My Pet

I never had any pet since then.

I was about fifteen years of age when one fine day my mother brought a small little puppy as a pet for us. Actually she didn’t bring it. It came running after her when she left a shop nearby. I don’t know what breed it was, but it was a cute one.

My brother was overjoyed just like any other kid of his age. He named him Brunni.

The lowest shelf in the alcove was designed as his home. My brother himself did all the interiors. A rug and big cushion formed a perfect bed for him. Next day he got two new bowls for his food and water.

Every morning and evening he used to take him out for a walk. As for me, I was just too busy with my board exams that I had no time to play with him. In fact I just shooed him away. Whenever I entered the house, Brunni ran to greet me, and I ran away from him. I was always scared of dogs. But I just loved to see my brother playing with him in the garden. I had never seen him laugh so much. He learned the meaning of words like care and selfless love. Pets love you unconditionally. That’s the beauty of life. It has its own ways of teaching and enriching you.

A month passed. My maid servant once took him for a walk while my brother away was at school. Some construction was going on there. He ate something there, which he shouldn’t have. Pet are like babies. Lack of attention is dangerous for them.

Brunni vomited twice that day. My brother and father took him to a vet, and he gave some injections to him. But his condition worsened within two days. He didn’t eat or drink, nor, did he respond to my brother’s calls. He just lay idle all day long.

My grandma suddenly remembered some hygiene issues. We might get infected etc. One day, in our absence, she got it transferred in the shed downstairs behind our house. His condition went from bad to worse. We were sure it won’t survive. But just to leave someone to die was not acceptable to me and my brother. But all our tears and requests were in vain. I realized generation gap for the first time then. Children love unconditionally but as we grow, our love gets manipulated.

My brother sat with him all day long. I was waiting in my study, for my brother or for Brunni’s death, I don’t know. Suddenly, my brother came crying into my lap. I understood.