"Simran"

22^nd January,2013

1:55 am,Jawahar Bhawan ,IIT Roorkee

“Simran”

I was working tirelessly throughout another freezing night in my hostel room at Jawahar Bhawan,and still, there was truckloads of works to be done…with a table full of scattered notes, discarded library books amounting to huge fines…some biscuit wrappers, and a drawer full of empty cigarette packs,,..to keep myself awake, I decided to go to the canteen to fill my thermos flask with tea,that thermos flask has been a gift by mom who knows how fond I am of “China’s tulsi” :D I mean “Tea” , being a day scholar throughout my 5 years of B.Arch, this was my first time in hostel,,, so obviously like every Indian mom, my mom had a list of concerns about me…

Well,after “Gupta ji’s” payment.. I started my way back to hostel with my thermos and two packets of tiger biscuits, as soon as I reached my door front, I saw a female dog, with black and white patches, shivering just outside on the plinth, I opened my door, kept the flask inside, and fed her a few biscuits, and after finishing her meal..she extended her front limb to give me a handshake… and that precise moment filled me with emotion, it may be due to over 30 hours of sleeplessness , I thought…but no.. she reminded me so much of our landlord’s German Shepherd –Tiger, I had never owned a pet in my life..but  I almost had Tiger in my custody…always…she didn’t even let me park my bicycle unless I played with her for a while after returning from school, and then after she had given birth, her health deteriorated rapidly, and she was sent back to the dog home, from where she had been bought, that saddened me to a great extent at that time.

I wondered how she got the name Simran at the first place, my friend told me that she had been in Jawahar since 2 or 3 years, “The only lady in Jawahar” as I called her…!! :D

Now she has grown fond of me within these 2 months, I came back today evening after weekend at home, and as soon as she saw me, she came running and didn’t let me go without a handshake, that’s her usual routine, unless I fed her something.

But, even when I go for my classes to the department which is very next to our hostel, she is already waiting for me,hehe… she guides me all the way till I have reached the Department, and at sometimes, she is already at the department parking when I come out after our boring lectures, and now almost all my batchmates know her…!! And recently..she acquired the name of Simran Iyer too <grunt> :P

Hahahahahaha

But anyway.. sometimes hope comes in small packages, and just caring for a pet makes u realize that you have emotions deep there, masked by the external manifestations of long, tiring faces, and God has made this world so beautiful that even the minutest of living beings might be having some emotion to them. When I go home, my 4 pets are always waiting for me to feed them cheese biscuits, or peas or “Dhaniya”, and these 4 pets being my four Albino(white) rats… :D

Mom and I tried naming them in a fancy way…like Jack and jill… and all that sorts, but finally what worked for the males was “Hari Prasad and Ram Prasad” and “Silk” and “Sheila” for the females, out of the 4, Hari Prasad is my personal favorite.. and best buddy at home…!! God… I sometimes miss them the most!! Here in Roorkee….!!

I think keeping a pet and caring for it, keeps alive the humane side of it, however funny and mundane it may sound….

But still…. They Keep you Alive…!!! And Loving…!! J