Laughing Assassins

Waiting in vain for the rains to subside

Gleeful murderers... seen from a worm's eye

Khatoon Baig came in late today, with a grouse: Why did we start the exercises on time? “On rainy days, you should be starting late,” she complained. “People have difficulty reaching the Garden through blinding rain and flooded streets… You should wait for us and then start the exercises.”
Khatoon was the tenth of the 10 members who arrived for the exercises this morning. It had been raining almost non-stop since last night and at one point, many contemplated abandoning the exercises due to the low turnout. Even Nahid Khan had not come. But the mandap was there for shelter and as the exercises started, one by one Jagmohan Papneja, Arun Patil, Nahid and other regulars showed up.
But there, a new problem cropped up. The place was crawling with an assortment of wiggly creatures of all sizes -- earthworms, caterpillars, even leeches... No matter how hard we tried avoiding them, sooner than later they came under our feet. We had turned mass murderers in our new stomping ground.
Those creatures meant no harm to us – just that their homes (as Tara Chand put it) had been flooded by rain water and they too were seeking shelter in the mandap. In fact, they were there long before us. Rather than letting them be, we merrily exercised our might over them and laughing and clapping, we dispatched them to their maker.
Only Santosh Tyagi showed some compassion. But that was because she developed some feelings for a little pink earthworm which had crept up to her, obviously seeking her help. While continuing to exercise, Santosh kept a watchful eye on the helpless creature, studiously making way for it. Nahid, who has the tendency to mercilessly squish everything under her feet, was specifically forbidden from coming close… till such time the poor little thing made its way out of the mandap.
It was the only worm in the morning that got away.
Harish Wadhwa:
An apt title, Laughing Assassins for all those ruthless human beings who stomped upon those harmless creatures. May their souls rest in peace. Let us pray that they get a better life in their next birth.