The Diary of Tanya Singh

(based on a true story)

TANYA SINGH
Age: 33
Brisbane, Australia.

Friday, 27^th July 2007, 11.15 pm – the rooftop of my office building, 25^th floor: In my 7 years of career with this company, I’ve come here for the first time. Normally, I don’t have any business on the rooftop. Nobody in this organization does. I hardly ever step on to any floor other the 10^th – where my cabin is, and the conference rooms on Floors 2 and 3 or the cafeteria when I’m hungry. My work is my life. I’ve spent quite a few nights on the couch in my cabin, because there’s too much to do and no time to go home. Never really got the opportunity or the time to explore. Today, I have it – the time and the opportunity.

A week back, I unceremoniously ended my trip to my home country – India. I was born and raised in Pune till the age of 22. My father is the CEO of a leading bank in Australia. He and my mom had been living in Brisbane since I was 10. I was raised by my grandparents in Pune. Finance was in my blood. I finished studying my Chartered Accountancy at 22 and then moved to Brisbane where I did my MBA, Finance. Campus placement got me here, a lot of dedication saw me rise amongst the ranks. It’s very exhausting and very satisfying.

After coming to Brisbane for the first time, I never went back to India – in 10 years, until last week. My vacation was readily sanctioned. I hadn’t taken one in 7 years. I had a bit of a tough time explaining to my parents and my husband, Vinay why I wanted to go to Pune for vacation but I convinced them that I had friends back there who I wanted to meet. A bit of a lie to be honest. I had had friends in Pune. I also did stay in touch with them for a couple of years after I moved to Brisbane – over the Internet and sometimes the phone. But soon I lost touch. But Vinay didn’t ask too many questions. He just knows when not to ask them. And mom and dad believed me - eventually. I made my flight and hotel reservations and took a Cathay Pacific flight from Brisbane to Mumbai on 19^th July. Another short flight from Mumbai and I was in Pune. I reached the flight entrance and my heart skipped a beat when I caught the first glimpse of my city – after 10 years. I got down the staircase and looked around before getting onto the bus. Nothing really seemed familiar, at least from the runway. I was feeling different – the memories came flooding back to me. I took a taxi to the Sun-N-Sand. It was late and I was exhausted. Didn’t really take much of an effort to fall asleep.

When I woke up the next day, it was 10 am. Hadn’t had the luxury of waking up so late in many years. Felt good to have no agenda for the day – no meetings, no flights to catch, no presentations. Nothing. Had a quick shower, nice breakfast and sat down on the bed. The curtains were open, the warm sunlight flooded my room. I felt a certain kind of blankness. Hadn’t informed anyone that I was coming. It was a different feeling. Detached, indifferent ….I don’t know what it was.

I love to read. My study is the favorite room of my house. And O Henry is one of my favorite authors. I’m bringing him into the picture because it’s relevant to why I was in Pune. There’s a short story by O Henry called ‘After Twenty Years’. It is about two childhood friends who grew up like brothers in New York. When they were about to embark on their careers, one of them stayed back in New York and the other moved to the West. But they made an agreement. The agreement was that after exactly 20 years, on the same date and time, they would meet at the same place – no matter where they were or what situation they were in. Twenty years is a long time and eventually they lost contact. One became a criminal, the other became a cop. And though 20 years is long enough to forget, it so happened that they both remembered the appointment and turned up at the agreed place. Only, the criminal couldn’t see the cop’s face since it was dark but the cop recognized him. Not having the heart to arrest his best friend, he gets a colleague to do the job for him. Friendship vs. duty. Tough.

Here’s how this is relevant to me.

In 1992, three of my school friends....

(to be continued...)

Copyright © Priyanka Dave

Through Devonian Eyes

Episode 4:


It was a bottle of mineral water and a plastic tumbler. He drove a little further. It was close to midnight and the streets were nearly empty. He took a turn and entered a nearly deserted lane. After about a mile or so, he stopped. He opened the bottle of water, filled the tumbler and placed it on the carpet in front of the passenger’s seat. Then he lifted the bottle of Vodka. Angel could hear the cap being unscrewed. She looked up. Finally, the cap came off. He peered inside. Angel smelt a mild perfume. He covered the opening of the bottle with his hand and gently inverted it. Angel swam through the narrow neck and made her way to the opening. She rubbed a fin against his hand. The moment he felt it, he lifted his hand slightly and allowed the Vodka to flow out. Angel fell out into his palm along with it. He quickly threw the bottle aside, lifted the tumbler and released Angel into it. Angel felt as if she was in a new world!! Water at last. She breathed deeply, did a little somersault from the tumbler and dived back in. She looked up. He was smiling. She then heard the engine start. He drove home slowly and carefully to avoid the tumbler from falling over.

Once home, he lifted it and brought her inside. It was close to 1 am. His house was quiet. They were greeted by an old servant. He asked the servant to fill a glass bowl with fresh water. A few seconds later, Angel found herself in a bigger, better glass home with fresh water.

‘Third home in a single day….”she thought.

The visitor then carried the bowl upstairs to his room and placed it on what seemed to Angel like the side-table of a bed. She looked around. The room was colossal and exquisite. Diffused lighting, elegant furniture and shelves full of books.

He disappeared into the washroom. After a while, he came out and sat on his bed – right beside the table. He looked at Angel.

“You poor thing. I hope you feel better now….I’ll take you to a vet tomorrow first thing in the morning….don’t you worry,” he said and tapped the bowl gently. Angel smiled. Then she realized that he wouldn’t be able to recognize a ‘fish smile’.

He turned off the lights and Angel wondered what the next day would be like.

The next morning, his alarm went off at 6 am. Angel woke up. He woke up too and disappeared into the wash for half an hour. He came outside and then headed downstairs. A few minutes later, he came back accompanied by a white haired man with an exquisite moustache, probably somewhere in his sixties. Angel assumed he was his father.

“Dad….I got a fish.”

“I can see that. When did you buy it? Yesterday?”

“I didn’t buy it,” he said. He then explained the story to his dad who listened with a puzzled expression. At the end of the conversation, Angel heard him say, “How am I to believe your ridiculous story? Nobody would keep a fish in a bottle of Vodka…”

“I’ll give you proof….” said the young man. He picked up the Vodka bottle from his table and gave it to his dad.

“Open it and smell it,” he suggested.

His father opened the bottle and was taken aback by the fish-odour that emanated from it. He pushed the bottle away from his nose.

“Okay….I believe you now,” he said.

“Dad….the man is weird. He kept this fish in a bottle of Vodka and when I asked him about it, he didn’t seem to feel guilty or sorry about it. It was as if he was indifferent. I think it’s very abnormal….we need a further background check on that man before we do any business with him. Who knows, he might have other peculiarities…..and though this bottled fish has nothing to do with our business proposal, it reflects a lack of sensitivity towards life and towards other living beings in general. It’s actually CRUEL. And business with self-obsessed people doesn’t exactly sound like a good idea to me. I might be wrong, but if we have the options, I’d prefer dealing with a supplier who’s slightly more…..normal.”

“Give me a few days son,” his father said. “This does sound weird to me too. It’s actually quite sadistic. Getting some information about him shouldn’t take me too long. Meanwhile let’s keep things on hold.”

“Okay, dad.”

“Join me for breakfast?”

“In 10 minutes…”

His father proceeded towards the door. He stopped suddenly and turned back.

“Son…you might want to take the fish to Elina….she’s been living in alcohol for the past so many weeks…. I feel weird saying this… … but she needs a doctor…..doesn’t matter if she’s a fish.”

“I’ll do that dad….In fact, I’ll give her a ring right now. She might be able to drop in on her way to the clinic.”

Angel was taken aback by how fast things were going. Her new owner was actually going to call a veterinarian home to get her examined! She wanted to thank him, but that would take some time…..

Through Devonian Eyes

Episode 3:


(Continued from Episode 2)

Her owner opened the door. But Angel couldn’t see the visitor. Her owner was blocking the view. Then he moved.

It was a tall, young gentleman probably in his late twenties or early thirties in an elegant black suit. Angel was amazed. They generally had older visitors. Fat, paunchy ones. The kinds who had a lot of money but not much of anything else. So this came as a surprise to Angel.

Teetotaler that he was, her owner didn’t offer the gentleman any drinks. Angel was sure that the visitor wasn’t a teetotaler though. So, they talked over a few mocktails. Then sat down for dinner at the table. The dinner table was closer to the shelf where Angel’s bottle was placed. So she could hear them. The maid started serving…..and over dinner, the conversation continued.

From what Angel gathered, the gentleman ran a business. His father was a known industrial magnate and he had joined his father’s business some 5 years back. Apparently, he was an engineer who later went to a B-school somewhere in the US of A and was now back in India. He had come to meet Angel’s owner to discuss a business proposal on behalf of his father. Something about a huge contract. She tried to overhear more but that was all she could get.

Post dinner, when the maid was serving them coffee, the visitor’s eyes fell on the bottle of Vodka on the kitchen shelf.

“Is that a …….fish…..in your bottle?” he asked as he strained hard to see.

“Uh….yes.” replied her owner.

The visitor got up. He started walking towards the bottle.

“Is it real?” he asked with a trace of bewilderment on his face now.

Angel was beginning to enjoy this now.

“Of course it’s real.” her owner said.

“Uhh….then I need to ask you….is that really Vodka inside the bottle or have you filled it with water?” The bewilderment was now apparent. He was standing right in front of the bottle now.

“Its Vodka.”

He picked up the bottle and stared at Angel. “You keep a fish in a bottle of Vodka?!” he almost sounded angry now.

“Uh….I don’t have an aquarium….” Her owner stuttered.

The visitor looked at her owner in disbelief.

“How long has she been here?” he asked.

“Few weeks,” her owner replied.

He turned to look at Angel again. Angel was captivated. He had stunning green eyes which were now frozen in an expression which could best be described as a combination of disbelief and pity. He was fair, had a gentle yet self-assured face and light brown hair.

Angel realized she had been staring. The next moment she realized that she was a fish. Even if she stared, he would never make out that she was ‘staring’. Anyway, fish have the privilege of looking at people blankly without it being classified at staring. For once, she was glad she was a fish. She batted her eyelids but it didn’t have any impact on him. Because she was a fish. She didn’t even have mascara.

“Do you drink?” the visitor asked making an effort to sound polite now.

“I don’t,” her owner said.

Angel looked at the stranger hoping hugely that he would take the bottle with him. He suddenly looked at her again. His expression was readable now – pain. He felt sorry for her.

“You poor thing….” he said under his breath.

Suddenly he turned back to her owner with the bottle in his hand and announced loudly, “I think this is ….exquisite. Would I be asking for too much if I requested you to gift this bottle to me? If you don’t mind that is…..”

“Sure….” said her owner. Angel was sure that he was giving up the bottle because he did not want to disappoint the visitor. After all, a major contract was at stake.

The visitor thanked him. After a little more conversation, he stood up to leave. After the usual exchange of pleasantries, she heard him thanking her owner for the ‘exquisite gift’. As soon as the door closed behind them, she felt the visitor look at her again.

“Oh my God….” He said. She realized he had started running. The Vodka in the bottle shook violently. So did Angel. She wanted to tell him to go slower. But she couldn’t talk. She was a fish.

Once in the parking lot, he opened the door of his car. A black Audi A8. He placed the bottle gently in the adjacent seat. Pulled a cushion from the back seat and placed it in front of the bottle to prevent it from rolling down. 5 minutes later, he stopped in front of a provision store. Leaving Angel and the bottle in the car, he rushed outside…..and came back in less than a minute.

Angel wondered what he was doing. Was he a savior or was he evil? Would he save her or would he eat her? She hoped he hadn’t bought rice from the provision store. Fish and rice made for a good meal. She was sweating – though she was soaked in alcohol.

Then she saw what the stranger had bought from the shop……

(to be continued……)

Through Devonian Eyes

Episode 2 :


(contd. From Episode 1)


So, Angel silently cursed her perpetually sulky, crooked- toothed ugly owner. Cursing silently was the only thing she could do. She was a fish. She couldn’t talk.

‘Woe is mine’ she thought. *Sigh*

She gulped down some more vodka hoping its intoxicating effect would trick her mind into thinking that the ugly creature on the other side of the glass was a charming prince. But even the vodka couldn’t help her. She thought of drinking the whole bottle but suddenly realized that if she did that, the bottle would become empty and she would have no fluid to swim in. And fish cannot survive without fluid. They die if they are pulled out of it. 5th grade science. She was an educated fish.

Suddenly she was forced to snap out of her thoughts – again. Her owner was still tapping the bottle.

“Nice Fishey….Angel….come here…..heeeehheh…….fishey dance…..dance fishey!!!”

Angel was horrified. The man was asking her to dance. It reminded her of her favorite dialogue from an Indian movie called Sholay - “Basanti…..in kutton ke saamne mat nachna….”

To make him shut up, she decided to oblige by doing a little dance – just for formality’s sake. She waved her fins just once..... hoping it would suffice. Unfortunately, Mr. Sulky did not seem to think that a single-wave-of-fin counted as a dance. So, he kept on screaming “Dance fishey…..”

She decided to disobey him.

This became a daily routine. He would try to talk to Angel. Angel didn’t care. She felt sorry for him at times. He had no other company. So, he kept trying to find a friend in Angel. But Angel felt that he himself was responsible for his state. He was so bad natured, he couldn’t possibly have friends. He didn’t even have a wife. Angel wasn’t sure if that was a fortunate or an unfortunate thing.

Then one day, things changed…….


At around 9 pm on a cool, crisp Saturday evening in September, Angel saw her owner setting the dinner table for two. They were about to have a visitor. She wondered who it could be……. She wasn’t too excited because he NEVER had interesting visitors. But this time seemed to be different……he was setting the table extra carefully.

At around 9.30, the bell rang……….

She strained her eyes to see who it was……

(to be continued in Episode 3- Due: Saturday, 14th August)

Through Devonian Eyes

Episode 1:


It was a gloomy gray and rainy August afternoon. Angel, the silver coloured gold fish floated in its so-called-aquarium overwhelmed with boredom. It was too bored to swim. “I need a bigger house.” it thought. Its owner was a miserly teetotaler. He was too miserly to buy a fish bowl for Angel. He had been gifted a bottle of Vodka by his phoren settled brother who had visited him last month. “What do I do with this bottle?” he thought. He was lonely. Being a teetotaler, he made himself a cup of tea and then put on his trademark kurta and strolled to the nearest pet shop.



The dogs were too noisy for him. The cats were too mean. Birds were too chirpy. Venomous snakes were not available over-the-counter. And the availability of Anacondas was restricted to the Amazons.

“How about a gold-fish?” asked the pretty girl at the counter.

“I’d like to see a sample.” said the teetotaler.

The girl took him to the left end of the shop where there were a lot of aquariums with all kinds of fish. She showed him samples of goldfish. A particular goldfish caught his attention. Because unlike the other gold-fish, it wasn’t golden. It was silver.

“Why isn’t this gold-fish golden?” he demanded.

“Because it is an albino” replied the scared girl.

“I will buy it” he said. “What is its name?”

“It doesn’t have one. You can choose whatever name you want.” the girl said.

The teetotaler was too unimaginative to think of names. “Suggest one!” he barked.

“Uh…Angel?” she suggested.

“Okay” he said. He paid her and brought Angel home.
________________________________________________________________________
At Home:

‘Where do I put the fish?’ he thought. He was too miserly to buy an aquarium.

Suddenly his eyes fell on the bottle of vodka lying on his kitchen shelf.

‘Why waste it?’ he thought.

He couldn’t drink it because he was a teetotaler. But wasting food or drink was against his principles. After all, there were too many people in this world dying of hunger and thirst.

So, he opened the lid of the vodka bottle and put Angel in it.

Angel felt herself falling into an intoxicating liquid. Baffled at first, she felt strangely good the very next minute. She wondered what this wonderful fluid was. She swam to the top of the bottle and read the back of the label affixed near the neck. The letters looked inverted from the inside. But she could read them nevertheless. V-O-D-K-A. “Vodka!!” Angel realized. She danced merrily in the exotic fluid. She was interrupted by her irritating teetolaer owner who was tapping the bottle from outside.

“Nice fishey…..look at me fishey….Angelllll…..” he smiled revealing his crooked teeth.

“Damn b****……” Angel thought. She wished he was a little more handsome and good-natured. After all, it was a question of her life.

You might wonder how the life of a fish can be correlated to the handsomeness of her owner. Well, Angel had a secret. She was no ordinary fish……..

(to be continued in Episode 2)