The moment I read a few lines of the post (Nanoo) I had a dejà vu.
Back from school I found my elder sis and bro arguing about a blackish-brown pup who was sitting comfortably in the corner .A cleanliness freak, she didn’t want the pup to stay. I didn’t know whom to support as keeping a pet was a big responsibility too.
In the evening when bro was off to play cricket didi put the pup in a bag and went for a long cycle ride and left it 5 km away from home. To her horror she found the pup on our doorstep the next morning and before she knew Ronny had already learnt to shake hands.
Popular among the kids, she had regular lil visitors leaning on our railingin the evenings. Dad was still paying back the house loan but it was called ‘Ronny’s House’ by many.
During the chilled winters of Dehradun she preferred to sleep in one of our rooms, a verbal instruction was enough to send her back to her room. But what amazes/ intrigues me most even today that how cd she make out that who was passing by the main road outside the gate. She wd growl just before we heard the sound of lifting the latch of the gate.
It was a busy road. People and two wheelers wd pass by but the moment someone was about to open our gate, not even touched, she wd bark even though she wd be sleeping in the innermost room of the house.
I took my board exams, graduation, Post grad, took a job and then got married and even later Ronny was always in the background .Thirteen years is a long time after all.
After few years when bro got married everyone (friends) said Ronny should have lived to see this happy occasion, the way we say about an elder of the family who is no more.
Pets give us so much but leave a pain forever when they leave us.
