The lizards on my walls and I seem to be caught in a pendulum motion, swaying back and forth between short stalemates and long wars of clippers. The battle for space seems endless. After all, we all crave places we can call our own, which are made just for us to come back to.
My lizard and I don’t talk much, but we both know that we’re fighting for the last inch in this urbanized labyrinth called Gurgaon, where houses rise from empty plots as mud spews a solid poison. However, during these past several months of war, invasion and plunder, both of us have also begun to find a common ground, like a friendly bridge like the one we sometimes meet, one like the diplomats of our communities- Addresses the concerns of the other when one does not seem to give due attention to both of us. So, by virtue of our small acts of diplomacy, we have nurtured a friendship that is based on mutual understanding, but I must say, it is always fleeting. Why have we become like this? There are two reasons in my opinion.
First, ideally, they are native and deserve to live on this land. Calm your horses. My lizards do not demand a penthouse in your posh areas, or a plot of land in your many ‘steps’, which spread their tentacles on the ground, which is their right. Neither are they seeking compensation or compensation for the destruction of a large part of their habitat, their food sources and their species. What they want is the only thing. They say that since humans have cut down their trees and filled their wetlands with concrete and stones, it becomes more imperative on the human species to give them some space in their possession so that they can live and be able to reproduce. Will just do some of it. They are so docile that even a few inches of space on our ceiling is enough to tape their fat bodies, perform their acts of coziness and hold their share of the food that is available in abundance anyway – hello, dear mosquitoes!
Secondly, since we both know that neither of us can afford a penthouse of our own—due to rising property rates and the curse of Adam Smith’s invisible hand on our livings—we’ve become hysterical about what’s in this dog. They understand each other’s plight – the food-dog world. We also have a general fear when it comes to dogs. Dogs hate lizards and I am also afraid of street dogs and their crazy mouths, poisonous swords from their teeth. So, over the years, the Lizards and I seem to have found common ground, fighting one moment and signing our peace treaty the next. Perhaps, we need each other like never before.
We also have deals. One day a lizard said to me, “Sachin, you give me some space and I will give you a mosquito-free house.”
For which I could hardly refuse. “Deal, my God,” I said.
sachinsinghsolanki.india@gmail.com