Me and this world - a tête-à-tête

Dear Riki, I hope you arrived happy at Heaven. Since you are gone, I have been enjoying too much of freedom. Now I can sleep late in the mornings and dont have to think about walks in the morning. I eat my pavbhaji, Patra and Khandavi, eggs and all the sweets all myself and with no annoying eyes staring at it and no one drooling over it. Now I am more free to travel and trek as much as I like and dont have to return to anyone waiting and excited with wagging tail. I dont have to worry about spending my money as it is only for me now. I ride my bike as fast as I can and dont have to worry about a tail that may get scratched. The house is now really tidy and well maintained and doesn't stink of anything. I now sleep on a soft bed in my room and dont have to roll a mattress every night in the drawing room anymore. Things have changed, my life has changed and to a non-dog person, my life definitely looks great,,, But the changes which are now great are t...

A promise that will last forever...  It was third week of November 2003. I was recovering from relapsed Malaria and pneumonia and had returned to my parent’s place from Navi Mumbai. My then husband turned up one early evening and surprised me with a gift. The gift was a cute little black Labrador retriever puppy of less than 3 months of age. (November 20, 2003) I always wanted a dog but my parent’s understanding of responsibility had always denied acceptance of a dog. We had fish and birds but a dog was too much. I had dreamt that when I will grow up I will get myself a German shepherd and my ex-husband always had dreamt of having a black lab. So obviously he picked up a black lab. When the puppy came home, my first reaction was, "ohh my baby is here!" Day one On day one, this pup sat near the chair which was like ten times his size, six months later he found that the space beneath this chair can be his hideout when a bath is called upon, and a year lat...