Monday, July 17, 2006

Canine Instincts

We had a neighbor called Mr. Sinha who was an animal lover. He began by giving left over food to one stray dog. Soon there were at least seven to ten street dogs of all sizes and ages occupying different corners of his house. Come winter they’d laze around the front verandah and the lawn adjacent to it and in summer they would select the coolest spots including the one with the facility of an air cooler. There would be a few more standing by the gate waiting to get in! Those inside would get the ‘cake’ and those in the ‘waiting list would be satisfied with the ‘crumbs’! The Sinhas had to buy at least four packets of bread to feed their dogs. Milk was no problem since they had three or four cows of which at least two yielded milk at any given point of time in the year. Mrs. Sinha would crib and complain about the house getting dirty and who could blame her considering the kind of the erratic and unreliable domestic help available these days. She was getting on in age and managing a mini zoo was not easy! Moreover, her social life had nearly come to a standstill with most of her friends wary of a visit to their place not knowing whether a bark or bite would welcome them. Finally it seemed that her problem would get solved when Mr. Sinha retired and they shifted from the company quarter to a rented house some four kilometers away.

While shifting to her new home Mrs. Sinha put her foot down and said that the dogs had to be left behind. Mr. Sinha relented albeit half-heartedly. They took the cows and their calves along and left the canines to fend for themselves. They had, however, underestimated their herd of cows for when they were let out to graze the following day, they returned with all ten dogs in tow, merrily wagging their tails!
Needless to say that the Sinhas gladly welcomed them back.

Unfortunately Mrs. Sinha passed away early this year. And it is his mini animal kingdom that helps him to get on with life. I do feel everything that happens to us, including the feeding of leftovers to a stray dog,happens for a purpose.

9 comments:

passerby55 said...

Hi preeta!

what a beautiful post to wipe away ones monday blues...

thankyou...for this wonderful post

PS: my mom feeds all the stray dogs...and my dad hates this.
let me email this post to him, it will bring a smile to mos's face and for dad ... he won;t mind..LOl it's his daughter.

passerby55 said...

can i keep the link to this post on my blog?....I want/hope many read it

do you mind? ...

Hip Grandma said...

passerby55:you can keep a link by all means.no problem there.hope ur mom enjoyed reading it.

srijithunni said...

Hi Hip Grandma,

A heartwarming post indeed, Came here through passerby55`s post.. And am glad I did so..

Keep Writing.

With Best Regards,
Srijith Unni

starry said...

Came here from Passerby's blog.you have a nice interesting blog here.and some nice stories to read.I will be back for more.

Hip Grandma said...

Hi all,
My responsibility has increased and I hope I live by your expectations.

Usha said...

I would have loved to see the expression on their faces when the cows returned with the 10 dear faithfuls!
Dogs can teach you so much about unconditional love and loyalty ( "Nanri ketta maganai vida naigal melada - remember the song?) I am so glad he has them now.
Very very sweet story.

Hip Grandma said...

usha:the Sinhas have a very cute d'in law and after the initial hesitation she's now used to dealing with the animals.yes!the way the dogs came, trotting behind the cows, must have surprised them.since I heard the story second hand from mrs.sinha I missed seeing the expression on their face.

Suji said...

Great post! My grandmother and uncle always feed stray dogs and crows so come rain or shine they will always be there at meal times.