THE BUFFALO'S BACK
'Bewda Louis', the whole village called him. At six in the morning, when the villagers just completed their daily routine of milking their buffaloes, our Louis completed his: he just returned from 'aunty's desi' joint. Unless Louis serviced himself with his early-morning quota, his pump wouldn't start; the tremor in his body would stop only after his pre-dawn trip to 'aunty's joint. "Louis, why do you drink like this?" many would ask him, concerned about his health. "Drink? Who drinks?" This was a typical reaction from Louis. "Okay baba, you don't drink; we do," they would give up, at the end of the day. Yesterday morning, I yelled at my teenager son, once again: "Tuck your shirt inside properly; you are going to the school, and not to a cinema hall." It was the typical morning 'hot' temperature. And, it was the typical dominating father. "What tuck? This is perfect," yelled back my son. ...