Bilao Pakri

                                              

“This suit doesn't fit me the way I wanted it to; I need to look serious about my job on the first day Billo. And the tail feels stifled, I can’t move it enough, the cavity should have been a little loose”. Bilao Pakri looked at his wife in dismay, he had a lot of expectations from his first tomcat suit. “Aren't you a little too over dressed for a mouse catcher”, Billo said looking at his husband from top to bottom. Bilao had got the job after much persuasion and persistence, it was a matter of pride for him to be a mouse catcher at district magistrate’s office. "You will be the center of attention in the clowder, magistrate’s mouse catcher's queen wify", Bilao Pakri had a smug on his face, "you should know you are the only cat in the neighborhood who's husband has got a job and who's not chasing pigeons in other peoples verandas". 

With a meow goodbye, Bilao left for his job site.

It was Tutul's first day at work too, and he was running very late. Tutul was exceptionally content and laid back for a first class Economics graduate, forced to take up the job by his wife Debo who couldn't see him whiling away time peacefully, ambition less, reading Bill Bryson's travel anecdotes without moving an inch from his long arm chair under the white oak tree. Mornings would turn into afternoon and afternoons would become evenings while he shuttled between his arm chair under the tree and the house, Tutul loved being in the house, but the district magistrate needed an assistant to take down dictations and baba had mentioned Tutul's credentials to saheb, which landed Tutul a job he was not looking for. He was peddling as fast as he could to reach the office in time, when suddenly he applied breaks and the cycle stopped with a screech. It was a cat in a suit crossing the road.

 "Its a bad omen, my first day at work and a cat crosses my path, this surely is a sign of something bad that is about to happen", he mumbled to himself. He had to wait over ten minutes for someone else to cross the cat trail and take the bad omen upon himself for crossing the trail first, he put his foot on the peddle to cycle again, but instead of  cycling towards office he took a U-turn to go back home. 

Debo was surprised to see him returning."Ki Halo, why are you back", she asked in agitation. " I had a cat in a suit crossing my path first thing in the morning, its a very bad omen, I had to come back", Tutul replied. " Cats can't afford suits and just because you are looking for an excuse for not working, don't put it on the cat, who probably was going about looking for food", she almost screamed at him.

Bilao Pakri came back home when the sun had almost set, looking as fresh as he was in the morning, "there were'nt any mice around today to catch, it was an easy day", he addressed Billo with a flirtatious smile. " I think the word has spread that I work for a very senior government official", he said. "People stop on the road to give me way, like this man in the morning. When he saw me crossing the road, he stopped his cycle and let me pass first, with such respect and adulation I need to be more responsible Billo", he said with all seriousness. 

" We all create an outside world  based on our thoughts alone" Billo thought to herself, looking lovingly at Bilao, without responding to him.