Undying Love- lets learn it from them. Review on Having Pets at Home

“Dedicated to an epitome of love, my one and only Chocy”

Pets! A subject close to my heart.

If you want your children to grow up into caring adults nothing could be more appropriate than having pets at home. Be they cats or dogs or squirrels or even snakes.

My first pet was a squirrel. His(we kinda presumed it’s a he) memory still remains fresh. Early in the morning Squeaky would wake us(my brother and me) up, nibbling and squeaking into our ears until we stretched ourselves awake. He would accompany my dad to the milk store, nestling in his hair or shirt pocket. Our days would have been empty if not for that teeny weeny little creature who cheered us up every morning and made it a bright one.

After Squeaky came Julu(well the name just evolved .don’t ask for the history), a sweet and friendly feline, who befriended my dad and settled with us. I still remember the day my aunt broke her ankle and dad had to accompany her to the doctor. Julu would have food only if dad served it and he kept waiting for dad to come home. When dad finally came home it was past eleven and Julu in his hunger and anger walked right upto my dad and gave a loud protest demanding as to why he came late.

It is amusing to watch my present pet Browny(the heartthrob of many young men…oops!.I mean cats) choose her mate. Nothing less than a swayamvara for her. She would go around with one cat a day and finally when the D Day came she would let the best of them(the more patient ones who haven’t grown tired of going behind her fruitlessly) fight the duel and the fittest of them survives. Of course, there are those casual comments and cheering up from Browny now and then when the match is on. The way she passes comments is a sight to behold. She sits on the parakeet in all her splendour and watches their duel with her forepaws folded in front. Time and again, when she finds it apt, she will pass her comments, giving a full mew, sometimes stopping with just a half.

My pets have taught me a lot of patience and have taught me to do those things, which I would crib to in other circumstances. How many times have I cleaned up the mess my pets have made or discarded their half-eaten prey. Browny has this habit of proudly showing off her prey to all of us and then devouring it. Sometimes I feel so bad for those tiny little creatures she preys on, that I literally pull them out of her mouth and distract her until I can set them free. But I also learnt never to interfere with nature’s activities. If Browny caught it, it was hers and hers only. Once when she caught a bat and came home to show it to me. I noticed that the bat was still alive and attempted the Herculean effort of yanking it away from her mouth. Browny, in her frenzy to keep what she caught, dug her teeth deep into my fingers thinking that my fingers were indeed the bat’s flesh. I realized she was biting me and shouted at her to stop doing it and believed it or not she left hold of her grip immediately as if she understood what I was saying. From then on I have never attempted any such endeavors.

There is this superstition that has always intrigued me .that a crossing cat is a bad omen…well to tell you the truth I feel my day would be good only if I have a look at my cat, first thing in the morning. In fact my cats when they were kittens used to play around in our bed, sometimes playing hide and seek or ever so slightly nipping at my nose to wake me up or simply cuddling up with my brother to have a nice nap. It’s a nice feeling to have pets and to have someone to cuddle up to when in the real world you find it difficult to trust someone wholeheartedly.

Many a times have I found solace in my pets. There have been times when I hated this world. But that one mew, that one stroke or that one loving lick would be enough to tell me that I am not unloved in this world.

Every time I interact with my pets, I have the feeling that there is something important to learn from them. The more I interact, the more does this feeling reinforce itself on me. One of the most important of these lessons is the quality of showering undying, selfless love without expecting anything in return. I guess each one of us has something to learn from them. If you ever feel like having a companion, a soul mate, undemanding and ready to lavish unconditional love on you, don’t hesitate, find yourself a pet to love and be loved.

I could go on and on this topic, but for want of space and out of consideration for my fellow members I stop with this.