Till 3 years ago, I used to be mortally petrified of dogs.
And with good reason too. Sure the puppies looked cute and adorable and stuff.
But then they grew up. And that’s when they scared the shit out of me. I have
had my share of being chased by the canines for absolutely no reason at all.
The prospect of a late night drive returning home from a movie or something
would give me goose bumps.
I guess this fear was instilled in me thanks to my
brother’s friend’s German Shepherd who had the time of his life scaring the
daylight out of me when I was 7 years old. More than once this devilish hound
chased me around my brother’s friend’s house; once again, for absolutely no reason
at all. Perhaps he thought that it was good sport. Perhaps he despised
irritating 7 year old kids like myself. Come to think of it, it wasn’t really
that difficult to understand. The dog with its ferocious fangs, was huge,
almost like a wolf. And to him, I was perhaps, a tiny little rabbit.
Anyway, the fear grew with me. And I was too proud to accept
it. So when a good friend of mine brought a dog home, I stopped visiting his
house altogether. Before that I used to frequent his home quite a lot. That
afternoon I decided to give my friend a visit.
“I’ve got a surprise for you” he said with a smile.
Before I could ask him anything, a furry black figure came
running towards me. It was a black lab. And before I knew it he had placed his
paws on my shoulders. He was as tall as me. Perhaps even taller. And he was
strong. I wanted to scream. I really did. In the words of Michael Jackson,
‘You try to scream but terror takes the sound before you make it
You start to freeze as horror looks you right between the eyes,
You're paralyzed’
“Get it off me” I finally managed to say with whimper.
“Relax, he is just a baby. He wants to play with you” he said.
His words fell on deaf ears. I was sure that the dog had
smelt fresh meat. And then without warning, he got down on all fours and
started smelling my crotch. What the hell was he doing?
“He must really like you” smiled my friend again.
I thought he had lost his mind. His cute baby was sniffing
my thing like a tasty treat.
“He’s just getting to know you” defended my friend.
“That’s the weirdest thing I have ever heard” I said with
relief as the dog stopped sniffing me and sat down near my feet.
I never visited my friend’s home again. And the following
years made no difference to my fear. It all changed one day.
***
4 years ago, I got a call from my brother.
“Come home soon. Got a surprise for you.”
I reached home excitedly wondering what surprise lay in
store for me. As I rang the door bell I heard a yelp.
“Oh dear God! Please let me be wrong” I prayed as I realized what
the surprise probably was.
The door opened and I was greeted by my mother who had a
very prominent frown on her face. Behind her, stood my father grinning from ear
to ear. He pointed to something on the floor, looking at my inquisitive gaze. On
the floor sat one of the cutest Labrador puppies I had ever seen in my life. He
was so tiny. Its brown fur glistened as it looked up at me. Those eyes! I fell
in love with him that very moment.
He was my brother’s gift to my father, who unlike me, was
very fond of dogs.
The first few days were very trying, not only for us but for
him too. He was hardly a month old. He would cry every now and then. Perhaps he
was missing his mother. And it would break my heart as he would sit in a
corner, looking at all of us one by one, perhaps wondering what fate awaited
him. Although mom agreed that the dog was indeed cute, she however, refused to
attend to him. And worse was his habit of defecating anywhere he pleased in the
house.
“I am not going to look after him. Trust me on that.” She said
with finality in her tone.
Apparently she was bitten by a dog when she was young. So
that’s where my fear for dogs came from. Suddenly, bringing the pet home seemed
like the worst idea. We were clearly not ready for a pet.
And then one day, something beautiful happened. I returned
home that evening to see my mom with the dog on her lap. And I saw in her eyes,
love only a mother could show. She told me what happened that afternoon.
“I was sitting on the floor watching TV. And all of a sudden, he came
up to me, put his head on my lap and dozed off. And I could no longer stay mad
at him” she said with a smile.
We decided to name this four legged bundle of cuteness –
BRUNO. And that’s him.
Bruno got over his initial discomfort quite quickly. And
pretty soon he became our darling. Even our neighbours grew fond of him. Every
day kids from our society would come to our home and play with Bruno. And he
too had a blast. He loved all the attention. And he was naughty to the hilt.
And he had a gala time chewing up all our slippers and shoes. Here he is with
his favorite slipper.
His favorite pastimes however, were eating and sleeping;
his tiny stomach always hungry for more. Bruno grew up quickly. Today he is 3.5
years old. And he hasn’t changed one bit. He is as naughty as ever. And he has
grown up into a strong and handsome boy. The stray bitches lust over him while
he conveniently ignores them. Even the other strays don’t mess with him and
stay out of his path as he walks with authority during his walks. Although the
sight of a cow every now and then does scare him quite a bit.
And at times I
feel that he is more human than the actual ones. I know he dreams. So many
times I have watched him yelp and make running motions in his sleep. I wonder
what he sees. Perhaps he sees himself chasing a squirrel up a tree. Or perhaps
flirting around with some female friend of his.
For us, he is still the baby he was 3 years ago. And while
he has gotten over chewing the slippers, his new mode of mischief is to sleep
on the couch when none of us is watching. Now whenever he wants to sleep on it
in our presence, all he needs to do is give us his long droopy faced
expression. And that does it. All our strictness goes out of the window. The
couch is unofficially his property now. If one of us tries to sit on the couch
whilst he sleeps on it, he will push and nudge us till we get up and sit someplace
else.
He hates bathing in winters and will slide under the farthest corner of
the bed, hoping that we won’t be able to reach him. His face is a look of meek surrender when he realizes that we, in fact can reach him. His fur hair is all
over the place and on every one of us. Its on my shirt, its on my trousers, its
on my office bag. And at times its on my hair too; something which makes people
ask “did you and your dog wrestle or something?”
Scolding him is pointless as the very next moment he does
this.
He shares a special bond with my mom and dad. He is
immensely possessive about mom. Every time I hug her, Bruno jumps up and pushes
me away with his paws.
Dad spoils him rotten. He gives in to Bruno’s every
demand and tantrum. And at times I fear that Bruno would end up getting a
higher share in my dad’s will. Dad speaks to him as he would with a kid. And
Bruno too listens to him attentively, almost as if he understands him. Dad is
the one looking after his daily routines. He wakes up at crack of dawn to take
Bruno for his walks. He also takes him out for a ride in the car every morning.
That’s Bruno’s favorite activity. The way he looks out of the window with his
tongue hanging out…sometimes makes me wonder if he too loses himself in
thoughts the way we do.
There are many things I would like to write about Bruno. But
perhaps none would convey my feelings for him. A dog is perhaps the closest
thing to perfection that God made. Bruno is perhaps the
most wonderful and the most honest being I have ever had the good fortune of
coming across. Every day he teaches me how to live life. Every day he gives me
a reason to smile. Every day he greets me with the same enthusiasm every time I
enter my home. Every morning he sits outside my bedroom, patiently waiting for
me to wake up and give him a biscuit. And each day he teaches me the value of
trust, understanding and innocence. He knows that he can bolt away to freedom every
time the leash is off. But he chooses to stay. He knows that he can snap by
bones in two with those powerful jaws, and yet he lets me irritate him when he
sleeps. He knows his barks can scare the toughest of men, and yet he lets me
scold him. All the life’s problems seem trivial when I come home. Because I
know that no matter what, my buddy will be anxiously awaiting my arrival. The
one who doesn’t judge me, or despise me, or hurt me. The one who smiles with
his tail. My friend, my buddy, my Bruno!
