Instead of a human form there, I saw something else. A little one nevertheless, albeit not of the human variety but of the canine! (no wonder the seat was empty!) She had a small little puppy in her lap and she was trying to make the puppy sip some water from a small ice cream cup. She held the pup carefully in her palm with its legs dangling out. The tiny little thing had the tiniest paws. They were about the same size as the lady’s thumb. I dont need to say anything about the Delhi heat. It speaks for itself. The pup was only too delighted to have something to drink. As I watched, the tiniest snout sniffed about and the teeniest weeniest tongue popped out to sip the water.

‘Aw.. li’l ones are always so cute, be it any species’, I pondered.

The lady seemed to be turning more and more onto one side (towards the window). She somehow blocked my view partially. I could not understand why she would sit in that crooked, discomforting position. It seemed as if she wanted to hide something. Umm.. could she be thinking that I and a couple of others who were watching intently would cast an evil eye (‘nazar lagana’) on the pup? Well, I wouldn’t blame her if she had that sentiment. In sometime she turned a little outwards and I could see her patting the pup gently. As the bus had reached my stop, I got off the bus with a big smile on my face.