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| Chottu, my four-legged furry friend |
If indeed there are shortcuts to finding satisfaction and happiness, I will say that feeding a hungry stomach is definitely one of them; to hear a contented whine of the filled up tummy of a deprived, speechless creature is surely one way
. On meeting us somewhere the next time and recognising us, when he/she gives us an exuberant greeting -- letting out a mild joyful moan or a purr or by wagging his/her tail in joy --, the smiles and joy that one gets are beyond measure. Can there be any simpler way of obtaining happiness?
For most of us humans, everything apparently revolves around us. Often we aren't able to see beyond ourselves and our needs. Let me admit that there have been times when I have gone to great lengths just to ensure that my selfish desires are being fulfilled. And when it comes to food matters, I can be the most wicked and meanest person around. I haven't spared even God in this regard -- I had once eaten away the boondi laddoos (that were meant for prasad) before offering them to Ganeshji, right in the middle of Ganesh Chaturthi puja
(because the laddoos looked really tempting and I couldn't wait to bite into them!
I was so overcome by my greed for those laddoos that I just could not hold myself back or wait for the puja to get over). And there also have been numerous instances when I have wickedly snatched away and eaten my brother's share or of others after having finished mine (though they were all done in mischief, more than anything else).
Probably seven times out of ten, I wouldn't share my food with anyone. But there are also times when my priorities shift and I see beyond my own tummy. Because when it comes to hunger, not every one is as privileged as we are to be able to enjoy full-size meals everyday. While a substantial portion of food often goes waste on our plates, the less fortunate ones on the streets are not able to intake even a morsel of food for days together and struggle to stave off hunger every day!
Last Saturday evening while returning home through a bylane after having shopped the weekly groceries, my eyes fell on a skinny little puppy (wouldn't have been more than 3-4 weeks old), who was sniffing around here and there along the road and digging through the trash lying by, searching for food (sadly there wasn't any). He was literally only skin and bones; one could see almost every bone in his body.
As I went to him and tried calling him to come closer with a "chhhu chhhhu chhhhu", he looked up at me innocently, wagging his tail; he had such a pleading look on his face, as if only I could help him get what he so badly wanted -- some food to eat --, that anyone would have been overwhelmed with compassion.
Luckily I had a packet of Britannia fruit cake from my shopping, which I thought he would love eating. But when I gave him a crumb, he only sniffed and rejected it. Perhaps the smell of orange essence wasn't to his liking. It being a residential colony, there wasn't a shop in sight either anywhere around to buy him something else... I could do nothing. So I thought I should go home and come back to him quickly with some milk and biscuits from home. But by the time I returned back, he was gone. I looked around for him but he was nowhere to be found. That was heart-breaking.
It's always a struggle for the homeless creatures to find enough food to eat every day. With the odds so heavily stacked against them, life on the streets must have been even tougher for the little puppy, I thought. He was almost like a bag of bones! What would it be like for a little puppy to survive each day with a near-empty tummy? I had returned back home by then but his face had been on my mind ever since.
Two hours later at around 9 or 9:10 PM, I thought of giving it another try. I re-warmed the milk, put it into the bottle again and once again set out to that same lane with some biscuits and a small plastic bowl. By God's grace and to my joy, this time I found him, loitering outside the ICICI Bank ATM complex. And he was accompanied by his mother too. As I poured some milk into the bowl, added crushed biscuits to it and placed the bowl before him, once again he only sniffed the contents in the bowl but didn't eat. But on seeing her momma eating from the bowl, the little puppy too slowly started eating the milk-and-biscuit mixture. And he probably enjoyed it too, if his tail-wagging while eating was any indication. In a few minutes, the bowl was squeaky clean. There was a look of sheer delight on his face as I stroked his body. I too came back home with a contented heart, all the time spent with him was totally worth it. And I was feeling full. So much that even though I couldn't prepare my dinner that night, the way I had pre-planned an elaborate dinner menu for the night, still a few bread pieces and milk did just as good.
It has been 9 days since. We meet each other once a day on weekdays, at around the same time (9 PM or thereabouts) and twice on weekends (morning as well). I have named him "Chottu", I often find him with his mother, loitering in and around the ICICI bank ATM complex during that time. Or may be, Chottu waits for me there. By now, probably he too knows that I will go there to meet him around that time. When I bend down to him and caress his body, he instantly recognises me and starts twirling around in delight or rolls on his back and squeals excitedly. The joy on his face, in his beaming eyes is unmistakable. After feeding him, when I start to leave, he follows me till the corner of the road. And from there, he returns back to his mother. That is probably his way of showing appreciation for the little love and time that I spend with him.
Often we find ourselves in an emotional state that can perhaps never be put into words precisely. When I hold out a hand to him, Chottu gladly puts his paw up on my hand. I wouldn't trade that joy with anything in the world. More than anything else, it's the satisfaction of being able to light up the face of at least one from among those thousands of homeless animals who sleep on a half-empty stomach every day.
Tempering the words of Harvey MacKay a bit ~
"No one said that looking after ‘Chottu’ would be easy, they only said that it would be worth it." 