Public Ka Choo...ha

Mr. Pugland used to work for an IT company in Delhi. He was originally from Pune but had been in Delhi for 4 years. He lived in a double-room apartment with nominal rent and good neighborhood.

Life had been okay for him until a... came into his life and kept coming back.

One day, after bath, Pugland opened his undergarment drawer and witnessed a horrific scene. The piece of clothing he was going to pick jumped toward him. Yes, jumped! The clothing bounced off Pug's stomach and fell on the ground. Meanwhile, having had this piece of clothing suddenly jump and strike his stomach, Pug took a couple of hasty steps backward. He simultaneously wrapping the bedsheet around his bare body.

Three seconds later, one of the corners of the undergarment moved upward and a mouse appeared. It quite looked like a tourist who'd spent a night in the tent and was lifting a side of the tent to embrace the beauty of the next morning. Duh! The mouse (chooha in Hindi) then ran out to some corner of the house.

'Phew', said Pug! He was happy that it was a mouse. A ghost in an undergarment was never going to be an educated guess.

Next, he ignored the garment that had been floored, wore an alternative, dressed up, and left for office. Little did he know his life had just taken a strange turn.

The following days were not something to speak highly of. The mouse, the stupid little bugger, kept showing up at the most unexpected of places. Shaving kit, vegetable basket, television top, dining table, washing machine... just everywhere. You name a place in the house and the mouse would surely have made a special appearance there.

Mr. Pugland kept tolerating everything... until one day!

It was a Sunday afternoon and the mouse made an appearance from behind the washbasin while Pugland was in position lacking in dignity. Such positions are usually attained in 'Indian-style bathrooms', you know. 'That's it', said Pug. 'Time for you to go choohe', he thought.

Pug went to his local market, bought a mousetrap, laid the trap, and caught the little bugger, all in a matter of 4 hours. Pug then teased the mouse by making some weird squeaky sounds and left his home with the rodent.

Having released the chooha a couple of km away from home, Pug returned. He felt victorious.

The next morning, chooha made a special appearance at the refrigerator. It had apparently returned. Pug was shocked. He knew it was the same chooha; he had noticed it way too often to be able to distinguish it from other choohas.

Pug was not going to give up. He again managed to catch chooha with the same old trick. This time Pug released the chooha 10 km away from home.

But... the chooha returned!

This releasing and returning happened on a couple of more occassions. Pug had become extremely irritated now. He wondered,
a. how come the Chooha kept returning?
b. how come the Chooha kept getting trapped in a couple of hours of putting the trap?

Anyway, he did not want to kill the chooha. But, chooha was not leaving Pug with many options, mind you.

Pug was to leave next day for Chandigarh for an official 1-day visit and little did the train staff know that one of their passengers intended to carry a mousetrap... with a mouse trapped.

Apparently, Pug had caught the mouse again and put the trap in one of his old bags. On reaching the Chandigarh station, Pug boarded an auto and threw the mouse trap on the first available opportunity. He was happy for the rest of his journey.

A day later, Pug returned home and unlocked the door to his apartment. Right next to the door... was the... chooha. It looked like the chooha was waiting to welcome Pug home.

Pug dropped his bags and looked in the direction of the kitchen knife. And...
.
.
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Cuttttt...
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.
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...said the director.

He had just completed the shooting of yet another breaking news on the famous Indian news channel, ChaalBaaj Tak.

Sure enough, soon after, the breaking news flashed across the channel:

'Ganesh ji ka jaadui jaanvar, vaapas aaye IT executive ke ghar'
'Lord Ganesha's magical mouse, keeps returning to an IT executive's house'.
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PS: I hate you all for killing the meaning of 'news'.