A few days back, it was cold and stormy night. Torrential rain had made the weather even more frigid. We heard the moan-like sounds of an animal. Some animal was hitting at our gate with his paws. My grandfather came out and saw that a bitch, all drenched, was begging for help. He put his overcoat and in site of our resistance, he let the animal come in…and to our surprise, she was not alone, she had brought her seven new born pups. We picked all of them and brought in. We put warm cloth on her and her young ones, also gave a few eatables. That night, I was sleeping in the hall as we had some guests. So obviously, I had a terrible night.
When I woke up next day, we saw, they had pooed and peed all over the floor. Mom was yelling at me and I at those little creatures. When the sun rose, we thought of putting them out in the street. The bitch was licking two her young ones and was not letting us touch them. It is only a few minutes later, we sensed that they were dead.
The next day, it was Monday and I went back to Chandigarh. Fifteen days later, I came back. There was a new thing in front of our house. My grandfather had made a small kennel of bricks so that the mother could feed her pups properly and get warmth. Later on, I came to know that it had become a routine for our street dwellers to serve pups with milk. The pups were growing fast. Only three were there. My grandfather told me that two more had died a few days back. One pup was still missing. Someone might have stolen it.
Next time I came back home, only two pups were playing. They were looking very cute. I looked into their kennel. The mother-dog was not there. At night, when we went out to serve them milk, they were missing. We searched. I could see only their mum. She seemed restless. We placed the bowl of milk near her kennel and closed our door.
All the night, we heard the mother-dog’s groans. My mom asked me to check if they are there. I checked and they were nowhere in the street. My mom came out her room and started expressing her pity over the pups. They were missing and the mother- dog was searching them. We all became sad as if they were our family members. My mom started narrating stories of missing child of her distant relative and how his family members especially the mother had dealt with that trauma.
Next day, the pups’ little cries woke me up. I hauled out of my bed and rushed out. I saw, my mom was rebuking and slapping both the pups by holding their paws in her hand. The mother-dog was sleeping in her kennel.
