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The cow incident


This dates back to when I was 7 years old. We were living in Bombay (or Mumbai as it is called now).

On Saturdays we had half-day school. So I usually returned home at around 2 p.m., ate and then we friends got together at somebody’s house to play.

One Saturday, I went to a friend’s house to play. After an hour or so, we decided to take a break, go home, finish homework and regroup in the playground later in the evening. I left her place and started walking back home, which was about 10 minutes away. I was wearing my new red skirt and white blouse. Those days ‘red’ was my favourite colour. So I was happily prancing and singing to myself while going home.

On the way, there was a cow eating some grass just outside the garden fence of a building, her face towards the building and her back towards the road, on which, I was merrily walking unaware of imminent danger.

As I passed the cow, whom I had barely noticed, I heard heavy footfall behind me. So I turned around and to my great shock I saw that the cow had begun running towards me ! I don’t remember at all what I felt at the time. I only remember running frantically in the direction of my home, the cow in hot pursuit ! After what felt like eternity, I rushed inside the gate of our building turned around to shut it and fasten the lock, only to find that the cow had missed me by just one foot or so. I knew that the gate was locked and the cow couldn’t enter and yet I ran to our ground-floor flat, rang the bell frantically and as soon as my mother let me in, I burst into tears :)

To this day, I can’t walk / drive past a cow or a buffalo without getting jittery.

P. S. While writing this, I suddenly remembered another ‘chase’, which I shall soon entertain you with.

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