A golden bone in the mouth

Don’t think that the human world has the monopoly on fairy tale ending or rags to riches stories. Although I have a vast reservoir of stories of our very own four legged creatures, I must share these little stories with you to show that good things can and do happen in this big bad world!

I have a friend, Dipanwita, who is … three guesses-an animal lover. In fact, her daughter and husband love animals too. Last Sunday they decided to go for a picnic. As their car was crawling through a very crowded ‘haat’, she felt rather than saw, a guy kick something under the car. She insisted that her husband check out if there was indeed anything. The ‘better half’ stopped obligingly (perhaps because he knew that there was no getting away) and almost got beaten up for stopping on a crowded road – this was surely an apt example of being between the devil and the deep sea!

Peering down under the car Dipanwita felt vindicated. Sure enough, there was a little black ball of fur sitting petrified under the car. No amount of cajoling or threatening could persuade the pup to come out. Ultimately the power of cash prevailed. A thin skinny urchin boy was given a tenner (thank God it has not been demonetized so far- I think even Dipanwita would have balked at the idea of being relieved of a 2000 rupee note), to fish out the pup.

The shivering pup, all caked in mud, was in for a long ride. It was gently cleaned up. The poor better- half, Anirudha, mildly suggested that a cloth could possibly be used to save the seat cover. The indignant look was enough to shrivel him up and wish that he had held his tongue. The pup must have realized the immense responsibility bestowed on it and obliged by not doing anything on the way!

All the while I was hearing the story I was impatient to hear the end. When a pup is removed from its territory its chances of survival diminishes rapidly unless there is someone to take care of it.

Well, the family reached the destination and since it was an area under forest department it seemed unlikely that they would be allowed in.

The security guard was told the problem. Then the most amazing thing happened. The guard offered to adopt the pup! The pup was promptly named Memsahib, in honour of D. M’sahib was fed milk (there had been provision of milk for the not-so-very-young daughter).

After the traumatic experience, followed by warm milk the pup curled up and went to sleep. It was then realized that M’sahib had been a misnomer. Dipanwita, ever practical, suggested that the ‘Mem’ be dropped. The idea was shot down as some ‘sahib’ could take offence! (if this is not gender bias, what is?)  After a lot of debate, the pup was renamed – Babu.

Babu was so delighted with his new-found friends that he ignored the family when they set off for home. That is luck.

The next story is about a neighbour. A good Samaritan and a close friend, Nandini, is forever rescuing animals. Also, she is wonderful at finding homes for them. Some months back she posted, on the facebook, that two little strays needed home as they had been abandoned.

Veronica, our neighbour, is a special person. She is a total animal lover. Which is to say, she does not differentiate between strays and breed dogs. After moving into her new house, she wanted to keep a dog. She zeroed on Rust one of the handsome strays near her house. The experiment failed as Rust was not game about being confined in a house. Not the one to accept defeat, she tried to lure in his friends to keep him company! Unfortunately, that too failed. She loved him too much to keep him in. She had resigned herself to giving him ‘quality food’ outside.

The appeal for adoption did not go in vain. Veronica valiantly and immediately offered a home. The pups were sent over. Veronica was slightly taken aback when she found that both pups were headed her way. She had thought of adopting one. We were soon able to convince her why adopting two was way better than adopting just one. Once she saw them the battle was over. It was love at first sight.

If you saw the royal treatment the pups are getting you would perhaps have a sneaky wish to be a four legged one yourself! I am posting a few pictures to prove my point. The pups are called Maggie and Brownie and their favourite dish is Sandesh (a Bengali sweet) and their favourite drink is Maaza (for the time being)! They love tearing up things and no mother could be more indulgent.

So, you see good things DO happen if the dogs are born with a golden bone in the mouth!