To Kill a Mocking bird..

13 days since I opened my blog !! . Well have been busy off late( would love to say that although all I was doing was loafing around). Anyway had the chance to read Harper Lee's 1960 Classic "TO Kill a Mocking Bird" in between all the loafing around. A book which lives up to it's recommendations.( quite a few of my friends recommended the book and the movie as well).

It quite literally transported me back to my good old days of growing up. While I did not grow up in a small town like Maycomb( the book is based this small Southern US town), I could easily connect to adventures around the Haunted House of Boo Radley.(a strange neighbour who was never seen by the Narrator of the Story in all the years she stayed in the neighborhood). Growing up a large neighbourhood which essentially consisted of first generation Immigrants from Small Towns/Villages of India to the soon to be Silicon Valley of India(My beloved City Bengalooru), I had my share of strange neighbors and even stranger happenings around them. Like we had a house two blocks off my house, where an old lady lived with her 3 ferocious dogs. Imagine a small two bedroom apartment with 3 dogs and a lady !! . So ferocious where the dogs that we used to change directions the movement we saw the lady taking her dogs for a walk. When not going for an Walk, the dogs where tied to a heavy iron pole (incidentally a street light pole:)) in front of the house. Still can remember the day, when our friend group decided that we had had enough with the dogs and we had to something about them.

So one fine day in the Summer Vacations, we decided that we will throw stones at the tied dogs and scare them!! . And because all this had to be done without the lady seeing us, we decided we will hide behind the apartments in the next block for this Dare-Devil act. Everything was planned including searching for the right kind of stones to aim at the Dogs. So on the designated day, we friends grouped and waited for the dogs to be out in the open tied to iron pole. When the time came, we started taking shots at the dogs one by one. I had barely aimed my first stone at the dogs when I heard a clanking sound( The sound of window panes breaking ). Scared as we were, we ran helter-skelter and hid ourselves wherever we could. Apparently one of my friends in over enthusiasm had broken the old lady's bedroom window. Evening came and nothing happened and we thought the matter had been settled. (We all positively hoped that the lady had not seen us running).

But late in the evening (usually the time the lady takes the dogs for a walk) , I see the old lady headed straight to my home. Scared, I ran inside the home and hid myself. But I could hear the lady narrating the whole incident to my mom and worse, even telling I was involved with the gang of children who broke her windows . The lady left soon after and you can well imagine what my mom did to me after that. All I can say is that I had to limp to the playground the next day and mutely watch my friends play .

Now when I reflect back, I think Dogs are afterall the best friend a man can have but I guess it was all a part of growing up. A passing phase of life.