My Woof Mate

                                                              Deepthi Musley FB Page

Words cannot always express Love, friendship, and bonding. They are sometimes cloaked in a Lick, a wag, and a woof. Those who have a woof mate will surely agree with me on this. My mate continues to stay with me as Love, Hope, and Strength, even after several years of leaving his physical dwelling.

One Cold October morning when I went to inspect our house construction site, I was surprised to find a plump, cuddly furball whining in a corner. I looked around to see if I could find his mother, but there was no trace of her. I lifted him up in my arms and caressed him. I could sense he was trembling with cold and was sniffing to find his mother’s nipple for milk. He looked handsome and Misty in the fog!

I decided to pedal back home with the little puppy & made a choice to escape school for a good cause and mentally prepared myself for some yelling that evening from my mother.

I was so excited to bring him home. I quickly boiled some milk for my special guest, and later served it diluted & tepid. Something he did a few minutes after he drank the milk, clearly demonstrated his lack of toilet etiquettes. My annoyance could barely last when I looked into his innocent eyes. Later I made a cozy corner for him in my room where he fell asleep for a while after completing his chores.

The evening soon approached, and my heart was racing. I kept thinking to myself, that I would collapse if the doorbell rang. The universe attracts what you fear! The doorbell rang, and it was my mother at the door. Very unusually, I offered her some tea and cookies that evening before I could strike a conversation.

All mothers a blessed with antennae that detect unexpected courtesies developed by their children. I was not aware of my mother’s superpower, until that day.

The "Mommy sensor" detected a species behind the shut door of my room, where I had hidden the puppy. She had learned from Radha Aunty, my neighbour, that I was home all day.

I had to spill the beans. My mother patiently listened to me, & I was extremely happy that I was allowed to keep the puppy as my pet on a condition, that I compromised with my mother's choice for his name. But calling him Doggy was better than losing him.

Six months down the lane it was time for us to move to our New House. Doggy was now a fine-looking lad. We were a Happy family. Mom, Dad, Doggy and Me. Doggy was My Mate, and my sibling”.

Doggy, got a new home too. Dad got a lovely kennel constructed for him by the Gate side. Every morning Doggy and I would go for a walk. He would guard the house until I returned home from school, and then we would spend some great time together. We would eat our evening snacks together, and he would sit by my table side until I finished my homework. He would go out with Dad for an evening walk, and return to his kennel after we finished supper.

Happiness and joy multiplied for us with every passing day. And even before we realized, it was one year since we had moved to our new house.

One evening I returned home from school with some wonderful plans in my mind. I opened the gate to greet Doggy, and I was devastated looking at his condition.

Doggy laid still in the garden. His beautiful off-white body had turned green in the span of eight hours. His body mass had vanished into thin air making him look like a breathing skeleton.

I carefully shook him, & he gently opened his eyes. He tried standing up with the leftover energy in his body the moment he saw me, but fell down with a loud thud. He began to whine for help. I rushed inside the house to call the Vet and my parents & urged them to come soon.

I hurried back to the garden, & carefully put his head on my lap. He was trembling and was turning cold. I wept desperately, as his gentle eyes looked at me. He wagged his tail and licked my hand. And Woof he was gone.

He decided to take back the joy he had brought into my life. He once came home trembling with cold and hunger, and he abandoned me in the same fashion.

The Vet came and diagnosed that he was either bit by a snake or a poisonous insect.

Life has a bitter side to it. But my Mate’s memories dwell in my heart as Love, Hope, and Strength, even today…

Love

Deepthi

  

Spectrum of Two Worlds

                                           

Spectrum

Its phenomenal to know, that one among the many factes of God's creation is "YOU". And there is another special someone created by God for you, who helps you find yourself in this lost world..The understanding, is sometimes just as simple as knowing that someone with color blindness would see shades of Pink as Gray, and yet at other times it is as horrendous as accusing a child with color blindness to be reckless about learning something as simple as colors. Here is a tale of friendship and bonding shared between an 11 year old little lad and his neighbour.We were neither coeval, nor was there a strong need for us to know each other deeply. A reasonable Acquaintance is stimulating enough for someone to live in a neighbourhood… It’s what I thought, until! Things turned out to be the other way round.Destiny manifests itself as a relationship, at different stages of life, and you are ordained to accept it without prior consent, as though things were predefined!How was I to know, that Pokémon does not fancy Tarzan cordially. This had nothing to do with my limited exposure to the world of animation, and neither was it the fact. So what was it….?!It was a night of celebration, children who attended my son’s 3^rd year Birthday party, looked at their bundle of joy with eager eyes, as they waited for their turn while standing in the line to receive their return gifts before they could leave the party. While they waited for their turn, their arguments ranged from; “Mine is going to be the best gift”, to “I will open my gift only when I reach home”. The evening slowly melted in a glass of their sweet voices…The next two mornings after the party, brought my life back to the drab. Three days after the birthday party, I spotted Krish, as I drove my car out from the basement. He was as usual waving good bye to his dad, as he was leaving for office. Krish would wave at Mr. Iyer’s car, until it turned towards the main road at the end of the street.I drove a little closer to Krish to say a Hello and Good bye that day, as I had gotten to know him at the party we had hosted. His reciprocation left me numb…….Words he uttered struck me like lightning. Looking at my face, & speaking to himself he said… “Look at this Idiot.., who ever told this wicked witch to speak to me?” Even before I could say a word he ran inside the gate banging it hard on my face…..Speechless at his behaviour, I continued to drive. On my way, I was thinking to myself, that during the last 3 months after we had moved to our new apartment, I had never seen Krish go to school. I suddenly realized, that his family despite of the warm invitation, had not attended our house warming ceremony.As I reached my office gates, I told myself that I should meet Mrs. Iyer that evening once I reached home after work.Mrs. Iyer was someone who rendered herself beyond her age. My mother at 60 looked more youthful than Mrs. Iyer at 42. Mrs. Iyer’s Gray head laid still on her wise shoulders.Determined to meet her, I stepped into my house that evening after work. Little did I know that destiny had other plans for me…? As I freshened up and was getting into something more comfortable to wear, my mother asked me, “what fascinated you to dab the laundry with mud”. With a frown on my face, I rushed to the balcony, only for my wrath to get the better of me…I rushed right back inside the house and charged towards the intercom, and called my security guard to come immediately to the passage behind by balcony. The moment he appeared in the passage, I asked him, what had caused the mess? How does something like this go unnoticed by him? I demanded for an explanation. It was evident that this was somebody’s rotten action. His response fumbled, and I could smell something fishy about the whole situation. Just then I saw Mr. Iyer’s Gardner appear in their back yard, & hoping to get some insight, I clarified with him as well. The response did not differ much….. It was now evident, that facts were not disclosed. Later I called my security inside, and got to know that, Krish in the afternoon was uncontrollable, and kept throwing mud on my clothes, and that he had to be tied up literally before he was taken inside his home.My mother told me that I should immediately go meet Mrs. Iyer, and ensure this doesn’t happen again. I thought it was not appropriate, and that I should put this off for some time later, until Mrs. Iyer made the first move. Intuitively I knew, there was something wrong.  I told my mother to be alert when my husband & I were out at work, & to ensure that no harm came to her & my son Sai, when they went out to play in the balcony, I then somehow calmed my mother’s nerves down.A week later on a Sunday afternoon, when my husband was seated in the balcony watching my son playing on his rocking horse, a host of tiny sharp stones entered the balcony hurting my son, luckily not so badly. I heard my husband scream “Hey you! stop that nonsense”. I rushed out from the kitchen, and called Mrs. Iyer to come out, upon learning what had happened.Mrs. Iyer came out yelling, “Why the hell are you screaming out my name Deepthi”. I was surprised at her behaviour, & wrath at no fault of mine. This only had to get worse, with my mother charging in like a body guard who protects the VIP. I was about to start a conversation, but my mother made sure she started the war. “Don’t you dare speak like that to my daughter? Raise your compound wall and not your voice” she told Mrs. Iyer. My husband & I completely failed to control the situation. Mrs. Iyer too out did my mother...“You better sell your apartment and go elsewhere to live. My compound wall will not be altered”. While the two warriors were fighting the battle, my eyes stayed fixed upon Krish, who was standing behind his mother laughing, & giggling, completely unaffected.

In a few moments I realized, Mrs. Iyer continued to fight without any real intention to fight. She would constantly reconfirm with an eye contact with her son, that he was happy about the fact that she was protecting him. Things sometimes are never exactly the way we see it. What is projected is not what reality is… The moment this thought ended in my head, I dragged my mom inside the house, determined to meet Mrs. Iyer when she came out for her morning walk the next morning.Sharp at 6:30 am the next morning I headed towards the Booth Grounds Community Park behind my apartment. I saw Mrs. Iyer and smiled, she turned her face away and started walking faster. I ran and held her hand, and when she looked into my eyes, I could see a little anguish, & a little embarrassment, in her eyes. They were brimming with tears. She blurted: "I am sorry Deepthi, but I was just being a mother. My son is hypersensitive, short tempered, and self-obsessed. Autism is painful and sometimes shameful". “Krish found his dreams shattered, inside the wrapped return gift box on the night of your son’s birthday. He feels the world is supposed to know what he likes and dislikes. He was sure you had given him a Pokémon, but when he found a printed Tarzan mug, he smashed it to pieces on the ground.”

“We as his parents during his growing years had to sacrifice a lot to establish our relationship with him as our child. His idea about love and affection is that, his demands should be immediately met, and his likes and dislikes should be understood even without he disclosing them. He accompanied us to your party that night because, I accidentally told him you were gifting him a Pokémon. We could not leave him at home alone, and were caught awkwardly as we could not ignore your second invitation after the house warming. It is difficult for us to explain to the society, why we don’t attend social gatherings.” “Deepthi can you do me a kind favour…. Would you kindly apologize to Krish and bring him a Pokémon? We have promised him, that you would do this.”I was choked, I promised Mrs. Iyer to come later in the day and establish a fresh relationship with Krish.I met Krish that day, apologized, and bought him a Pokémon. Krish was very happy. I learnt from the Iyers that Love is all about giving, and spreading, and not expecting anything in return.Krish after four years from the day of this incident, is gradually changing, and growing up with all of us in a loving atmosphere, and is my best buddy!Those who do not understand the spectrum of his world, continue to accuse him of being reckless about not learning something as simple as names of the colours.As for all of us, who know Krish… We know that Pink is Gray….

Love… 

deepthi

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