Aquarium

Kids have been asking for a pet for many many years now. Their first choice was obviously dog, then it came down to hamster, turtle etc. We even went to the pet store and looked at the hamster. It didn't seem like I could handle it, and then there was the task of training it. Initially it bites because it thinks that your hand is the food. So after much ado and emotion from kids, I finally settled on fish.

Many books were gotten from libraries. Kabir & I being the literati in the house spent hours and hours analyzing their physiology and diet and setting up the tanketc. Finally, one fine morning, we stepped into the store. Setting up tank wasn't an easy task either. Size, decorations, water purification, filter process, etc - tons of stuff. Wondering how they do it in India. Anyways brought the tank, set it up and then left the filter on for several weeks. It needs to be done to accumulatte enough checmical on the bio wheel, whatever that is. Also, I wasn't ready for a pet still. In the end, after much pushing from kids, one fine Sunday morning, we went to the store, and selected 2 guppies. Put them in the tank and they started floating. Right from the beginning they went along well. They were the best friends.

2 weeks later, we got 4 more varieties, and the tank looked great. The new guppy joined the 2 old ones. The silver platy became loner but was the fiercest eater. Another guppy shied away and explored hiding places, while the most beautiful one, the blue one, also tried to mix in. Yesterday, the whole day, the blue one didn't come out and this morning I saw it's dead body floating in the water. Yes, we lost out first pet!

Now, I know Dinu's mouth is watering as he thinks of fish pakoras. I think tonight there will be fish frying in the pan at Rawat house!