"Mankind differs from the animals only by a little and most people throw that away."
~ Confucius
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Random acts of Kindness can make the world a better place to live
(Image Courtesy: www.i-uv.com) |
I lost my Browny (a four months old stray pup whom I was raising) forever to a car accident inside our colony premises this Monday morning. He died right in front of my eyes, he lay wriggling in pain just a few feet away and I could do nothing to save him. I had gone so numb that I just stood there like a statue, utterly helpless, watching the agonizing scene.
It was drizzling and I had just then come down the stairs to wait for my office cab when I saw Browny playing with her mother, Reena, on the road-side. They looked so happy together. On seeing me, he at once came running to me and like he always does, started to lick my hands. He loved being patted on the back and so I did. But then he once again went back to play with his mother. Just then a car came rushing through the main gate at a breakneck speed, and while recklessly taking a sharp turn, not minding the bumpers too, it ran over Browny, crushing him to death. The driver didn't even bother to stop and instead only sped away as if nothing had happened. Everything happened so fast, so sudden that I couldn't react for a moment. Browny let out such a loud cry as he struggled and wriggled in pain that Reena ran across to him wailing. And within seconds, he fell motionless. Reena desperately tried to nudge his body in an attempt to elicit a response. But by then Browny had breathed his last.
I felt devastated. Who could have imagined that Browny who was playing happily just a few minutes earlier, was to meet such a tragic end? How could fate be so cruel towards such an adorable puppy who was yet to see the world? He was in such a cheerful mood that morning! Little did we know that he was to be snatched away from us, for no fault of his, rather only due to the recklessness of the car driver! What was even more dreadful and heart wrenching was to see Reena cry in distress near her son's dead body. She refused to move from his side and didn't even let anyone go near him. She just sat there guarding his corpse, howling every now and then and mourning her loss. But Browny's body had to be buried or else had it come to the notice of the scavengers, it would have been torn apart by them. As much as I wanted to take leave from my office and stay back, but I had to leave shortly thereafter, even though I was feeling very disturbed and shaken from inside.
When I returned back in the evening, I found Reena still sitting at the same spot where her son had died. I felt like hugging her and crying my heart out. As much as I tried to call Reena to come near me, she wouldn't listen. A mother had lost her dearest son. She had already got separated from her other kids earlier when the Municipality men came and took them away a few months back. Luckily Reena and Browny had managed to escape their eyes. As luck would have it, that fateful morning she lost Browny too. I thought it better to let her be by herself while she was remembering her son.
But strange it is that just as something unfortunate happens that forces me to lose my belief in mankind a little more, I come across some generous and kind people too who once again restore my faith. Or probably it's God's way of letting me know that humanity still exists. That there is still hope!
It drizzled the entire night and yet Reena literally didn't move an inch from that spot. I tried but failed to move her from there. The next morning as I looked down from my balcony, I found her still lying there (though it had stopped raining by then). It was time for her breakfast, so I went back to the kitchen to ready her staple diet. I had no idea then that I was going to witness an intensely moving scene in the next few minutes.
As I went downstairs to feed Reena her breakfast, I found three little kids already there (they wouldn't have been more than probably six or seven years old). One of them was trying to pat dry Reena with a hand towel, while the youngest of them all was trying his best to cajole Reena to drink the warm milk that he had brought in a saucer, even as the third one - a cute, little girl - silently kept on stroking her back as if to console her. My eyes welled up and I got a lump in my throat as I watched on. Even as we adults continue to indulge in savagery towards animals, at least these little kids are empathetic enough to understand a mother's loss and pain. Thus compassion isn't dead as yet, not all is lost, there is still hope. And our future is in safe hands
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(P.S. This 9 year old Filipino boy named Ken who used to regularly feed stray pups, has now built a non-profit animal shelter out of his garage to help stray animals. You can find the story here) 