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| All Good Things Eventually Come To An End One Day |
“The most beautiful moments always seem to accelerate and slip beyond one’s grasp just when you want to hold onto them for as long as possible.”
Almost a year has passed since I parted with my five babies, on April 28, 2018. All I have now are lots of fond memories.
December 4th, 2017 it was, when the five puppies came into my life, as a Godsend. At that time, I was emotionally in shambles, struggling with depression and had literally made up my mind about ending my life. And then out of nowhere, these 5 kids came into my life. They too were in a helpless state, having lost their mother Laali (a street dog in our colony whom I used to feed). That time, they were just 8 days old, their eyes hadn't opened yet, when they were orphaned. Almost a week prior to that, Laali had given them birth in a vacant flat on the 4th floor in the same building as mine. But unfortunately she got run over by a car inside our colony premises. She was so severely injured that she could hardly lift her head, her spinal cord was probably broken and she was in excruciating pain.
To make matters worse, no vet was ready to come to our place and treat her - all of the vets whom I called up and requested, excused themselves while on the other hand, I didn't have a vehicle to take her to an animal clinic or hospital.
Shooting this video was extremely difficult for me. No sane person would want to video shoot an animal grimacing in pain. But I had no option. I thought may be if I showed the vets this video, may be their heart would melt and someone from among them would come and treat Laali. But no one bothered.
People are generally not too keen about the well-being of street animals - be the vets or the animal ambulances. Precious time was getting lost. I had never felt so helpless before. I pray that may God never put anyone in such a situation ever - helplessly watching someone dying and unable to do anything! I can never forget those eyes of Laali while she lay struggling on the floor - those pleading eyes of a mother as if she was appealing to me, "please look after my babies". Finally by the time, I could arrange an animal ambulance and got her admitted at Sanjay Gandhi hospital at Raja Garden, it was quite late. The doctors there said that Laali had gone into coma and that she wasn't responding to any treatment. She remained admitted there but two days later, the doctor informed me that she didn't survive.
The day Laali was admitted at the hospital, since then her five puppies had been with me. I brought them up like my own kids. They had no one to look after them and they were in a precarious situation. The winters in Delhi are usually freezing cold in December and add to that, they didn't have their mother with them to feed them milk.
So I brought them home as soon as I returned from the hospital. I couldn't stand the thought that given the bone-chilling cold at that time, while we humans would have slept peacefully under cozy blankets, the orphaned puppies would have spent the nights all alone, hungry and shivering in the cold in that vacant flat on the top floor.
It wasn't easy at all. Although I had reared an orphaned puppy once before too, back during my schooling days, but here they were five of them and were so so young! It was difficult. Firstly I wasn't in a stable frame of mind myself, going through one of the worst phases in my life, I had just not been able to get over the betrayal in love and heartbreak (more so because it had happened a second time around with me). That feeling of emptiness and bitterness had completely overpowered me, so much that I just couldn't think of anything else other than having suicidal thoughts. Added to that, I lived alone in Delhi where as my family (my parents) were based in Odisha. So raising five orphaned puppies all by myself wasn't easy at all. Moreover I was really nervous, five tiny lives were at stake. I always dreaded thinking about what if I took a wrong step somewhere! Thankfully everything went well.
Those 5 months from 4th of December to the end of April were really arduous but were also very satisfying. Raising five little lives, watching the babies literally grow on my lap, their innocence and their love actually acted as a balm on my bruised heart. In way, the phase surely taught me quite a few unforgettable life lessons.
Had it not been for the five puppies, I would have been dead by now, so low I was in my life at that time. I had literally given up on everything and had lost all purpose in life. In the puppies, I found a reason, an immediate purpose - to save them, to raise them till they were big enough to face the world and in doing that, I was inch by inch coming out of my difficult phase. They surely were my saviors. 
I didn't rejoin my job as I lived alone in Delhi and didn't want to leave the five puppies all alone at home. They were supposed to be fed every 2 to 2.5 hours. There would have been no one to look after these kids if I was away from home. So since December, I had been a full time parent to these kids, surviving on my savings. That time, I wasn't thinking too much about how the future would hold up for me or the puppies, I was only thinking about how to raise them up healthy and take it as far as I could, taking one day at a time, at least till they were big enough to face the world.
Here is a video of a cute conversation between me and my puppies. It was mid afternoon, the sun was beating down ferociously but who would make these naughty kids understand?
They were insisting on going out for a walk. I tell you, parenting is not easy at all
One of those times that prove that you don't really need to know the other one's language, you can understand the message and the underlying emotions when your hearts are connected!
Parenting, in itself, is a difficult job and being a single parent to five babies is even more challenging. The puppies were growing up faster, by then they were almost five months old, their appetite was increasing by the day, so raising them was getting really difficult for me. Financially it was putting a lot of strain as my savings were dwindling faster. Physically too, it was becoming strenuous - to cook their meals four times a day and to feed them as per their schedules, taking them out for walks, to clean up their mess, washing their utensils and again preparing their next meal. The only time I was able to eat was at night, after putting the babies to sleep. It wasn't possible to take out time to prepare my meals during the daytime. I was literally eating only one time during an entire day. However, at the same time, the immense satisfaction that during the course of those five months, I had never let the puppies miss any of their four time meals ever, would fill up my stomach. Yes, physically it was very tiring but nothing compared to that feeling of contentment I used to get when after finishing their meal, they would lovingly nestle in my arms and would fall asleep.
But the most difficult time for a parent is when he/she realizes that he/she may no more be able to give the right kind of life to their kids which they deserve - that mixed feeling of desperation and helplessness while giving up one's kids up for adoption is unbearable. Neither was I being able to keep them all with me, nor did I want to leave them back on the streets like my neighbours were advising. How could I have done that? I had raised them up in my house like my own babies, they were brought up in a clean environment amidst love, they needed a permanent home and a loving family.
I was to return back to Odisha on 30th of April, 2018. It was not being possible for me to bring the puppies with me to Bhubaneswar. Having read the rules of the Indian railways regarding train journeys of pet dogs, I wasn't convinced at all. One rule being that I wouldn't be sitting with them in the luggage van. Practically speaking, the two day train journey from Delhi to Bhubaneswar in the luggage van locked up in congested netted boxes wouldn't have been safe for them. Nor could I have left them shelter-less on the street in the same colony where I lived, fending for themselves. They would have still surely got under the wheels someday. More over, living on the streets would have brought them a lot of diseases. I had been very particular about keeping the babies clean and hygienic while raising them. I was really scared about their immunity because they hadn't had the all essential mother's milk while they were growing up.
So I started contacting NGOs, animal shelter homes and in facebook animal groups asking people to adopt them. But most of them are biased towards these Indian dogs, they would rather buy a breed rather than adopt an Indian dog. I still fail to understand as to how can the breed of an animal make so much of difference to certain people? Speaking from personal experiences and from whatever I have seen so far, the amount of love one gives to an animal gets reciprocated back with more than double of that love and affection, whatever may be the breed of the animal!
All of their vaccinations and de-worming had been completed for the year. All of the five babies were perfectly healthy, hale and hearty. All they needed was a forever home and loving family.
Tired Snowy taking rest after their routine evening walks
I was getting restless as the day April 30th started coming closer. By that time, I was financially almost completely drained and I couldn't have extended my stay in Delhi, I had already cancelled my earlier ticket to Bhubaneswar on 9th April because I hadn't been able to find them loving families. Fortunately around mid April, out of the five puppies, three of them (Zurro, Tiger and Blacky) got adopted one by one in succession and were living happily with their new families. But the remaining two (Snowy and Gungun) hadn't yet found a home and it was only a week to go for my return to Odisha. I was feeling so helpless. But just then, probably God did some miracle and out of no where, a girl contacted me on facebook after reading my old adoption request in some animal group.
And to my good luck, the place she suggested - Jeev Daya in Jhajjar, Haryana, was indeed the kind of place the two puppies needed. They found a safe and good home. The youth, who runs the NGO Jeev Daya, is himself a vet and was kind enough to take in my two kids. Parting from them wasn't easy but at least they found a safe and loving care-giver. So after a 5-month-long beautiful journey filled with love and beautiful memories, it was time to bid them adieu.
Now almost one year later as I reminisce about the days we spent together, it makes me really happy to know that all five of them are doing really well and have settled down with their new families. Seeing their pictures with their new families gives a different kind of a high - a blissful feeling. Of course, sometimes I do wonder if they still remember me. They too, I guess, every once in a while, probably would be remembering those old days but they better not. They have to move on. That's how life goes.
All good things eventually come to an end someday, that's inevitable. All that is left behind are fond memories
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