Began at Three - But For Keeps

[FONT=&quot]Mythia was a little more than 3 but surely less than 4. She wore her favourite yellow frock with black-strapped sandals, 2 ponies on the sides, happy to accompany her mom Kamalam. It was “Tata” time, very pleasurable and a wonderful break from the descending orders and multiplication tables. What a relief!![/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Kamalam as usual was in her best of attire. “Are you ready”, she gave her a hard-pressed look. “Yes, Ammai”, prompt came the reply. She quickly locked the door and they were on the streets marching towards a home 10 minutes away from theirs to visit Achala her friend. Kamalam has fixed the post noon meet so that she can finish her “Gupchup” and return to cook steamy hot dinner for the family. She asked one of the Paanwallah for the location and he pointed to a independent Gr+1 house in blue. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]As they walked closer to that blue house Kamalam was petrified to see a brown canine (probably Alsation) at the balcony holding the grill and barking to glory. He seemed disturbed from having his lovely siesta. She held Mythia’s hand tight and whispered, “She did not tell me about the “Nai” (doggie), I would have never come”, Ah!! God saved them, Achala was at the door calming down her doggie, lets call him ‘honeybun’. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]“Calm down Honeybun, she is my friend, sit down and let them come in”, Achala had a task in hand now. Mythia was amused to see her talking to a doggie. “Come, dear, Come”, she warmly welcomed them unlike her canine. ‘Have you tied him, God, I am very scared, please why don’t you take him to a different room and tie him up there, I am petrified with these dogs”, Kamali (pet name) requested her friend. She quickly untied him and dragged him in. Honeybun did not take that easily. May be it was his rest time, stretching himself on his tummy with a curled tail and dropped ears, having a lovely snooze after some delicious lunch, Mythia wondered. He turned and barked more loudly, Kamali’s mouth went dry. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]She again repeated, “If only she had told me about this ‘Nai’, I would have never come. We could have finished tables today”. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Mythia did not like the last sentence. She prayed with her tiny hands raised for the dog to calm down and so does her mom. They were still standing helplessly at the door of Achala. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Achala quickly took him to another room as desired by her friend, his faint barks were not so fearful anymore. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]“You have tied him nah, he’ll bite my child” [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]“Oh!! He’ll not; I did not know you are so scared of dogs. He is trained German Shepherd, not a street dog”, she completed a supportive statement. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]They perched themselves on the sofa. The hall was very spacious with a window giving full view of the road. Achala fetched some cold water for them and ordered her maid to make some hot coffee with some biscuits and cakes for Mythia (She guessed!). It was welcome. Doggie was in the other room, he had not stopped barking. Kamali and Achal (pet name) got in to discussing many topics and Mythia was in the long balcony overlooking the road. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Achal excused herself and walked up to Mythia, “Come and sit here for sometime” [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Kamali gave her daughter some hard stares, “Do not go here and there, I had asked you to sit next to me, just do that”, this time she was firmer. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Achal had gone to the other room. Oh! My lord! She had gone to fetch the doggie. The four-legged creature was hooked to a leash and he marched past the hall barking a little louder at his unwanted (for him) guests. Kamali quickly threw her logs up on the sofa and Mythia was standing next to her with all her eyes on ‘Honeybun’. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Achal tied him back to the grill and his barking subsided. “He does not like to be in for long, he always sits on the long bench in the afternoons. Do not worry, he is tied to the grill and cannot come in”. Kamali bought that statement and they were again lost in the conversation sipping some hot coffee and cracking some murukku (chakli). Mythia settled down for 1cup cake and 2-3 Monaco Biscuits. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Mythia slowly marched towards the door and peeped out. Her Mom screamed, “Do not go next to that ‘Nai’ he will bite you”. Mythia trembled on that order and gave a fearful look at her Mom and assured her that she will not take any step further. Achal took Kamali around to have a look at her spacious house. Mythia opted to stay back under the vigilance of the maid. Somehow the four-legged wonder seem to know her presence as his ears were shaking a bit and so was his tail. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Mythia inched a little more towards him, the maid was amused, “Do you want to touch him”, she asked her. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Her eyes rolled with excitement, “YES”. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]“Before you touch him, you have to befriend him”, the maid concluded. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Her eyebrows went for a lock, “HOW”. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot] “I will touch his tail, he will not know, it is away from his body”, Mythia whispered. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Her reply made the maid pull her saree pallav and cover her mouth and real in laughter. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]“He will know”[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]“He will not”, Mythia was sure this time. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Before more quizzes were played Mythia stretched out her index finger and touched HIS TAIL. Wow!!! HE DID NOT BITE. She quickly turned towards her maid and hushed, “Saw, I told you nah, he will not know”, Mythia was aiming for his forehead but was scared of his teeth and long tongue. Her mom and aunt were busying with their merry rounds in the house. They are upstairs; she could hear them in the balcony. Maid warned her to be careful and not to tease the dog. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]She assumed that Honeybun is happy in her presence. He had seen her twice and closed his eyes. She inched closer twirling one end of the frock with a little fear. He seemed to clear his throat with that noise. She smiled at him “I want to be your friend, I am sorry for disturbing your rest time. Do not get angry. You want bikis or cup cake. I will get for you”. He was blinking more often and continued giving small barks. Now, she wanted to touch his stomach as she was amused to see the up and down movement on his stomach. (Gosh!! He was breathing yaar, at that age it was a wonderful sight for her). The claws on his legs frightened her a bit. She built up courage and touched his stomach. He was quiet and HE DID NOT BITE. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Maid was next to her all the time. Mythia missed the forehead as she could hear her the footsteps of her mom and aunt in the hall. “Mythia!!!! Her mom screamed, “What are you doing with that ‘nai’ there? He will bite you today, COME HERE”. Honeybun stood on his bench looked inward, his ears had gone up and his tail was firm, he was barking loudly. He was disturbed not by Mythia but her Mom, she guessed. There was a small commotion. Maid got her quota of firing. Mythia knew she had to get her tables and descending order very much in ORDER today. Else, one of her knees will be broken. The roll pins, hangars and rulers started dancing in front of her, eager to touch her more fiercely than before. Her mom asked her to strap her sandals. She quickly obeyed her orders wishing she would spend more time at Aunts place also prayed that her dad would come a little early on that fateful day. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Aunt decided to whisk them away from the rear. Aunt Achala asked her quietly, “Did you likeHoneybun”, Mythia gave a broad grin and mumbled “YYESS’. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]“Come everyday and you can start playing with him”. Aunt sealed the sentence. Her Mom was holding her hand and there was little room to go and touch his forehead. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]The fear of disobeying mom had mounted and she had started reciting the tables to get them right. Oh!! Also 100, 99 , 98….. She has to get them right. She has to, the frock is not long enough to cover her knees!![/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]“Did you touch that dog?” Kamali was holding her hand very tightly venting her anger through that hard presses. “No”, she lied (yes, she did lie). “I have to wash your hands with antiseptic lotion. Next time, I am not going to take you to that house, did you get that….. !!” She yelled all the way.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]That index finger touch on the doggies tail and stomach opened the gate of courage to touch all the dogs that she see on the roads. Every morning she would go and fetch her butter, cakes and bikis from the shop across the road and if she happen to see this lovely creature called “dog” she would hang around to watch his behaviour. Sometimes, she could also see some Cows or Ox too. She would admire the way the cow raised his tail to pass his dung… Everything about animals was amazing and amusing to her. This had already caught the attention of her parents quiet early. Her toys were all animals!! The horse, bunny, sheep, cows, tigers (a must), a parrot, tabby cat, dogs and the list was endless all tied with different colour thread around their necks. When she was called for her lunch or dinner, they also get their feed. She would keep a vessel in front of them (from the kitchen set of toys) with some water or milk with some food and her parents appreciated it. When it went to the actual they started worrying mostly about the bite or infection or physical harm from the more wild types. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]A few months later, Mythia was again down the streets buzzing with action along with her parents who were busy shopping. She was holding her ammai’s (mom’s) hand and walking while Appa (Pop) was busy with his puff. While walking past the busy street dodging the push from the crowd, she saw a canine, a tall one rather hanging around at the corner of the street. Mythia slipped her hand from her mom’s grip and ran next to him. He seemed to smile at her and she wanted to touch him again. She did touch his back with her fingers (only) and was happy. When she turned to look for my ammai and appa.. Ah!! She realized that she has missed them in the crowd. When her parents realized it, they felt the ground was splitting beneath their feet. Mythia was walking helter skelter looking for them (Did I mention she was little less than 4). Thank God, she saw her appa (dad) who immediately carried her (surely to save the resounding slap that she was about to receive from ammai). Appa asked her how did I get left out. When she told him about the ‘nai’ and …. Hell went loose once again. After reaching home, she stood with both her palms out to take 3 ‘cut canes’ on each.. yes that was the punishment for running after the dog. Such incidents were repeated many times in her life. She would stand on the stool in the balcony to look for the cow, leaning completely outside with no fear of falling (too young to realize the aftermath). It was a routine to wash her hands with Dettol whenever she was back home!!![/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Mythia’s love for animals was getting famous in her neighbourhood and circle of relatives. Her family had gone to spend their evening on the beach. Mythia’s exam was to begin the coming Monday. She was busy playing making sand dunes. Suddenly she felt a dog next to her. Mythia teased the dog and started talking to him. There were other kids too from the beach who were teasing the dogs with some biscuits and not offering him. Mythia got lost in her sand dunes. A little later, she realized that her calf of the leg was burning, when she touched it there were some spots of blood. Mythia was rushed to the nearest hospital and was given medication. The doctors confirmed the bite of the dog and she had to go through the course of the injections. She would go to the hospital take injections and then give her final exams. Did this change her love for animals? [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Mythia and animals were like peas of the same pod. She was always found playing with animals, cuddling and playing with them, befriending people just coz they had pets, visiting zoos, sanctuaries, having pictures of them as screen savers and the list was endless. Her parents are strictly against having pets at home. Kamali yells at Mythia who is 29 years younger today to wash her hands with Dettol when she enters home. Do I need to reason it out! [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Mythila wishes to have even the wild ones as pets. Did someone hear her saying that she does not want to disturb their natural habitat! That was a good thinking!! Isn’t it!![/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Kamali is prepared to spend her old age feeding the animals from the day Mythila scores over a lottery and wins crores of rupees to keep her loved ones in natural habitat. [/FONT]
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THIS AFFAIR BEGAN AT THREE BUT FOR KEEPS

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Hi Pauli,

One can see the love and affection a kid has got for the animals right from the time he starts crawling. Loving animals teaches us many good things in life (1) to give unconditional Love (2) to give unconditional care (3) to share (4) to play and open up (5) to be joyful and less moody (5) to cuddle, hug and display the love and affection you have for others and the list is endless.

This post needs people who have such compassion and understands such compassion. 90% of the people fear animals or hate them. The 10% left behind are the ones who pray for their well being and will keep doing so forever.

It was indeed very chweet of you to admire my labour. This post was written when I was withering with back pain. I had to complete it was the motto and I did.

Woofy Woof for the day!!!

 

Dear Pauli,

You have hit a valid point here, some of them feel that I have not matured enough DrowningDrowning - REASON - I describe animals and play with them too..

Few have found a SOLUTIONRantRantWhen I will have my own kids, I will not waste my love on these dirty creatures bonkbonkbonk

It is little better now, can't take breaks from work, there is much of load which has to be cleared.

With friends like you, I will surely be alright.

 

Hi Sri,

So sweet of you dearie, your concern has already sent healing rays to my back. Commitment to oneself is more important than any pain. I will rememberr this post as it was very difficult for me to even sit on that day. It is much better today. Due to this back ache I am looking out for a full time maid, house work, office work, social work, consultancy, heading the building society and work attached to it, social commitments will take its toil, isn't it. And hobby of writing .. cant live without reading and writing, it is part of my life.

How is "JAI". Always drop a line about him when you write to me. Wow Wow and Love Love for "JAI".

I feel you daughter will also grow in to an ardent animal lover. God bless her.

Bye

 

Hi Aaru,

Kids have a unique way of interacting with animals. I have watched them minutely. At their age, it is always felt that, "tail is not part of his body and he will not know". Cho Chweet nah!! Big LaughBig Laugh

Welcome to the world of animal lovers. Thanks for encouraging this thread with your post.