Vetri

Original Source: https://www.jeyamohan.in/193243/
Date: 10-Nov-2023

The way dogs are treated in India is a source of distress for dog lovers like me. Majority of Indian dog breeds are street dogs. Those being attacked by these street dogs are impoverished workers who return home at nights and children playing in the streets.

There are animal lovers here who show sympathy towards these street dogs. They are mostly upper class citizens who seldom walk on streets. The peak of such attitude is Maneka Gandhi. What they express is not compassion or animal welfare, rather merely their ostentation.

Dogs are not meant to be living on streets. Those who feed street dogs are in fact sustaining a cruelty that is street dog. We need to understand that dogs are not wild animals. They aren't naturally evolved creatures. They were created by humans from wolves and wild dogs thirty thousand years back. It can live only via sustenance from humans. Humans must provide for them.

The necessity for humans to evolve dogs was present in hunter gatherer communities. To sniff and track preys, to chase smaller animals, to protect humans from predators during night times. Later it becomes a necessity for pastoral communities to protect their herds. Then it became a protector in farming communities. But for dogs, human civilization wouldn't have evolved to this stage.

Today, citing that the protection of dog is not required anymore and banishing them to streets or wilderness is injustice. Today, the dog has got a completely new role. It had been playing that role forever but the work has multiplied. To become a companion for a man's loneliness. Dog will always be present as a human's companion. It would accompany him to any heaven that he ascends to. Our tradition provides the guidance that it must be the first to be sent to the celestial abode and only then should we go.

I have seen trained dogs being a companion for the visually challenged in Europe and America. They do not leave for a single moment. Not a single moment, do they reduce their love. For those people, dogs being a companion is akin to God being with them.

Once in London, I went for a Wagner symphony concert. Myriad preconditions. Should be wearing soft rubber shoes, clothes mustn't make ruffling noise, shouldn't be possessing keychains or coins. People with sneeze or cough not allowed etc. But a blind person had come with his Labrador Retriever dog. Almost a copy of the 'Hero' that I had. Radiant black pearl.

He was sitting beside me. The dog was sitting still near him throughout the concert. The ears alone were moving to the music's rhythm. During the interval, I introduced myself to him. "Won't it cause any noise?", I asked. He was a violin artist. "It knows about music", he replied. He bought a peg of wine, fed half to the dog, drank the remaining and went inside. With a ear so sharp, what music is it listening to?

My dog Hero likes music. I had thought that, like me, it is also a fan of Da Chettan. Below the computer in which I listen to music, it would lie down with droopy eyes.

Several homeless people in New York City had dogs. In their intense loneliness, it is akin to an entire society accompanying them. Perhaps, not society, Nature. One homeless person had placed his hat on the road with a board nearby, "Two hungry stomachs". The Labrador Retriever beside him though was sitting merrily like, "Oh, Not really!".

A dog of a destitute person was taking him along as though saying, "We have work". On seeing me, it passed by skeptically, "A stranger". It was also a big dog. German Shepherd. "That dog would earn for him as well", remarked Pazhani Jothi. In India too, beggars and gypsies have dogs.

We middle class in India have a vast social life. Therefore, we do not appreciate the dog's worth. We treat a dog as just a protector animal. Dog is treated quite pathetically only in India. It is hated. The word "Dog" is an abuse here. How did a soul better than a human become an abuse word?

Dogs are grown by feeding them leftover food. They are kept under leash the whole day. They are thrashed. They are scolded and kicked. Seeing this, children too torment them. Most of the dogs bear it with affection. Hitting a dog is equivalent to hitting Mahatma Gandhi. Our children do not understand it. No one takes care of the dogs. Moreover, if there is even a semblance of discomfort, they are driven out into the streets.

I consider the home dogs as America's charm. I am not for raising a dog for ostentation. Nurture it with love. As American dogs are nurtured the right way, they are friendly. They know about rights and wrongs. Americans who raise dogs are in general friendly. Dogs teach them that friendliness.

The best way to strike a conversation with a stranger in US is to ask about their dog. No dog that I saw in the street have gone without greeting me. Dogs recognize dog-lovers. Whenever I see dogs, I am reminded of dog-lovers like Balu Mahendra, Theodore Baskaran, Suga, Rajiv Menon, Azhagam Perumal and more than anyone else Hindu magazine's Kolappan.

My friend Rajnikanth lives in a 19th century mansion designed by a French sculptor. At the end of a vast garden, a river flows in full. It's more like a palace. Lots of rooms. Lots of halls. With places for servants. His wife Abhi has grown a garden full of Indian plants.

We stayed with them for 2 days. Their dog is named "Vetri". Its a goldendoodle - cross bred between Golden Retriever and Poodle. Grows taller than Poodle. Ears drooping and dangling. Poodle is not so mischievous. But this breed is similar to Labrador in its alertness, reasoning and amazing memory.

Vetri's is a beautiful golden brown color. Its body resembling the hair of a white kid. You wouldn't get bored of stroking through its hair. Like other dogs, Vetri too likes to be constantly touching the humans. The house has a classic charm to it. Wood-colored walls, wooden floors, golden colored sofas. Vetri had commingled there quite naturally.

Generally dogs are quite like children in that they like guests coming to their homes. Dogs in lodgings with huge number of guests are a happy lot. Even the street dogs near the tea shops that I go to greet me. Vetri welcomed us enthusiastically. It was trying strenuously to establish that he was a good dog. 

For the full two days, Vetri was accompanying us. "Well. Let us go out then" was the constant disposition. Breeds like Retriever always have their mouths open, resembling a smile. Saliva is its coolant system. But its saliva doesn't have harmful bacteria unlike humans. Neither does it have a bad smell. Vetri was constantly petting, but never importunate, wasn't causing trouble as well. If we move it away a little, it would go but will keep looking at us. As soon as we glance, it would come towards us.

How apt is the name "Vetri" (Victory) for a dog!! In Canada, Seran had named a dog as "Magizh". It belonged to a white lady. He told me that she called the dog as "Maegizh". Vetri is unmalicious, therefore is sweet. Trusts this world, therefore unafraid. Vetri is commingled with its environment every moment, therefore never lonely. Vetri isn't selfish, therefore is unconditional. Vetri and the all of the right values that we feel are one and the same.

Florida isn't that cold. But breeds like that of Vetri can withstand even the Arctic cold. They will suffer only in Indian climate. They must be raised only in air conditioned rooms. Must keep grooming their fur growth so that they don't overgrow. The fungi, yeast and lice that spread from the street dogs can infect dogs in India. They must be carefully looked after. 

America's houses are larger. Human activity in streets are quite less. Therefore, there is nothing like that of a dog's company, Especially when children migrate for their work, old people live in the company of dogs. There is no other soul which accompanies them, fully understanding their feelings. It is a great delight to return to a home that has a dog. It would feel like the home is merry dancing seeing us.

Even after returning from America, the one person who is firmly rooted in my memories is Vetri. Love was heaped as two eyes. Unmalicious & Love aren't different. His cheer, confidence. What I have been saying constantly, we are just a small spec of the vast consciousness expanse of this world. That colossal life space doesn't have a door for us. But there is one secret path, dog.

When a dog recognizes and communicates with us, it is equivalent to this world's entire life-form, right from the extinct dinosaurs to a tiny bacteria, interacting with us. It is nothing but an association with "Brammam".

While walking in New York city, at one place, I saw that people had brought their dogs. They weren't there by coincidence. It was a regular meetup of dog owners. Every dog was quite active. The dogs were kissing and rejoicing together.

A tiny Poodle was so overjoyed that it didn't know what to do. It was circling itself. It was kissing everything - floor, chair, humans, dogs. The joy swelled throughout its body, down to every strand of hair. No specific reason except that it had come there as a dog. Second reason: it likes every living soul. How else can a soul surrender itself to the Power of Creation.

I stood watching this unfold. In an instant, I realized: He is the one looking at this through me. Late Bahuleyan Pillai didn't pass on any inheritance. He has passed on the shining light of my life - the eternal love for dogs and through that the great love towards animals.

 

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maneka_Gandhi

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Wagner

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labrador_Retriever

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balu_Mahendra

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S._Theodore_Baskaran

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajiv_Menon

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azhagam_Perumal

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldendoodle

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahman