Life with pets

People who have kept pets would certainly agree with me that life gets fuller after having pets at home. There are people who fancy animals in the zoo and recoil at the sight of pets , especially dogs. I witness so many neighbours in my society, who stick against the wall of the elevator on sighting my dog Valley in the lift. Yet there are some who long to meet and greet Valley.We had a 4 and a half yr old labrador who passed away in October 2007, leaving a void in our life.I did not know till then that she had such a large fan following in my society and friends.For days after her death we had visitors at home who came for condolence and paying homage to her.For days together my intercom and phone would ring and there would be some neighbour showing their regret at Valley's demise. My maids mourned her death for so many days, and as we found out that we were not alone in our grief. Small children refused their meals, remained subdued for days together on hearing about Valley. All his made me wonder what had Valley done to gain this reputation. In a city like Delhi, where nobody has the time to mourn the death of relatives, where people do not find time to condole the death of neighbours, Valley had so many admirers.All this is no fabrication of my imagination, this is a pure ansd simple narration of my heart touching experience.

Answer is not that simple, yet quite easy . She had touched other people's lives in various ways ever since she was a puppy. Very well behaved, she never jumped on others like normal dogs, neither did she bark and disturb the neighbours. She wouldn't mind climbing five floors in case the elevator was full or its occupants were scared of her. She had a definite dignified gait. She wasn't greedy in the least,always waited for food to be put in her bowl. She had such beautiful expressive eyes, that befriended even those who did not like pets.Her brown eyes in her heavyset face would speak volumes about her persona.

And when she fell ill, must say, she fought bravely with her illness. Not refusing once to visit the Vet, getting injected twice a day, getting intravenous treatment for half an hour twice a day ,she bore it all too bravely.Even now my eyes well up with tears, when I remember her face.It is too sad that she had to leave us like this. But soon after we got ourselves a new pet, junior Valley, who resembles Valley only in looks and is every bit a naughty brat.Now she has made my life busier than before.

The reason why I am writing this blog is that we brought our old Valley home on 14th feb,2003, we got it as a Valentine Day's gift from my husband Rakesh( hence the name Valentine, Valley for short). Tomorrow is Valentine's day and we remember her with our hearts, full of her memories. It is for sure that she has become a star in the heaven and has attained more popularity there. Afterall God also needs stress busters like Valley.

THEY DESERVE A BETTER LIFE

How often have I seen well to do families going to posh restaurants for late night dinners, most of these are accompanied by teenage girls, who are short, dark, wearing loose , ill fitting handed down clothes. These girls do not match the beauty and status of other family members, and we guess naturally that these girls with sullen faces and list less eyes are so called maids or governesses to the cute and cuddly child belonging to the family.These girls are made to sit out side the restaurant, while the family enjoys a luxurious meal in air conditioned surroundings. Sometimes they keep the child with them, sometimes they hand over the child to the maid so that they can eat in peace. Now we can very well imagine the pathetic state of the maid, who might be feeling cold or hot as per the season, she is all alone, unescorted and unsafe. So many times I have observed loitering men passing crude remarks at the girl, some even trying to touch her or pinch her. The tongue tied, scared girl recoils into herself. I want to ask every one, would we expose our daughter or sister to such plight? The maid might be hungry, she would have to wait till she reaches home after mid night and have a paltry meal. When it comes to our daughter, we will not even send her across the road to get bread or fruits, for we fear her safety, but we can send a 14-20 yrs old maid to buy things as late as 9 in the evening. Then we complaint that maids these days are not trustworthy.How can we expect trust when we do not trust them over one or two rupees.Isn't it ironical that we trust our household and kids to the maids but do not trust her intentions. It is good to be careful but we should know it better as to how much the limit should be stretched. We do not even scold our young ones at home, but would not mind slapping the maid for any petty issue.We do not realise now that we are responsible for building a dissatisfied, violent society around us.It is no wonder that incidents of maids abducting kids, attacking their mistresses, robbing their employers are on the rise. It is time we respected human beings. Even if we cannot treat our maids as equals, we should at least stop exposing them to harassment and violence. They are an important component of our house hold, it is because of them that women can freely work while their homes and kids are taken care of. Would it matter much if we could shell out a few extra rupees to buy them decent clothing? 

 They are entitled to a decent, respectable life, and it is our joint responsibility to give them love

and care in lieu of all they are doing to keep our lives hassle free.

We must try to educate them,

 nurture them for they too are

 somebody's daughters.  

It's our collective responsibility to let these womenfolk live safely  with their dignity intact.