On a brutally cold early spring night in a small town in Northern India, Amitabh was returning home after attending a call at the hospital where he worked at the time. The year was 1999. He parked his car and got out. The short distance between the car and the front door felt like a vast open space in the bone-chilling windy night. As he reached the house, he looked back at the car purely by chance and noticed something unusual. A hardly perceptible movement that he sensed more than saw - as if a shape had crept in from somewhere in the darkness and melted in the shadows under the car. He paused, hand still on the door handle. Probably it was nothing. Just the dark night and wild wind mixing with his sleepless state. Yet what if it was something? He needed to check and make sure. Pulling his collar up against the wind, he strode back to the car and bent to peer in the darkness underneath. And then he saw it. Staring at him from the shadows was a pair of eyes. They belonged to a tiny shivering puppy huddled against the rear wheel, trying in vain to shelter against the blowing wind. Amitabh hesitated. All he wanted was to get inside his warm house, close his eyes, and fall asleep. Yet, if he left this little creature out in the frigid night, it wouldnt survive. Taking a deep breath, he extended a hand. The little puppy came tumbling out of the shadows, falling several times, barely able to walk. It was all skin and bones, jaundiced, had eye infection, and injury marks from other dogs. Amitabh picked him up and brought him into the house. With warmth, safety, and a saucerful of milk, the puppy regained his strength, and also his spirit. He darted around the house and immediately marked his territory. Amitabh cleaned his wounds and tucked him to sleep. Over next few days, he fed him and treated his illnesses. The starved little puppy started gaining weight and developing a personality of his own. Its been fifteen years since that fateful night. Puppy thrived through many changes in scene, flew halfway across the world, and survived several major surgeries, all with the same indomitable spirit he had demonstrated from day-1 of his new life. And he also managed to retain his name of Puppy. We celebrated his 15th birthday two weeks ago, but we also tend to celebrate entire March as his birthday month. He gets extra walks, extra naps, and extra treats. And of course, this year is extra special because he turned fifteen. March is also a birthday month for Amitabh. Tomorrow he celebrates turning 40. A new milestone. Embarking on a new decade, finding new adventures, slaying new dragons. Heres to celebrating the boys in my life. Cheers!
Posted on: Sat, 29 Mar 2014 03:09:07 +0000
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