‘Animals make kids better human beings’

CHENNAI:On one night, 15 years ago, it was raining cats and dogs. I use this idiom intentionally because, that day at around 3 am, we were woken up by wailing of a dog. We ran out only to find this dog with her eight young puppies looking helplessly for shelter.

Dogs or any animals for that matter are usually protective of their babies and get aggressive when we try to touch them. But that day, she trusted us, let us pick her babies and place it inside our compound. She stayed with the babies the whole night, kept them warm, fed them and then we were there with her for a long time making sure she was warm, comfortable and fed well too.  

After this night, the mom had such an unbreakable trust that she let the pups stay inside our compound while she went out to take strolls. Amongst the eight pups, three got stolen and one died of some ailment. One pup was adopted and the other three stayed with us. 

My parents always told us, ‘Kids should always grow around animals, it will make them better human beings’. Eventually, these puppies became a part of our family, changed our lives, taught us kindness, compassion, love and trust. 

We had almost forgotten that dogs live a short life! We lost one boy to an accident and the other to a respiratory disorder and this was when we understood how they were not just a part of our world, but our world itself. We have always had this practice of burying our pets inside our compound where we plant seeds in that very place so that they take another form, grow into trees and outlive us.  

The most painful day was when I lost my pet Dainya, the last survivor of the eight from the pack. She was one of the most independent, dignified and kind dogs. I did not know how attached she was to me until she suffered a renal failure and denied to eat anything until I put her in my lap and feed her. It was the most difficult goodbye ever. After her death, we had decided that we shall never have pets because it is impossible to bear their loss.

But once you have them in life, you will need them forever. Two years later, I brought home Kaala, a black Labrador. I was so particular about getting a black pup because it is my favourite colour.Kaala was a 34-day-old pup when he came to our house. We adopted him because he had the brightest eyes. There has never been a dull moment for us since he came home.

My mom being an acknowledged writer in Kannada has also written short stories about Kaala. When we go out, when we do a count of people for a trip, we include him because he is family. Sometimes I get jealous of the attention Kaala gets from my mom.