A dog's love

The old man had a fancy for pets.He had a few dogs, not boasting of any pedigree but country mongrels in different colours, white with uneven black spots, the brownish one with a sheen and a totally jet black one whose eyes glistened even in dark.They all looked healthy with the kind of nourishment they received.A rich land owner, he had also a spotted deer, two peacocks, a monkey and a parrot. He had a rekhla, a carriage that had two big wheels and pulled by a horse besides many cows, buffaloes in his sprawling backyard.


He was a widower living alone in the village house that was too big for one man.He had a cook and a few servant maids.It was rumoured that he had a secret liason with all of them having lost his wife at an young age.But that is not relevant for the story.He distributed the surplus milk to the poor that came daily to his house in the morning.He was a compassionate man helping needy people with money and materials.He commanded the respect of villagers and spent his time reading English novels.


In his days there was no electricty and no fans.A punkha(fan) made of clothes hung on the top above the swing (oonjal) where we would relax iin the afternoons.It was the monkey’s job to keep pulling the rope for the punkha to move giving the air.He had a small stick he would be waving to keep the monkey at its job.When he dozed off and the stick stopped moving the monkey would climb up the rope and sit on the punkha.He would wake up when the punkha stopped and start moving the stick again. .


He used to go early in the mornings for a stroll around the fields.He used to take the brown dog that was his favourite.He pampered it more than the other two.He will survey the fields where crops would be grown and at the end answer the call of nature inside a circular bush with a small entrance.It gave the privacy he needed.One day as he was squatting there, he saw a big cobra with its hood spread at the entrance of the bush staring at him.There was no way to get past the long reptile without being bitten.Though afraid , he maintained his calm and assessed the situation.Then without the slightest movement of his limbs or position he whistled softly.

In a matter of seconds the browny as he called it,appeared on the scene and sized up the situation.In a trice without the least hesitation, it jumped on the cobra and held it in its teeth and dragged it away.The cobra bit the dog repeatedly but the dog did not let go the grip.The old man ran to his house with his heart pounding fast as if it would burst.As he sat in the front porch on a thinnai(a raised platform), the dog came with the dead snake in its bloodied mouth and fell at its master’s feet.In a few minutes as it kept looking at its master with sad and soulful eyes it breathed its last.It seemed as if its eyes had the power to speak to its master. The old man could not control his grief and wept inconsolably as if he had lost his own child.

For a few days he never spoke to anyone and avoided taking food unless compelled.He stopped walking around the fields and lay on the porch staring at the ceiling vacantly.He gave away all his pets including the horse except the cows and buffaloes.

"It is not just that animals make the world more scenic or picturesque. The lives of animals are woven into our very being - closer than our own breathing - and our soul will suffer when they are gone."