STORY OF A STREET DOG

CHIKNNAA STREET DOG

That was the first morning after my retirement. When I opened the main gate I saw a little pup looking at me as if she was asking for food. May be she was few months old has been deserted by her mother.
I went in side and brought a piece of bread and gave it to her and from that day on our relationship started much to the annoyance of my wife and children. They would say—street dog full of rabies do not touch them.
But the dog would come exactly at 1:30pm for handful of rice and at 9pm for her night dinner. That way time rolled by and she grew up to a moderate size “Bingo” dog. My wife, who was against this street dog, started giving her food during my absence. She nick named her as “Chiknna “meaning there by “SHINNY “and clean. Shinny became pregnant before she was one year old, gave birth to three little ones and brought them for me to see and admire but one fine morning I found Chiknna crying and howling in front of my gate, I knew that she is missing her pups. Later on I came to know that the pups were taken away by some one to feed the guests who had come for the National Youth Festival.
Like all animals she too forgot about her kids and came back to her normal shape. She would guard the house in the colony with special attention to my house. Shinny would accompany me when I go out for an evening walk with my two little spitz dogs. She became an eye sore with other street dogs and she was isolated that was a problem for her.
When she was three years old she became pregnant again and we fed her what ever we could so that her children become strong enough. This time she delivered five lovely pups in side a small earthen cave. The delivery timing was horribly bad, cold winds with intermittent rains made her weak as she could not come out for food. We thought this time all her pups will die due to this adverse condition but the sky cleared and Chiknna came for her share of food from us. Extra rice was cooked for her so that she could feed her children. My wife who initially was objecting to feeding street dogs rice and roti her self started cooking more for them, after all she is a mother she knows what motherly love is.
The five pups survived, she changed her place to a safer zone nearer to our house. The pups were two months old when Chiknna stopped coming for her usual food. Both of us were worried- what has happened to her? Is she sick? Bitten by snake? Some one poisoned her? Our fears were justified after a day. Chiknna came exactly at 1:30pm but could not eat any thing served to her, the legs were weak, she gave a pathetic look at us and probably said ‘’some one has poisoned me, take care of my five”. With a staggering gait she left our house and fell flat near a field so that her children would not see her mother dying.
With tears rolling my wife plucked two of her choicest roses which any other day she would have resisted for any reason, gave it to me and said” Go and put it on Chiknna.
I thought to my self-how cruel people could be for man’s best friend??
Chiknna dead body was lying there and no one cared to do any thing about it. With lots of difficulty my wife could inform the municipality office, but in stead of helping us they started abusing us –why you are informing us so late??But we will be coming soon to remove the carcass.
Hours passed by no one came; we had forgotten it was a Saturday, decided I can’t wait to see Chiknna body gets putrefied, must do some thing my self. Put on a hair dying gloves and put the dead body of Chiknna in side the large card board which was lying underutilized in the store room and put it in my car and took it to a far-off place and buried it in a big ditch and put some soil over it. Came back home took a bath and washed the cloths which I was wearing during the burial, and prayed God for her soul to rest in peace. Its nine PM have to stop here and go to feed those five innocent souls waiting for their mother.