Whiskey is sweet and it might cause
a lot of pain, if you have any intentions to bid adieu. It’s a lesson well learnt.
‘Whiskey’ is anything but sweet,
and there is a reason to wonder why I am talking about it as if it is something
that you share a relationship with...
It’s not the beverage that I am
talking about, but the little bundle of joy with a red ‘tilak’ that my
brother-in-law Rahul brought home 10 months ago. He is a Bank Manager, and a
Gujarati family gifted him an adorable female Labrador as a gesture of
goodwill.
Like my 4-year-old nephew, cute
little Saarang, I was excited too at the prospect of having a little pup under
my roof, though I hid my excitement under my nonchalant expressions, trying to
act mature.
The pup’s name, for God knows what
reason, was Whiskey. Light cream yellow in colour, the single-boned Labrador
was a beauty.
My family and I lived in the same
building. They lived in the first floor and a small room in the second floor
was my dwelling. My usual breakfasts and dinners were with my family, and it
was routine for me to play with Saarang everyday. After Whiskey’s arrival, I started
to play with her too. She was simply irresistible.
I have never had a pet in my
life, because my mother was allegedly allergic to cats and dogs. I never knew
and would probably never know if that was just a technique to stay away from
all the hectic schedules that my mother will have to attend to if we owned a
pet. Anyways, I used to see Whiskey every day and for me, she was like my first
official pet.
During this period, my sister was
carrying and my family was totally against the idea of adopting a pet. But
luckily, my brother in law didn’t have to fight for their approval for too long,
as Whiskey spun a web of magic around my family with her innocent looks. Once
my mother was eating Idlis for breakfast, and Whiskey sat near her in absolute
silence, pleading with her eyes for a piece of it. The victory was Whiskey’s as
my mother fed her a small piece, unable to avoid eye-contact with her. That
wasn’t the first time my mother fed Whiskey.
My family fell in love with
Whiskey. It became Saarang’s main sport to check on Whiskey. Shouting, “Mummy,
he pooped/peed on the floor” he would giggle and complain, as if he has never
done that before. He loved her, though most of the times he would jump on a
sofa, whenever Whiskey was around.
Talking more about Whiskey, she
would bite, only to make you feel ticklish. She would make random noises, only
to direct your attention towards her. Whiskey would run around as if her tail
is on fire, if you make her happy. (I don’t know why though) If you try to play
with her, craning her neck, she would first observe your moments and fidget
like a pigeon, trying to judge if you were serious about wanting to play with
her. Once the decision is made, she would tilt her head to one side and start
barking, only to spring into action the next moment with full enthusiasm and
energy. Quit smoking, and you can play with her for 10 minutes at least. If
not, you will be down under 5.
I hate to use this word for all
the ‘anti-pink’ and ‘anti-sweet’ concepts that I carry, but I have to say
Whiskey was ‘Cute’.
I had many dreams on how I would bring
up my first pet, and how I would train it to be the best. The innovative ideas,
I realised within the first few days itself, were easy to dream about and tough
to implement. When it came to Whiskey, it was not easy at all. Like most of the
labs or maybe a notch higher, Whiskey was loving and sensitive. No matter how
much you attend to her, she would never get satisfied. Lesson: A Labrador pup craves attention and love, and if you can’t deliver
it to them, you will end up feeling guilty every time you lock your eyes with
it. The puppy-face, literally, comes into play. Like my friend Arun quoted,
“Labs just can’t get enough” You just can’t spend some 15 or 30 minutes with a Labrador
pup, and then consider your ‘duty to love’ for the day done.
Some of my friends who visited my
house occasionally pleaded us to train the pup only in English, as they feared
someday they would have to struggle to communicate with her. She stole
everyone’s heart with ease.
For a month or so, things went
smooth. She used to poop and pee everywhere inside the house, but we were ready
to forgive and teach her in-house manners with patience. Whiskey fell sick and we
had time to take her to a vet. She cried and my mother attended to her. She
would not let us eat in peace, even if it’s Idli, but we were okay to share. We
took care of her and soon, the pup and her poop, became a part of our family.
All was well, until my family, except
for Rahul, decided to move out of Bengaluru to our native place in Palakkad for
a few months. It was time for my sister’s second delivery. This means, more
than 5 months of hotel food! Adding to that, with my former roommate having the
option to work from home (home as in, some 400 kilometres away at his native)
it was left to my brother-in-law Rahul and me to take care of Whiskey. Mostly, I
used to go to office by noon and return only by midnight. It was my usual working
shift. Rahul’s was a normal one, but even his office timings were a bit
unpredictable. This left Whiskey all alone in the house for more than 12 hours
a day, or probably more. When our maid comes to feed her some rice or rotti for
lunch, only then will she get to see someone’s face. Or else, she was all
alone!
Whiskey had to be chained too, as
she had the habit of chewing on anything that she could get her hands on, or
rather teeth on. She had inflicted enough damage already, which included a 5.1
surround system, sofa cushions, earphones, shoes, chappals and many more. So we
were not ready to take more risks, and were trying to do some damage control.
But this damage control mode left the small pup no space to run and play, or even
to take a leisure stroll. If my family were there, Whiskey would have been unchained
and set loose every two hours, as my mother would see to the fact that she was happy.
But situations had changed. We felt sorry for her every time we returned home.
She would wag her tail and implore with her eyes, to set her free. We would be
tired by the time we get back home, and once Whiskey was set free, she would
come and chew on the bottom of our pants, trying to make us to play with her for
a while. Being frank, we couldn’t respond to it, at least on half such occasions.
But I have to give it to Whiskey
- there was no dearth of love in her eyes or actions. She was intelligent for a
small pup, and even now, somewhere deep inside, I still believe that she bore
with all the pain and suffering because she knew we couldn’t help it.
Whiskey went through a rough
patch next. Health-crisis started to haunt her as she fell sick regularly. On
one occasion, she was feverish and refused to eat food for close to 2 days. The
pup vomited something green every time she ate food. We tried our best to spend
time with her, tending to her needs and cleaning after she vomits all over the
floor. However, we had to go to office and we had no option, but to entrust our
maid with the responsibility of looking after Whiskey during the afternoon
hours. But then again, she was alone by 4 PM, as our maid like every other
employee, would leave at least an hour early, as her bosses were not around. We
asked our neighbours to check on Whiskey once in a while, and we still don’t
know how much it worked, though I thank them for their regular updates on when
the maid arrived and left.
Whiskey’s fever started
fluctuating like Sensex. It was totally unpredictable. One day, Rahul gave her
the morning medicines, I fed her breakfast, like usual, and we left. We never
knew we were in for a shocker next.
I was the first to return home
that day and I was heartbroken to see the pup shivering, biting on the corner
of some ragged cloth that she found on the floor. When I opened the door and
took a closer look, I realised she was completely drenched. Someone had poured
water on her. Our maid and most of our neighbours were aware of her sickness. So
I wondered who would do something so cruel to a little pup that could have been
life threatening. I dried Whiskey with a towel and hugged her as tight as I
can. For the first time, my eyes welled with tears for Whiskey.
Before I entered the flat, I had
seen kids from my neighbourhood playing with water, and the realisation struck me
suddenly. The kids had poured water on Whiskey. Upon doing some serious
investigation, I learned that they had poured more than 5 litres of water on
her, that amounts to 20 rounds of water splash at least using a mug, after she
refused to respond to their calls. (She would have if she wasn’t sick)
I warned the kids, and even their
parents. My neighbours were shocked at the way I issued the half-threat,
half-caution at them. I was fuming and to me, those kids were like some real
life villains in the making. To be honest, I would have made them stand in a
row and spanked them all.
In reality, I was helpless.
Whiskey’s health had deteriorated, and from a pup that used to run around as if
its tail is on fire, she transformed, or rather we made her transform into a silent
pup. I couldn’t do anything else, but to feel sorry for the small pup that knew
nothing but to love, and to ask for love. She was feeling cold and was
shivering for more than 2 hours. Someone splashed cold water at her and she
couldn’t even run. She would have cried, or maybe she would have just lied
down, waiting for us to return and rescue her.
This incident was just the
beginning of the bad days that followed. We were dealt with a huge blow next,
when Rahul’s transfer order came. It was part of the Bank’s protocol to
transfer their employees, especially officers and Managers, once every three
years. The sad thing was, he wasn’t shifted elsewhere in Bengaluru, but to Chengannur;
this is to Kerala from Karnataka.
Suddenly,
there was chaos. The unending discussions started: How will the family cope up
with this move? My sister worked with CTS in Bengaluru, so how will the
husband-and-wife duo live in different locations, and how will they manage it
financially, that too with two kids to look after, if my sister was to quit her
job? What about Saarang’s schooling in Bengaluru? Should Rahul resign? Should
Rahul start searching for a new job? Sadly, a discussion on Whiskey was a
rarity.
_____________________________
There were so many confusions
within the family and poor Whiskey was not even in the picture. So much was at
stake that the poor pup was not even included in the priority-list.
There were two options available with
us when it came to Whiskey. One was to give it off to someone in Bengaluru or
in Kerala. Selling, or gifting – anything worked. The second option was to handover
the pup to my brother-in-law’s parents in Kerala. Here, yet another problem
stood as a hindrance. Rahul’s parents were not actually willing to take care of
Whiskey, though they liked her a lot. They had their own reasons to choose not
to.
Either ways, the pup had to
leave. I was heartbroken. So was my brother-in-law. But he had bigger problems
to deal with.
There were days when I used to
tie Whiskey up outside my room, in such a way that she can rest under my roof,
but at a safe distance from my bed (biting issues). I used to get irritated
when she whined, and there were occasions when I have hit her too. I should
confess! But as soon as the verdict on Whiskey’s future came out, I regretted
everything, even the minute moments I have ignored her. From then onwards, I started
to cherish every moment with her. I started to spend more time with Whiskey,
and I started to enjoy Whiskey’s baby complaints, when I tied her in my room,
when my brother-in-law was away.
Though he was busy, Rahul was not
bad either. He looked at Whiskey in a way that conveyed his helplessness in making
her stay back. But then, he had too many farewell parties to attend to.
We had only started to train Whiskey.
If I shout, ‘SIT’, she sat. If I ask her to stand up and run, she would obey
too (rarely). She knew fetch too. But, that was it! That was all about the unofficial
training she had undertaken from us. She had to leave!
Finally, the day of reckoning
came for us. Rahul’s uncle had agreed to look after Whiskey. This man stayed in
Nilambur, Kerala, and the plan was to drop Whiskey at his residence as soon as
possible.
We were crestfallen. There will
be no training and she will have to live the life of a local dog at Nilambur.
I still remember kissing Whiskey’s
forehead when I bid her goodbye. It was a relationship with only a few months’
life. But she was dear to me.
I cursed myself for not having
the guts to say, “I l do it myself”. My brother-in-law regretted bringing her
home. It was as if, she was going to her third house within just 4 months. It
was as if, we brought her home, only to give her away. We never really owned
her, and we never got a chance to enjoy her loyalty and love. In a way, we
never deserved it, or at least we thought so...
_____________________________
6 or probably 7 months passed,
after Whiskey left for a new home. Labradors grow fast. Within 6 months, they
would beat an average stray dog in height. If you feed them properly, they will
be all healthy, and fleshy. In a nutshell, let’s say, a lot more cuddlesome!
People move on. After disastrous love
failures, or even after death of loved ones, people stage a comeback. It might
take time, but in the end, it happens. It leaves a gaping hole inside, but life
goes on. Some people fail to grow up, and they nail their life refusing to
accept change. I was not one among them. At least in this case! I moved on.
I wanted to see Whiskey though. I
wanted to know how she looked and what her reaction would be when she sees me
after a long time. I am no longer its master. I was just one of the chapters in
her life.
Well, I got a chance finally. It
was an opportunity that presented itself through the same person, who made the
first move, unintentionally though, in changing Whiskey’s fate – my 2-month-old
niece. We were supposed to go to some temples as a part of the tradition in our
caste that calls for newborn babies to be fed rice, anytime after 2 months’ of
their births. My sister had decided to do it at the earliest, and we embarked
on a small pilgrimage.
The first place we were supposed
to visit was ‘Thirumandhamkunnu’ in Malappuram, Kerala. As this was close to my
brother-in-law’s native place, we decided to stay at his house, and start early
in the morning. I was happy to do so. My plan was to drive my family safely from
Bengaluru to Nilambur first, take a nap, and finish off the day with a supposedly
nostalgic visit to Whiskey’s new or rather real home.
We reached Nilambur by evening,
and as per my plan, I took a nap. As soon as I woke up, I made plans to visit
Whiskey next.
Whiskey’s new home was roughly a
five-kilometre drive from my brother-in-law’s house in Nilambur. By the time I
reached Rahul’s uncle’s house, I was welcome by a royal woof-woof.
The house stood on a vast expanse
of land filled with green lush. The earth was damp, and I could feel the
drizzle that paid a visit some time ago, with the smell of it still clinging
onto the ground and piercing my nostrils.
When we were about to park the
car, Rahul’s dad pointed his finger at a dog saying something, and all I heard
was ‘Whiskey’. I was a bit nervous and excited, and I didn’t hear a thing that
he said.
It was a Labrador! And guess
what, the colour was matching too. I jumped off from my seat to have a better
look at the dog. When I started to get a clear sight of the dog, the words from
Rahul’s dad became more and more audible to me.
“Whiskey is inside the cage right behind this one.”
I could see a silhouette of
another lab, right behind the one I had wrongly assumed to be Whiskey. The
second dog began to bark and jump, silencing the first dog in the process,
making thumping sounds on the wooden cage. (You can’t call that a cage, it’s
more than enough for me to sleep) When I went closer to the second cage, I saw
a Labrador jumping and barking at me, like it was sort of angry at me for some
reason.
It was a bit dark, but I saw her though
I couldn’t bring myself to touch Whiskey’s face. Through the narrow openings in
the cage, she put her drooly mouth for me to touch. It was a mixed feeling for
me, I was nervous though I tried to act calm and composed. I knew that the dog
I was looking at was Whiskey, but it was too big for me to deal with it like
good old days. It was a big one and a bite would no longer be trivial, or
ticklish.
I summoned all the courage I had
and went for it. I touched it slowly!
My nephew who came with me, was
all excited till then to see HIS PET, as he called it. (You have to give it to
him. Even after some 6 or 7 months, he wrote his ‘favourite pet’ as ‘Whiskey’
in one of his homework) But as soon as he heard the matured barking sound of
the dog, he ran towards the house and hid himself behind my sister’s knees.
I touched her! The energy levels
came down and for a second, I felt like Whiskey was imbibing the moment. This
was a good sign and this motivated me to open the cage. I was scared as my Rahul’s
dad kept on warning me that Whiskey would jump on me. But I took the risk, and
there it was!
Whiskey jumped out and went in
circles around me, before running like a mad dog all around the house compound.
Just like old times! She was so fast that my sister locked herself inside the
house. Whiskey was bigger than a sheep and muscular than twice a sheep, if it
makes sense. Whenever it came close, I could the impact on my knees, as they quivered
on their own. Whiskey would come to me, sniff, snap its jaws once or twice near
my clothes, and run around again. This scared me. Finally, I plucked up the
courage to call her name in my usual style.
“Whiskeeeyyyy.....”
You should have seen the way it
responded to my call. It was like a wake-up call to her memories from the past.
It was as if she decided to kill the months that passed, and be my good old
pup.
It came close and jumped on me,
before I started to play with her saggy skin. Suddenly all the fear I had was
gone. I started to cuddle with Whiskey, as I massaged her forehead and droopy neck.
I learnt from my brother-in-law’s dad that Whiskey had less hair because of
some illness that has already cost more than 10 grand from the house exchequer.
Nevertheless, she was a beauty.
Within a few minutes, the new
owners started telling me stories of how Whiskey caught a fish from the
aquarium and ate it, and how she denied the homecoming of two electricians who
were perched on top of an electric pole, and many more. I realised that Whiskey
was having the time of her life in Nilambur. And with plenty of space to play
around, she was on a roll!
By this time, I had gained complete
control over Whiskey, which shocked everyone in that house. She was listening
to me and obeying my orders. Whiskey was sweeping the floor with her back as I
cuddled and massaged her. She was not that clean and I could smell the typical
dog-smell on her. But that was something that least bothered me as I played it without
any break. I made Saarang get out of the house, and urged him to play with her
as well. For a sweet little kid he is, Saarang trusted me and started patting
Whiskey slowly.
I didn’t even know how 1 hour
went by. People around me said so many things, and all I heard and saw was ‘Whiskey’!
Shocking me for a second time,
she remembered ‘fetch’ and all the other stupid games that I tried to teach her
in the past. I looked like a farmer coming after a day’s work on the muddy field,
but I truly didn’t care for my appearance. Even I would have written Whiskey as
my pet’s name if I had homework as Saarang’s.
Finally, the time came for me to bid
farewell to Whiskey! Whiskey’s new owners said she would obey if she is asked go
to her cage. This time on, she didn’t listen to them, as they shouted the
orders at her. She was hesitant and I had to plead to her, to make her get inside
the cage. And I left after planting a few kisses on the dog’s forehead.
For a second time, tears welled up
in my eyes. This time on, I didn’t give a fuck if someone saw me.
I could hear Whiskey barking behind
us and I knew I wouldn’t see her for God knows how long. My nephew was sad that
we had to leave Whiskey behind. He wanted to take Whiskey home. But I was not that
keen to do so.
I wanted Whiskey to stay at
Nilambur. I wanted Whiskey to live there. Even if she dies of a snake-bite, she
would have lived her life with full freedom. She isn’t trained, but she obeys
and knows how to love and respect. She has another Labrador for a friend,
people to feed her at the right time and so much of space to run around, play
and explore (some in-house fishing too). What more can you ask for?
I love that dog and I would never
chain her again!
You have
to drop certain things, even if it pains. A better outcome is in the offing,
and you will feel good about it later. Let them live a better life...
Hemanth Sreekumar
