Perfect playmates in an imperfect world
My daughter has always been scared of dogs. It wasn’t because some of them had huge frames and an angry demeanour, she used to get frightened by the little ones too. The pups who would nuzzle at her feet looking for affection and move their tail up and down expecting a lovable glance only to be shoved off. She would not enter any home if she came to know that a dog was on the premises. Most of the time, people would find it amusing and say, “How can she be so afraid of dogs when her mother is a veterinary doctor?”
But all that changed with the advent of a stray pup in our home. It wandered from the nearby farm and made itself comfy at our home. I scoffed at the unwanted addition in the family. My calculative and methodical mind argued that a pup requires utmost care. The professional in me has taken hold of emotions over the years and I act more like a clinician. The sight of a pup does not make me hold or cuddle it but instinctively tells me to deworm and vaccinate it.
The pup was christened Brownie. Over the days, I noticed a change in my daughter’s behaviour. Though she would shriek and run away from the little one and admonish it for following her while riding the bicycle in the verandah, she would smile as well. Gradually, she fell in love with its antics. She would seek it out the first thing in the morning and offer the pup a bowl of milk. Before going to school, she would make sure to wave it a bye. After coming from school, she would play with it for a while before having lunch. The pup became her constant companion in more than one ways. She would even take my phone and click pictures and make videos of the pup.
It had been a year and the pup grew up into an energetic dog. It could jump high and would tug at her frock. It could shred the door mat into smithereens. It could run, leap and fetch a ball. It had become agile, swift, playful and turned out to be the perfect playmate for my daughter. I accepted him as part of the family.
But strange are the ways of nature. After a year of perfect companionship when we were finally settled in with Brownie’s whims and fancies, a stray accident with a speeding car knocked it off. I had come back home after picking up my daughter from school and she started calling out for Brownie. We did not hear a bark for a long time and deduced that the canine must have gone for its afternoon siesta. But soon we came to know about the accident.
My daughter hugged me and cried. She was upset for days, reminiscing the time since little Brownie made acquaintance with her. Now, she has taken prints of pictures from my phone and made a collage titled, ‘Remembering Brownie’. She looks affectionately at every canine, pointing out the striking similarities with her playmate.
I know she will never be afraid of dogs anymore. Something has changed within her. Whenever she looks at a dog, she searches for that little common factor with her perfect playmate. Such is the love for a dog.
GRADUALLY, SHE FELL IN LOVE WITH ITS ANTICS. SHE WOULD SEEK IT OUT THE FIRST THING IN THE MORNING AND OFFER IT A BOWL OF MILK