This is Bono’s story written as narrated by him. The setting of the story is in the small Himalayan town of Mussoorie located in Uttarakhand state of India. Bono lives at about a kilometre from the Dalai Hills. This is edited by Bono.
I have walked this earth for more than 9 years and have loved dogs all this while.
My love for all dogs is as old as I am. My pet Eva was a part of my family even before I was born. I’m told that my first giggle was with Eva and so was my first walk. I share so many beautiful memories with Eva.
But Eva is not the only dog in my life. I’ve met so many other dogs at friends’ houses, in the neighbourhood and on the streets. I’ve loved each and every dog who came my way, including Bibi who is the only dog to have bitten me. But it wasn’t her fault. I was too eager to touch her in my first visit to her house.
When I meet different dogs, I observe how they behave differently from each other. They have different habits, likes and dislikes. Some are very affectionate while some may be snappy. Some are active and some very lazy. But all of them say so much with their eyes.
I am now learning to approach dogs in a way that is non-threatening to them and safe for me. It’s all about building trust.
Project Sheru
Project Sheru is the project of building trust with Sheru and his two companions. Sheru is a gentle beast with a peculiar habit of paw-shaking. If he trusts you, he wants you to shake his paw and keep shaking it again and again. And looks like he is a lefty.
I had known Sheru and two of his companions, Mishka and Blacku, for a couple of months. They hang around a small Maggi and egg shop at the top of Dalai Hill. Since lockdown all shops have been closed and tourists have not been coming, so these dogs have been starving. So I decided to take up this project of feeding the trio.
On Day-1, I rolled and baked 10 chappatis for the threesome, put them in a bag and started walking towards Dalai Hill with Mumma. I was super excited to meet them. As I was climbing up the Dalai Hill, there were questions bubbling in my head. Would I find the three at the usual location? Would Blacku, who’s just a puppy, trust me? Why is he so scared of everyone? Even if I gently raise my hand he is thrown off his feet.
Coming to the main story of how project-Sheru led to the twin-puppies-rescue-mission and then to project mom-to-8-puppies.
Mission Twin-Puppy
Half way through the climb we came across two tiny puppies, rolling and tumbling on the floor. They looked like confused black balls of fur with brown patches over their eyes. They were whining softly, looking exhausted and scared. They would start to yelp at the sight of a cow or of people. Then they would huddle in a corner to feel safe.
I stood there feeling worried about them. Mumma was prodding me to go to Sheru and company to feed them. I asked mumma if the puppies would die of the cold in the night or be killed by other animals. I felt sad.
Anyway, we walked upto Dalai Hill, met Sheru and Mishka and fed them. Blacku wasn’t around. Sheru greedily gulped six chappatis while Mishka ate relatively slowly and finished three chappatis.
With one chappati still in my bag, we started walking back. I was thinking of two things at the same time. The chappatis were too less for these two starved ones and that we must rescue the twin puppies.
We descended to the twin puppies again. I immediately picked them up and cuddled them. I felt that my embrace comforted them a little. Their sad eyes filled my heart with sadness. Where did they come from? Could they climb up the hill on their own? Who brought them and left them here? Who separated them from their mother? I had no answers to these but I knew that leaving them here would mean that they would die.
My Mumma was trying to convince me that we could wait till tomorrow to see if their mother returned to find them. But I wouldn’t budge. Finally I was able to convince my Mom that we need to take them with us.
The Rescue
The two of us with two puppies, started walking home.
We decided that we will keep them in our garage, feed them, provide shelter from the cold and safety from predators and then see how it goes.
When we reached the garage, we found that one of them was slightly smaller and slower than the other one. In fact the smaller one was looking sick. So Mumma spoke to a vet. On her suggestion we gave milk, small bits of pancake left from breakfast and some curd. A little later some powdered paracetamol. Me, Mumma, my friends Kukku and Mansi made a small shelter for them, from cartons, paper and old cloth. Me and my friends tried to give them company and to comfort them. They ate and felt better but continued to whine and look sad. They didn’t cheer up even after our many efforts.
In the meantime, the vet put out their picture that my Mum had shared with her, in her animal lovers group. A boy called my mother that he wanted to adopt one of them. But, how could they be separated. They were too young. They had to be there for each other otherwise they would die of loneliness. So, I protested.
Then Mumma’s friend Srishtee called and said that the twin puppies look similar to those that live in her campus. The prospect of reuniting them with their mother made me extremely excited. Mom asked Srishtee to send pictures of those puppies or their mother. But Srishtee was out, so we had to wait for her to return and send pictures. I know that little babies are the happiest with their mother than anybody else.
We watched Netflix while we waited for Srishtee’s message. The moment the pictures came on my mum’s phone, she jumped with joy. We have found their mother, she said. We must go right away to unite them with their mother. When we went to the garage, we saw them huddled together in the carton, however still whining and wide awake, looking as miserable as ever.
The Sweet Reunion
We picked up one each, cuddled them, held them close to ourselves to make them feel warm and started walking. In our excitement we forgot our masks, phone and torch, but we just kept walking. On our way, Mumma told one of them who was in her arms, that if he was lucky he would find his mother in 5 mins, otherwise he had us. It felt wonderful listening to that.
As we reached the gate, we stopped and looked around. There was a black dog standing across the road with brown patches. She stood frozen, observing us carefully. We put the puppies down. I observed that the puppies suddenly looked smart, active and confident in their posture. They started moving around in a very self assured manner.
We distanced ourselves from them a bit, to provide the space to the dog still standing across the road. The moment we did that, she crossed the road and walked up to the puppies. As she reached closer to them, I felt scared that she might cull them. But on the contrary, she started licking them and they started suckling. It was the most beautiful sight of the universe, the running around, the cuddling, the licking and the happy yelping.
We wished “Happy Mother’s Day” to them and to us and walked away with tears of happiness in our eyes. I was grateful for the opportunity to take up this successful mission and project mom-to-8-puppies.
PS: My name is Anoush Vidyansh, nickname Bono. This is not my first rescue mission. It’s second. The first was a tragic failure in which I took a sick pup to a vet during lockdown, but it was too late. He was also named Sheru. This is my picture with him. I think that the second rescue was strongly inspired by the failure of the first.
#photostory #love_of_dogs #puppylove #children_and_dogs #children’s_stories #compassion #kindness #inspiration #do_your_bit #love_stray_animals #caring_for_animals #teaching_compassion #kids #shot_on_iphone #humanvaluesfoundation #leadership #children_leaders
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