The Shark Pup

Guppy was a Shark pup, it was born akin to a dog pup from the stomach of Helena the shark. Helena wasn’t overjoyed to  have Guppy as her Shark pup, because  it was one of the many Shark pups she  had borne. She had sometimes seen her whole spawn of eggs eaten by whales or other large fishes in the ocean  in spite of the care taken. It taught her lessons of detachment and  mysticism. Guppy was sensitive and loved the other shark pups. Within days of its birth, it saw the whole family disperse in their own ways, but Guppy held on to the seaweeds. It loved the fishes here, the place was a muddle of marine and freshwater fishes due to the concoction of  river water and sea water. It was a congregation of Cuttlefish, Eel, Catla, Snubnose Dart, Dolphin, flying fish, Crab, Herring, Jew fish, and many more, but Guppy loved the magnificence of the blue whale. The blue whale had kind eyes, but Guppy had blinds that could be drawn on its eyes when it slept.

One of those days, as it was swimming in the ocean it saw a beautiful large fish. It loved the fish as it did not have a jaw with frightening serrated teeth like his. They called it the Hilsa. The Hilsa did not bother about its fan followers, Guppy followed it far and wide only to be caught in the Fisherman’s net. Guppy was very small then so wriggled easily through the large mesh. It lay breathless in water for a long time, thanking its stars. Guppy was content eating plankton and small crustaceans. It soon realized that there were many different types of Sharks with serrated teeth like his. It was a quiet shark pup who would eat less and move peacefully. He saw a large number of his friends move hard and strong in  the water saying they were ravished. Guppy wondered why it never felt hungry like the white sharks, or the ugly Dog headed brown sharks.   Aunt Maria put it in plain words one day, informing Guppy that it was cold blooded, it could have boiling blood in summer and frozen blood in winter. It found the huge white sharks waiting to eat other animals, deep inside the sea. Guppy was then just  a few inches long, it was dark bluish black with a pale under colour. It had a lateral line system that helped it detect danger,  food and water to move in.

A few days later Guppy was prancing  with the cuttlefish and the baby herrings in the shallow waters when it saw a long worm dancing in the water, it moved jerkily. Guppy guzzled it in a gulp, it loved  that, and wanted more of it. He saw a little later, another one, which was heavier, succulent and larger, he was about to wolf it when the Hilsa gave it a smack with its paddle. The Hilsa admonished Guppy, and  said, “it is the fisherman’s bait,  he catches fish and sell them, roasts, fries and pickles them, do you wish to end your life”. Thereafter, Guppy nurtured a dislike for  the man, but it had never seen a man. Unluckily Guppy was caught in the Fisherman’s net with the Hilsa, Catla and many others. Guppy had grown a little now, it could not slip away.

It was breathless and could see its friends slowly dying. Just as it felt it was about to breathe its last breath, it landed in cold water, it hastily breathed long and short breathes and tumbled down in the bottom. The space was diminutive, dingy and dark,  and in the morning it was awakened by the loud yell of the fisherman’s youngest son, Jai.

Jai was excited to see Guppy, he adored it as a pet the minute he saw it. He quickly transferred it into a glass bottle. He had heard his biology teacher speak a lot about sharks, but he needed an opportunity to take it to school. He felt it would be right to show it to his teacher on the day his term exams began. Guppy felt uncomfortable in the bottle, but had no other go, it was sad and listless, it ate the wheat balls occasionally, however, found no fervour in living in the bottle. Jai would take him to the beach in the bottle, but never dared to release it. Guppy saw a few known faces, a few molluscan and crustaceans jeering, a few other friends empathizing the situation. Jai loved Guppy and shared all his  happiness and troubles. Jai found Guppy to be a secret friend that he always yearned for.

In winter when the term exams approached, Jai slowly carried Guppy in a larger bottle. Guppy was a little less than a foot tall and felt thankful for the space. The classroom was spacious but sparsely furnished. The Biology teacher was surprised to see the shark pup on her table. She ushered the students and began the examination. As the students were busy, she glanced at Guppy. Guppy had spread the white blinds on its eyes, and was asleep. The teacher could steadily look at Guppy. The bottle was filled with sea water, it seemed mucky, she slowly opened the lid to let oxygen in. Guppy felt better all of a sudden. It moved above water to breathe in air. It was then that it smiled at the teacher. The serrated teeth frightened the teacher, she quickly grabbed the lid and closed the bottle. Guppy sank down unhappy. The bottle was moved near the class aquarium. Guppy met many of his little friends, but the dreadful Piranha was also in it. It kept it lips stuck to the glass as the teacher knocked on the glass. After the exams, the teacher advised Jai to clean the  Guppy's home, the bottle, fill fresh water and keep Guppy in a larger space.  Guppy felt thankful, as the needful was done regularly now. 

A few weeks later, Guppy began growing, it found the bottle too small, it was then transferred to the tank on the roof top. It met the fish like larvae of frogs in the tank as they  cleaned the water. It was an initiative of the Municipal corporation to clean the water in the overhead tanks in the locality, so they dropped heaps of frog larvae in the tank.  Guppy would sometimes eat a little guiltily.  It sometimes imitated the larva as it gradually lost its own identity. It would move in jerks just like the larvae. With time, it had grown almost as large as the small overhead tank. Jai no longer came running to see his friend. The fisherman hauled it and left it back into the sea. The sympathy was only because his son would have never spared him if he had killed it. Back into the sea, Guppy found it hard to come to terms, it could not accept the change of being rewilded. It often swam to the shore in jerks to meet Jai, but Jai had forgotten Guppy.

Guppy grew stronger and had learnt its lessons of detachment like Helena. Years later, a boat toppled and the young men tried swimming across. The water current was strong, but stronger was the white shark who wanted to gobble the young man. Guppy saw the race listlessly till he saw the face, it relit memories. It was none other than Jai. The white shark grabbed Jai’s shank in its serrated teeth. Guppy rushed and thumped its tail hard on the jaw of the white shark, it sank its teeth to harm the white shark. The white shark dropped the prey in wonder. Jai swam back quickly to the shore. Guppy slowly moved on till it saw Jai stagger on the shore. Life resumed for both, nevertheless, none can gauge loyalty in fellowship.