D for Dog. Photo story by Reema.

Everyone knows D is for dog, but if you want to listen, I will tell you a story.

Since childhood I had fun every second because our home was in the middle of a vast green field, a very calm and peaceful place indeed.  My neighborhood was one of my favorite things apart from toys that I treasured, in the end there stood around 5 coconut trees, the field was about 10 acres if not more. I used to run like a wild child in the muddy field! Life was fun!

Our home was at the start of this field (now there are almost 10 houses). One day I saw this dog, a dark brown colored skin, and an angry face. I was merely 5 or 6 years back then but yet his devilish look didn’t scare me.  I hurriedly ran back to mom and asked for biscuits and came over and fed him.

Since then he used to stay in the pavement of our house.  Dad named him Raja, because of his kingly attitude. That cutie (I prefer to call cutie instead of dog) one day on our way to a friends place followed us, and in that way he got lost, since then I never saw him.  I was too little to feel what loosing something actually means but yet I was really sad unlike any other 6 year olds. I lost a precious friend. But as I grew up,  I forgot the love with time.

After that incident, lots of stray dogs had this similar kind of love for us, but they lasted for few days, or months.

A year or two back, a similar though a bit fair and frail than Raja, came wandering to our neighborhood. I spotted him sitting just outside my window in the street.  He didn't look interested to talk to me and I was literally irritating him by clicking pictures. He was feeling annoyed because of my weird behavior. I took almost twenty pictures of him, and at last I fed him a whole lot of yummy biscuits. Oh, well, he indeed loved how I pampered him and this made me win over his pure little heart and from that day he used to stop by our house and take a long nap in our pavement, just like our lost Raja. I named him Jigu; my mom's childhood pet was of same name.

The first day and how I stalked him.

After around 2 months, I saw another dog sitting just beside him, now I was too annoyed. A black and white colored ugly and weird dog that had this devilish facial expression, this dog made a horrible first impression. Gosh, I used to curse him all day, and never really fed him, because I thought he wanted to win our hearts and dethrone Jigu of our love. That would never happen I told this ugly dog repeatedly.  Thank God that he doesn’t understand human language, if he did then it would have been another story.

And the one.

Suddenly one fine day, Jigu was nowhere to be found, not in the road, not in the neighborhood, just nowhere, as if he drank some magic potion and got absorbed into the thin air. I started missing him terribly; because after growing up I fell in love with this dog for the first time (I don’t have a pet at home). The disappearance of Jigu made me go mad and my entire wrath rained on that disgusting ugly dog who was still sitting beside the gate.  I shouted at him, and literally blamed him for Jigu's disappearance.  I missed Jigu for almost a month or so, and still I miss him.  This unpleasant dog continued to stop by our pavement and I continued to curse him.

Till one day.

It was a Monday, as I returned from college and pushed the doorbell, suddenly this unpleasant dog shouted at me, and it made my heart come out.  I was never scared of dogs, but his voice was so terribly devilish as if he will eat me alive, gosh man, I called my mom in a loud voice and asked to open the door fast. I got in and took a long breath.

Next day in the afternoon, once again while I was returning from my college, saw that cursed dog sitting as usual, as if waiting for its prey. I was literally tired of cursing and shouting at him, so I just ignored and walked to the door, and voila, he got up and I heard some shrill cute noise coming out from his nostrils.  I was taken aback by surprise, what happened to this dog? Has some angel possessed him ? He was a devil reincarnated the day before and now an angel in disguise? Or did he realize that he made a mistake by shouting at me? He is just a dog for God sake! My mind went topsy-turvy.  His facial gesture and this cute voice made me aware that though he looked this angry, but from inside he had a heart of gold, he too knew love, and he too deserved a fair share of love from humans. At that moment, he reminded me of Raja and then of Jigu, and made me think that he wanted a pat on his back. He wanted to be cuddled, hugged, and so I whispered to him "you shall be loved." I was taken over by him, all my bitterness, harshness, bad feelings got over just within a few minutes. I fell in love with this angry dog!

and he loves to sleep all day.

Since that day I call him Jigu…and just a coincidence..he totally looks like my mom's childhood pet Jigu. Reincarnated? Perhaps!

Based on a true story!

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