The One with the Little Black Baby Bat

When: Sometime around August/September 2011

Where: Pune

Background: Just shifted to a new city, just started working. Usual routine: Office, home, cooking, movies/music, sleeping.

As I was about to get into my house after my usual wandering about in the society, I noticed a black lump outside my door. But something inside me said there’s more to this thing, it not just a random black lump! I looked closer and noticed a pair of eyes on it and discovered that it was actually a baby bat! Yes, a baby-bat!! But what could it have been doing sitting so still despite my curious advances, I do know that bats are very alert creatures after all. I guessed that it may have been injured somehow and hence couldn't fly. What was I to do? I couldn’t just leave it lying there on the floor, what if a dog came and killed it!?!

I ran inside and brought out a plastic bag to begin my rescue-operation. The idea was to somehow get the bat into the bag, so that I could set it free outside near a tree or something. So, I very strategically placed the mouth of the plastic bag in front of the baby-bat and was willing it or rather waiting for it to voluntarily get into the bag. When all the willing and verbal motivation did not seem to work, I started to think of ways to push it in the bag, but was a little scared of touching it, what if it suddenly flew right at me and bit me somewhere! :D

I was standing outside in a fix as to how do I get the baby-bat into the plastic bag when a guy climbed up the stairs past me. In those couple of seconds of brief eye-contact, I must’ve non-verbally very well conveyed my state of confusion/fear; such that he came back with a quizzical brow, asking whether I needed some help as he was walking up to me.. And then he helped me put the baby-bat into the plastic bag and we went downstairs to set it free by a tree.. You know, so that it could fly and hang on the tree-branch upside down or something… Hehehh.. And I thanked him profusely for the timely help so that I could successfully accomplish my rescue-mission… And then we talked a little, just the usual “Oh I’m Aarthi, by the way..” and the “So what do you do?” kind of talk.. and then he walked me upto my door and we wished each other a good night.. and I remember him saying “I’m sure you’ll have a good night now that the baby-bat has been rescued…”

That night I got very carried away by such a fantasy-like introduction of him into my life… I had good dreams.. Oh yes, gooood dreams.. ;)

‘Hazy’ is how I felt at work the next day,
Spent most of it absent-mindedly smiling away…
Weaving one fantasy after the other in my crazy deranged mind,
Each of which seemed to be one of a kind!!

(But there was so much work that day that I had to get some back home… So I did and was sitting in my room working-typing-working…)

The doorbell rang as I worked intently on that excel-sheet,
And upon opening the door my heart almost skipped a beat..!
There he was, smiling at me with a Charm-Quotient that touched the sky,
Little did I know that he’d later turn out to be so sly…
Though a little nervous, I wore my most confident smile,
We had a little chat but I had to tell him about that lurking excel-file!
But don’t worry you, we exchanged numbers at the end of the talk,
With a promise to meet downstairs post-dinner for an innocent walk!

The walk that night was pleasant. And we had a nice long interesting conversation. Now I'm not going to share more about this on my blog, but let's just say that I'm not friends with him anymore and that I do not (at all) wish him the best in all his endeavours.

Just that I was so pleased with this write-up that I had to publish it! :P