Rat's Paw /पिपांत मेले ओल्या उंदीर

It was an afternoon, in August. We (me and deep) entered our office to be welcomed by a messed up drawer. There was someone, who was sharing not only our office space, but our food as well. And then, the hunt began…
The claws indicated that it was some kind of rodent. But then, we hadn’t kept the drawer open. Was there someone from “Ratatouille”, who was smart enough to open the heavy drawer? Surprisingly, it was true. Its way of entering the drawer by climbing from the lower section of the table and then pushing the drawer from inside was really astounding. But then, we bipedals don’t like to get defeated by some petty quadrupeds. And hence, we blocked its way by locking the table drawer. 

But this new roommate of ours was not to be deterred by these small oppositions. In fact, it lodged its protest by routinely dirtying our floor and the table tops with its paws.

It kept visiting our room, though he no longer had access to the delicious food items. We desperately wanted to have a glimpse of it, but what we found were just various evidences of its existence. And now, the story seems to have ended. Last Saturday, we caught a sight of it in the water tank. It may have fallen down in it while jumping from its edge and couldn’t come up. Hope, others from its clan don’t take up its incomplete job of fighting against us…. RIP "the uninvited guest"…

आज मराठी भाषा दिन ! आणि सकाळी सकाळी हे उंदराचे दर्शन. त्यामुळे, साहजिकच मर्ढेकरांच्या कवितेची आठवण झाली.

पिपांत मेले ओल्या उंदीर;
माना पडल्या, मुरगळल्याविण;

ओठांवरती ओठ मिळाले;
माना पडल्या, आसक्तीविण.

गरिब बिचारे बिळांत जगले,
पिपांत मेले उचकी देउन;

दिवस सांडला घाऱ्या डोळीं
गात्रलिंग अन् धुऊन घेउन.

जगायची पण सक्ती आहे;
मरायची पण सक्ती आहे.

उदासतेला जहरी डोळे
काचेचे पण;
मधाळ पोळे;

ओठांवरती जमले तेंही
बेकलाइटी, बेकलाइटी!
ओठांवरती ओठ लागले;

पिपांत उंदीर न्हाले! न्हाले!

- बाळ सीताराम मर्ढेकर

सर्व वाचकांना मराठी भाषा दिनाच्या हार्दिक शुभेच्छा !