My Special Companion
In these 25 years of my life, I was doing the same thing that majority of them did. Experience. Everyone has had the same result but their experience of doing it was different.For some it would be success whereas for some it would be failure but their experience of it was different. Maybe for some it would be relatable, for some it would just be a story and for some just the pleasure of reading. But for someone who can relate and understand it is something soulful and heart touching. But some things remain there with you and with time they grow. With these unprecedented times, maybe some of this thinking led me to share these personal experiences.
Staying in India, in a well-to-do nuclear family and being the only child, you are pampered a lot. So much that almost every wish is fulfilled. And being the only child you always wish of having a companion. Since my school days I have always been the conservative not so interactive person and so the best in making that many friends or not that popular that people would become my friends on their own. My companion came in the form of a dog. A fully grown intelligent, with brown and white patches, 2 year old Scooby, a stray dog but the most courageous dog I would have ever seen in my life and then the list went until I had 17 dogs in total. And by stray I don’t mean any malnourished stray dog that comes into your mind. He was of the normal size but muscular. But this is something related to my first dog Scooby and shall always remain special. I don’t exactly remember my first experience with him but I remember my father and I going on late night walks and giving him biscuits to eat. This thing carried on for days until it became a habit. Later on, Scooby became an integral part of my life that I would have never imagined. He was a charming personality, with a judgement of good and bad. As I was small I was always under my father’s watch whenever we were feeding him. He had a strange charm that led everyone believe how friendly he was and that was true. Maybe he was someone like Simba, charming yet strong. And the best thing about dogs other than their loyalty is their instinct. They can feel the aura around you and know if something is not right. He’s attachment with the entire family was so astonishing and strong that he would not just sit outside our house in the veranda but also follow us wherever we went.
As a primary class student, my everyday schedule began with 7 am school and so did his. My father and I, would walk to our school and he would just follow us silently. Even when we tell him to go back he would never. He would always follow us and would wait along with my father until I enter my class and come back with him. Obviously we all know that dogs have areas or rather believe they own some area but Scooby never believed in this thing, maybe he was too proud to understand this thing. His adventures would include any area that we would travel on foot as if he was the Sinbad of dogs and was born to unravel each and every area that we went in. He would follow my father and mother to the bank or to the market and would bestow upon himself as our personal security. People would get frightened seeing him, sneaking around us but we would assure them that nothing would happen. Within his lifespan of around 8 years with me, he had never bitten anyone and had always welcomed other family members with warm hospitality. In all of this, he was given all the freedom and was never under the strains of leash and the typical 4 walled structure. At the end he was a part of my family. It was during those times when we would go out of town for vacation that Scooby would sit in the veranda of our house and wait for us every day. We would make arrangements of his food and water and would tell our neighbours about it but he would hardly move from his place. In another 1–2 year my family was more famous not because of any great deed that we did but because of Scooby. We’ve had our best times but it was always during the monsoon that he would hide somewhere and not come out until the ground is 100% dry. Those times were hard to find him. Sometimes he would be hiding under the car, sometimes in basement of the buildings and sometimes in under-construction building.
People would be attracted by his charm and a lot of people who didn’t have the joy of having a pet would come and feed him and play with him. For all the dog lovers in the vicinity, Scooby was an entertainment for them and it would include people from 1–2 year old toddlers to 60 year elderly people enjoying their evening walk. The only thing that Scooby was afraid of was small babies and puppies. He would always smell them for once and run away from them and would never go near them. Even after 100 attempts that thing never changed.
“The true bond with a dog is as lasting as the ties of this earth will ever be.”
— Konrad Lorenz
But humans don’t age as fast as dogs do and I guess that’s the bitter part of the medicine. With me entering my teens and Scooby entering his old age it was tough for that old guy to keep up with me. With time he’s movement became slow and weak eye-sight due to cataract in his eyes along with heavy panting made me worry. I couldn’t understand the reason behind this and would always think that he has become lazy and fat because of all the nutritious food that we gave him. But before we could understand anything, one day someone in the locality called an NGO treating stray animals in need. We thought that would be a good thing for him and they suggested that we keep him with them and they would operate his eye and treat his skin for Mange as well. Little did we know that it would be our last memory of him. After a week later, we went to check on him but we could not find him. When we inquired about him the attendant told us that after the operation he was infected by other dogs in and the infection has reached the other parts of his system and before the doctors could understand what had happened, it was too late. The day we went to meet him was the 2nd day after his death. That was the most horrendous moment I have ever had in my life and till this day it makes me regret that decision.
If he had been with us he would have lived more and would have had a peaceful death with his most trustworthy and loyal master around him. Atleast his last moments would have been with his family around him. It would have been my last memory of him dying peacefully instead of putting him in a cage. It was not just me but a lot of people felt bad that day. Maybe even they knew they had lost the jewel of their locality. Someone who would always stay happy and spread happiness through his charms and antics.
“When you adopt a dog, you have a lot of very good days and one very bad day.” — W. Bruce Cameron
Dogs as pets are just like best friends. You don’t choose your best friend, they eventually become one. Like bestfriends, they also become a part of your life. They wait for you when you are away, they play with you, they are always happy and become lively upon seeing you and they always want you to stay with them the way bestfriends always are. Dogs may at some point forget other dogs but they never forget their owner. For dogs their owner forms a integral part of their life with which they live on. Humans may have multiple pets in their entire life but pets have only one owner whom they trust and depend upon. And the sadness of losing a owner is much worse for the pet than other people. I still remember when my Grandmother died. I was in the 5th standard and the night before she passed, Scooby was crying the entire night and the entire next day he did not eat anything. Maybe he knew something bad was gonna happen and was letting us know about it the previous night. It’s so ironic that we cannot understand their language but yet they can understand our emotions and thoughts. Even now when I remember the time spent with Scooby and all the fun that we had, it automatically fills up my eyes with tears and brings about a smile on my face. Smile because those were the memories and moments with my most special companion and tears because of the absence of that special companion in my life. With time, we may forget about our guilt and mistakes but the memories of the best always stay with us. With time I have forgotten some memories but the memories of Scooby shall always be inscribed into my heart and shall never fade away….