Woody is my cousin sister(s)'s 15-year old pet dog. That makes him 105 years old in human years. As old as a dog can get. He is counting his last days and looks like, he too knows it. It's a pitiful sight to watch him. More so because his younger self was always a mischievous, sprightly, playful, amiable and a visibly active dog. Someone who loved the company of humans and more so children. Someone who teased us to play with him. Someone who goaded us to become alive and childlike again. Someone who made us forget our worries and be in the moment completely. In fact, I always had a surreal feeling that he was an angel sent from above. A kind and a noble soul. I love all dogs, but this humane quality of his was perceptible in him more than any other dog I had known.
Now given his age, the last six months have not been kind to him unfortunately. He has aged progressively in the recent past. He does not move much. He is laid up in bed for most of the day and has also lost his appetite. Since he does not eat, he has also become emaciated. He needs to be force-fed and carried around most times.
A few days back, I had gone to meet my cousin sister as she was flying back to London the same night. And just like me there were other cousins/relatives too who had come to meet her.
As is expected with cousins coming together after a long time, all of us were making a racket, chatting up, and laughing out loudly. While all this was happening in the living room, oblivious to our self-indulgent human senses, Woody was resting quietly (as was his routine now) inside the bedroom.
A little later we suddenly saw his frail frame emerge in the doorway of the living room. Apparently, he had heard our loud voices across the passage. And in spite of his poor health, he had quite gallantly hobbled out of his bed. Limped all the way up to the living room with halting steps, came and gently sat right amidst us. As a younger self, he would have typically come running and thrown himself straight into our arms but today he just came and sat, and with immense difficulty.
Till then, we in our ecstatic stupor had forgotten all about his presence in the next room, and were completely immersed in our idle chatter. But Woody, given his amiable, social and affable personality had just done what he always did. True to his inherent loving nature he came seeking for us, notwithstanding his weak health. And we, who are considered to be the more evolved and emotionally superior living beings, had not given as much as scant attention to him or his whereabouts.
That very single moment left a deep impact on me and a special connect. A connection that no social media worth its salt is capable of doing.
He had with his single act conveyed to us what companionship and belonging truly mean. A display of selfless love that is much deeper than what most humans are capable of realizing.
A lesson that will last a lifetime and a gesture that will remain in my heart as a beautiful memory forever.
Without a whimper or a whine, he just sat there all through the evening. And he sat although uncomfortable right till the time we left from there.
Woody, I salute your undying spirit, your unrequited love and what you stand for...the most loving, tender and generous soul. An angel.You will always remain the favorite!
P.S: Woody breathed his last on Jan 16th, 2015. He died a peaceful death in my aunt's lap. This post was written a week before his death.
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