That’s it. The time is near. The end has begun since this morning when Tuffy has started passing blood in his urine, has been sleeping the whole ay through, no strength to even open his eyes or lift his head up. Srinath somehow managed to give him some Boost, bread and a banana in the evening. Seeing Srinath, Tuffy as was customary, wanted to stand up, and come to him, but he just stood, kind of did a swirl, and fell down. No strength, And that’s when it all came flashing.
7 years ago, I was so petrified of dogs (today, am scared) that I would have nothing to do with them. And so, though my neighbours proved to be interesting people and our relationship seemed to get better by the day, I would never step into that house, cos of Tuffy, this huge German Shepherd, real handsome guy, scampering around, scot-free. Until I received the ultimatum from S that from the next day onwards, ‘if I did not come into that house and start getting acquainted with Tuffy(he’s a sweetheart, you have to give this a shot) as he is as much a family member as any of any of us, then forget it, am not coming to yours either’. So that was that. And after I think easily a week or more, I just had to go one day.
And slowly, slowly, I became less petrified. Discovered that he wasn’t going to bite me and kill me after all, that anyone who’s a friend of their family, is very much his too! And slowly, we bonded. From standing close to a few yards to Tuffy, I began stroking his chin, patting him and then found that he used to get so excited and happy, wag his tail, and settle down, right there, so close to me so that we could feel each other’s warmth , and lift his chin up, clearly asking for more. And that’s when one fine day, I went over to S’s, only Tuffy and the servant were there – and I remember, I had had a particularly difficult day at work or some such thing, I was quite out of sorts, and Tuffy quietly came and sat next to me, and I began talking, just talking, taking him through the day’s events and it seemed at that instant that this guy who couldn’t say a word understood me the best. And maybe that’s why. And so it became a regular. I started going over mainly for Tuffy and my intimate private time, and he never abandoned me. He was always there. All he wanted in return was to be stroked and caroused.
If I even playfully tried to hit Priyu or Smitha, he would come running from nowhere to protect them. Dogs, they can really make you jealous, can’t they? Unflinching, steadfast loyalty, these words are best applicable to a relationship one has with a dog.
Slowly, over the last few months, his barks were rarely heard, his vision deteriorated, and so his hearing. Yet, he was always there, moving about the house, as faithfully as ever. He has seen and responded to my kids’ calling him their own way, wouldn’t dream of hurting N who when she was small was really onto him.. ah damn, am losing a friend, who’ll never know, eh.? It’s never death, only dying that’s terrible. Tuffy… can’t type anymore.. will always miss you…
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