Today is Gandhi Jayanti and I remembered his quote (from the BSPCA' literature) that, "The quality of a nation and its peoples can be judged from the way it treats its animals". If that is so: I have done my bit to raise the standard of the nation, on the birthday of its founding father.
I started out on my long run with a time target of 3 1/2 hrs but soon realized that there were some physiological factors not quite in harmony. I felt the unmistakable fatigue arising from lack of recovery from a previous workout. As I trudged along, I met a lady walker, who knows my love for strays. She informed me of a poor helpless dog that was lying in a ditch, unable to get up. I went to the location and found the poor thing lying in a flowing stream of cold water, looking at me with doleful eyes. I dropped down into the ditch and spoke in soft reassuring tones, as I gently and warily reached out to caress him. I found out that he had a broken leg and could not move so, I carried him out to a safe place under a bench. I fed him the salt and sugar solution I had carried for my run. I then contacted the lady (using another walker' cell phone), requesting her to call an NGO and that I would be around for the next 2 hrs, at least. I periodically checked on the dog as I continued running; trying to see, how long I could last in my fatigued state.
I then requested help from another walker (Dilip Kamtikar), who in turn put me on to another guy saying, he would help me. I went in search of this guy, but drew a blank. I returned to catch up with Dilip and requested him to get in touch with someone as soon as he got home; which he promised. I waited a long while but no one arrived so, I shuffled (I was really exhausted now) back home. I called Dilip asking, whether he had any information for me and he excitedly told me that a person (Vinayak) was waiting at the very spot I'd described and gave me his contact. I called the guy, only to have him tell me that the dog was nowhere in sight. I could not believe that so, I hopped on to my bike and rode in search of Vinayak. I found him at the wrong spot (a relief!) and asked him to follow me (he came by car). I led him to where I had kept the dog and now found the poor creature' contition had deteriorated.
Vinayak had thoughtfully brought a bedsheet and we laid him on the same and bundled him in the car. Some curious onlookers informed us that a man had struck the dog with a stout bamboo. Why are people so emotionally callous and why do they hurt these poor animals? Vinayak then drove to "Ahimsa" (an NGO hospital) and admitted the dog. Late that evening I got in touch with Vinayak to check if he had information about the dog and he reassured me that the people at Ahimsa had his contact number in case things turned out bad; which, apparently did not. Vinayak firmly believes that such acts of compassion bring God closer to your soul than a visit to a temple, mosque or church. I could not agree less and added that it surely brings a good night' sleep. Ironically and coincidentally, I need such a soporific nowadays. Another day in paradise!
