Nature & Animals….. - HereNow4U.net

Animal Crusaders • Commemorative Issue • October 2010Top DogWho could I have as a role modelof honesty and dignity? I revaluedmany a persons as I had met andadmired in books, but nonecould fully satisfy me due to somereasons or other. Media alsofall short in my expectationregarding this.Finally, I settle on my dog, who ismore of a noble person than acanine soul. I call him ChhotoBaba (mini father), he is Bhutu tomy wife, Gunda to my elder sonBappa and Sabcheye Bhalo (thebest) to my younger son Bubai.We may call him by differentnames but the person remainsthe same responding always withfervour and zeal as usual epitomeof honesty, dignity andcompassion. We love him,facilitate him. He is a top dog, tomy family and to all who havecome across him, of course.Why is he so special? I should citea couple of examples. When wego out of our house for routineworks or jobs, he feels anxious;becomes lonely and melancholic,can not find peace with himself.Chhoto Baba becomes normaland takes his dinner only after allof us in ‘his’ family return. Onemore thing he does, almost like a‘ritual’, is to welcome each of usat the door.Gunda has some specialmoments reserved for ‘his’ Bappa.He can premeditate Bappa’shome-coming and waits patientlybeside the main entrance. As soonas he sees Bappa enter thedrawing room, all his energyexplodes and he starts runninglike a ‘mad dog’ from one roomto another dodging throughfurniture and other household‘impediments’ with Maradonalikeskills. This ecstasy continuesfor about ten minutes! Finally hestumbles at Bappa’s feet,expressing in no uncertain terms,his worries and subsequent relief& happiness at the return of his‘elder brother.’ Not that he getshis company for long; Bappa and‘his’ Gunda does not share aroom, otherwise. Still thisparticular gesture of love andmental intimacy touches ourheart deeply, to say the least.A dog like my Chhoto Baba doesnot require any pedigree and assuch, I am happy to concede thathe has none. His mother was astreet dog and gave birth to mybeloved pet at the back of ourgarden in the afternoon of KaliPuja, ten years back. He is nicelooking dog resembling a Huskyand for me it was love at first sightfor both Manisha, my wife andme; the love that has increasedmanifold as the years go by!For Chhoto Babu, his love mayelude the most sensitive pen todescribe its magnitude. He is evervigilant, ever loving. He spendsalmost the whole day just sittingor lying in front of our drawingroom window opening towardsthe main road, only to keep tabon the commuters. He feels it ishis ‘duty’ to be vigilant. This senseof responsibility comes from one’swithin, and in this respect myChhoto Baba has surpassedeveryone, human and nonhuman!~ Debasish BandyopadhyayWe long for an affection altogether ignorant of our faults. Heaven has accorded thisto us in the uncritical canine attachment. ~ George Eliot57