Twas the Night Before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring – well……except for the Hindu Mouse.
*~*~*~*~
It was a puzzlement.
Every morning, I would get up and go into my master bath. Now, let me describe it to you. I have always been drawn by Eastern art and the idea of a harem-type bath. My bathroom has a beautiful Moghal red and and gold embroidered shower curtain that looks as if it could be worn by any Hindu bride on her wedding day. It is, in a word, luxurious to the extreme. Throughout the room there are embroidered pictures of Japanese geishas, faux ivory carved figures of a Chinese Emperor and his Empress, as well as various Egyptian pieces – like hand blown glass perfume bottles and blue faience monkey-shaped eye makeup containers.
Over the commode, there is a beautiful wood cabinet that I store my essential oils, perfumes and unguents in. It helps make efficient use of the space and it lends to the overall atmosphere of sumptuousness. On top of this I keep the monkey eye makeup jars, the Egyptian perfume bottles and two little statues. One is of the Hindu Goddess Tara, and the other is of the Hindu Goddess, Lakshmi.
It was an absolute mystery to me why my statues of Lakshmi and Tara were knocked to the other end of the cabinet back against the wall. I suspected my son, who is currently home from college having gotten up in the night, stumbled into the bath and bumped the cabinet. I did in fact, at one point, yell at him for it. If he had done it he didn’t remember and he was sorry. This had been going on only since he got home, so I mean, what other answer could there be?
Early this morning I heard an incredible thumping going on. It did indeed sound like we have a mouse. We live in a log cabin in the woods. Mice are a fact of life out here and you constantly have to be on your guard for them. After years of this reality, you learn to put all of your food that usually goes in a cabinet in mouse-proof containers such as glass or tin. Otherwise you may wake up and find your cowboy boots having been established as a storehouse filled with sunflower seeds and rice!
I crept down the stairs. The thumping ceased momentarily and I stopped in the centre of the house, waiting to see where the sound was coming from. Again there was a frantic thumping coming from the bathroom. I went in to see a mouse furiously trying to drag one of the smaller of the two statues, Lakshmi, behind the cabinet and down its side to carry it away!
“You smarmy little bastard!” I shouted.
Looking up at me with his big liquid eyes, he jumped and bolted leaving his would-be prize behind!
After setting a trap liberally spread with peanut butter next to the object that our four legged Hindu most coveted. On going back to bed I remembered a few things.
My car is named Ganesha. In Hindu mythology, Ganesha is the opener of the way, the remover of obstacles. Getting that car was a definite remover of many obstacles in my life. It is interesting to note that Lord Ganesha’s vehicle is a mouse by the name of Kroncha. Kroncha wasn’t always a mouse. Kroncha was once a God who accidentally stepped on the feet of Muni Vamadeva who really thought Kroncha had done so intentionally. “For this insult, Kroncha, I curse you to become a mouse!”
Kroncha turned into a mouse and was so horrified and begged, “Oh please, Muni Vamadeva! Have mercy upon me!”
Muni Vamadeva, seeing how sorry Kroncha was, said, “You may ease your suffering by becoming the vehicle of Ganesha.”
Now, even though I know this myth, and I do know that in some parts of India, mice and rats are revered by the belief that these creatures have a bit more enlightenment than other creatures, nothing is going to stay my hand toward mercy – not even on Christmas Eve. I figure he invaded my house, he is trying to steal my stuff and he needs to go.
I will have to relate the discovery to my son who is still asleep as of this writing. I think I owe him an apology. Who was to know that the creature that was stirring on Christmas Eve was a Hindu Mouse?!
Then again, I think the Gods definitely have a sense of humour and maybe they were just trying to hitch a ride. 😉
Life Belongs to Sekhmet 
I LOVE that story! Thank you for sharing. Perhaps he wanted to have a statue as which to adorn his own apartment!
Happy holidays! To you, your family and the Hindu mouse. 🙂
Thank you! 🙂 I had fun with it, but I wrote it when I was pre-coffee!
Hope you and yours had a wonderful Holiday! 🙂
An terrific story. So many Hindu gods and goddesses involved, sounds very interesting. I would certainly suggest utilize the space to present offerings to all gods and goddesses mentioned in your post. It is way too amazing a combination of events to not seek to interface/commune with the respective deities. Oh, and don’t forget communicating with the monkey god Hanuman, as it was he who popped into my mind when you wrote about your “blue faience monkey-shaped eye makeup containers.” 🙂
Thank you for that! Yes, Hanumanji actually did cross my mind! *g* One of my specialties in my studies of Ancient Egypt is the interaction between Egypt and India. Certainly that replica piece of the makeup jar has a great deal of resemblence to Hanumanji! 🙂