Magic of Unconditional Love

You all must have read about love, it’s magic, it’s an aura in books authored by Chetan Bhagat or Ravinder Singh but, hold on, if you are a fan of cozy love stories, with happy or sad endings, I am sorry, this article is not for you. This is different, it’s about a common yet most misunderstood relationship, which only a few can understand and feel and get commit to. A relationship of a dog and its owner, a relationship between a person who can speak and a dog who cannot but can respond back with equal love and affection. My relationship began with dogs when I was just two months old I was told. My Dad brought a German Shepherd who was about three months. As a two-month-old baby, I hardly understood what this creature was doing around me Daily. To me, it was like just another family member. As I grew up, I realized that everyone in my family can speak but not her. When I was old enough to learn to speak, I was taught to address her as LUCY, Yes!! that was her name. Out of curiosity, I asked my parents about why it does not respond to what I speak and this question opened a door of LOVE to me and I learned the very first lesson about love. My parents told, “It does not understand you by what you speak, but the way you treat it, the way you act, it understands and senses your vibrations than your words”.   

       We gelled easily with each other, she was blessed with nine puppies, and more than anyone in the family, I was happy and excited seeing this new extended family of Lucy. I wanted to name all the nine puppies but I was told they are going to another home, they will have a different family and a better future. I was sad and so was Lucy. Both of them refused to eat, but then my mother made me realize how important it was for us to send those puppies to a different family, though I was not convinced I had no other option but to accept what was coming. With time I and Lucy forgot the loss of puppies and got back to normal life. It was just another day when I and Lucy were playing when my mom noticed a lot of hairs stuck throughout my clothes, yes they were of Lucy. We took it to a veterinary doctor and we were told that the hair fall is because of a parasite and may take longer to cure. My entire family was attached to Lucy and we took extreme care of it but nothing worked. Things got worst with time and many medical specialists could not give a solution. Lucy became weaker with time and we were advised to keep the distance from her. With a heavy heart, my family decided to send her to a farmhouse. I was not ready for it, I was not mature enough to understand the pros and cons. No logic entered my brain, neither my logic fewer arguments convinced my family

      The next day when I woke up, I saw a truck with Lucy in it. She was peeping out from a small hole of the shutter and tears were flowing down her eyes. Before I could go and speak or fight for Lucy, the driver turned on the ignition and the truck moved, I ran behind it but was caught by my father. As a six-year-old girl, more than chocolates, toys, and fancy dresses, I cried for Lucy. I and Lucy looked at each other, she was gone, not alone but with a small part of our heart along with her. 

      I grew older, finished my schooling, then my intermediate and engineering too. I met many dogs throughout my life but nothing could replace Lucy. I always had love and affection for all the animals I met, I played with all my neighbor’s dogs but was not willing to find a place for anyone. Then Pandemic hit the world and it was lockdown everywhere. From Mumbai, I moved back to Nagpur again. As I had enough time, I gave a thought to buying a puppy, and there I was advised by my sister to adopt a dog and give it a new life rather than buying one. I enquired at a few places and waited for a week to receive further information. That’s where I came to know about a dog whose owner wanted to release it. At a very early age of my life, I realized what separation meant and how it feels. I wanted to adopt it.

It was a male golden retriever and its name was OSCAR. As I and my brother went to see it, it showed a lot of love and affection, my brother was excited with its joyful nature. We adopted it without any delay and paid five thousand rupees for adoption (Question is I adopted and y did I paid for? His medications for 15 days). We named it BABA. He was gelling with us. There was joy everywhere in the family with this new member. All my colony residents and friends were happy that I finally adopted a dog. Like my family, my neighbors were keen to play with me.

One afternoon, a neighbor of mine visited me and as usual, she wanted to play with it. Something unexpected happened, Baba took a strong bite on her palm, strong enough to start oozing blood. This behavior was unexpected. That was the first time I saw a dog being so aggressive. My family was in shock, I was numb. We took my neighbor to the hospital and got her treated. That was the first time we decided to put a collar and chain a pet. We took an early call and took Baba to the hospital and we came to know that he has a tendency of getting panic & Trauma attacks and we cannot afford to let him loose. I had suffered the loss of a pet in my past and this was the same situation again. But I was mature enough to understand what is right and what is not. I wanted to take care of him as my own child. Though he was gelling good with us, we found him aggressive and fatal with others as well. It was then, we mutually decided to send him back to its owner but instead, he advised us to inject BABA with an injection and kill him. I was shocked/Surprised and Numb at his statement, how can someone be so mean to think of killing his own family member. Upon inquiring we realized that the aggressive mental conditioning of Baba is due to a knife attack on him by his previous owner from whom we adopted him.

Well, now the reason for his suggestion of killing Baba was clear to us. Neither Lucy nor Baba were just a pet to us, they were a part of our family. They ate with us, slept with us, cuddled with us, prayed with us, and killing was something that could never come to my mind. Though my family was against killing Baba, they wanted to send him away, but what happened to Lucy when she was gone? I don’t know!!! But now I wanted to take a call, I confronted my family and my father equally supported my decision. I still remember the day when my family discussed sending Baba away, though he never understood what we spoke, he probably sensed our vibes, he was as sad I was, he had tears in his eyes so as for me. There are few more incidents when Baba attacked our neighbors, but I knew, if he is showered with all the love that I have, I can still erase the memories of the past from his mind. I knew love can change someone’s life for good, it has the power to heal someone’s soul, no matter how deep the scar was. I started involving him in all my household activities, he would just roam around me and play, he would sit along with me and look at the books I read or silently interfered in my online office meetings, guess what, all my colleagues know this, the most handsome family member of my family.

        He is now mentally stable, he does not harm anyone now. But a word of caution “ don’t mess with him, he is still Aparichit of my family” And we love him a lot!