Bindi

The street outside my house had quietened down. It was 7:30 p.m. I made myself comfortable in a little spot just outside my house. I was deeply engrossed in my thoughts when I felt something cozying to me. Dart! It must be a squirrel or something and brushed it away. It scampered away but soon I heard whimpering and saw a small white paw placed on my thigh. I saw the cutest little puppy, with light brown eyes, and a dark tan spot on its forehead! 

I tried to shoo it away, but it kept on moving towards me and kept on putting his front left paw on my thigh again and again. I looked closely; his leg was swollen. I hollered for my elder sister. She was the healer in the family. She could heal anything I brought home. She healed two little birds that were hurt, a bird with a broken wing and a squirrel that was attacked by an eagle. For me she was the best animal doctor and charged no money! 

She came running and soon my cousins followed her. My cousin, Sanjay, who is older than us, took out his cell phone and started recording it with his irritating commentary. “Dear fellows, here is another animal being rescued, by the saint of wounded animals. This is his fifth rescue and helping him is nurse Reema who always does his dirty work and recording all this is ace photographer Sanjay.’’

We all examined the puppy carefully. It whimpered whenever we touched its leg. My sister brought some milk which he lapped hungrily. She said that he could not be left alone. She swathed his leg. All this while it was licking my hand and he climbed into my lap. I instantly connected with this hapless being. We could not take it home. It was a stray dog, sick with unknown history. Bringing pets inside the house was an absolute taboo.

My house is very small. It is in a densely populated neighborhood. We are eight people packed in this house sharing space with each other. It is a bare minimum living, but we are really happy and have great fun. There are eight people in my house, my grandparents, my parents, my elder sister and two cousins who have come here to stay with us for some time. To cut the whole story short the puppy would not be welcomed at our home.

  We packed him in the card box and kept him on the table near the door. Early in the morning when my grandmother opened the door to go out, I heard her screaming. We all ran out. The puppy had managed to come out of the box and was lying near the door. My grandmother was once bitten by a dog and she is mortally scared of them. No dog is allowed in or around our house! There is barely enough space for people, let alone pets! 

The moment it saw me it hobbled towards me. She screamed at me not to touch it. My grandfather reasoned out in his soothing baritone voice that it was just a puppy. And there was my cousin recording a video of the whole chaos. Well, I was allowed to keep it till the time its leg healed and then it would be sent away.

Later that day, I accompanied my mom to the overcrowded animal shelter, and showed them the puppy. We knew the veterinary doctor. A very close friend had worked with him earlier. After the treatment the puppy became alright. We named it Bindi! 

My grandmother used to go for a walk, in the morning and evening, he would follow her. But she never interacted with Bindi. Sanjay made another video! The other children also loved him and when they would dance he would dance with them. He would dance standing on his hind legs. Soon he was the darling of everyone. He was especially good when we played with a ball. He would retrieve the ball from places we could not reach. We called him the best retriever! You can come home and see all the videos brother Sanjay has made!

One evening we were busy playing. My friend Aryan hit and the ball fell into the fenced yard. We hollered for Bindi to fetch it. He crawled under the fence and brought it out. Everybody clapped for him. Every time we called for him he seemed to be a bit more lethargic. We joked that he had become lazy. I thought he was feeling neglected and decided to play more with him. In the evening all of us decided to have a small party. We played the music and started dancing. Everyone was having a blast and I looked for Bindi. He tried to get up but gave up after some time. I was intrigued. I talked about him with the family. My grandmother told me that he was not eating properly and rarely accompanied her. It must be the heat as summer was rather high this year. He looked tired all the time.

At night I was sitting at my favorite place, Bindi was lying near me – listless and unenthusiastic. I felt bad for neglecting him. I started stroking him. He seemed to like it and licked my hand and put his head in my lap. I pulled him towards me and he yelped. He started touching my thigh with his left paw again and again. I thought he might have hurt himself again. I examined him and felt a lump in his joint. He yelped again. His joint was swollen. I am really worried now.

The next day I accompanied my mother to the vet! I shared his symptoms with him. He examined him thoroughly. He rang up his friend and fixed the appointment for the next day. I asked him what the matter was. He said that they would conduct some tests to find out. He had been kind enough to provide the required vaccines for Bindi at little or no cost! A long time ago, my father had helped him when he was in need and he never forgot the favor.

The next day we reached the clinic. He welcomed us with a wide grin. He patted Bindi affectionately and Bindi licked his hand. After conducting the tests and examining him thoroughly he moved towards me and said, “Son, why don’t you take him out and give some treats from the bowl outside.” I saw him talking to my mother who seemed to be shocked by the revelation. She came out and signaled to me to follow her. I was puzzled. I asked what the matter was. She tried to tell me but her voice choked. 

At last we were home and the moment grandma asked her what was wrong with Bindi she burst into tears. All of us gathered around her. With great difficulty she could tell us that the doctor had suggested putting Bindi to sleep. A stunned silence fell like a pall of gloom. I was so bewildered! She said that the doctor was sure that the dog had cancer. Of course, further testing could be done to find out, but they were very expensive and then surgery, radiation and maybe chemotherapy and then rehabilitation would be very expensive. 

Cancer means no hope. Darkness gathered in the room but nobody got up to switch on the light. We didn’t speak a word. Nobody moved from their places. We seemed to be carved from stones. Then we heard the cheerful whistling of brother Sanjay and Bindi limped to meet him. “What happened to the electricity?” And the dam of our sorrow broke and we all started wailing. When he found out about the cancer he also became very sad. No one felt like having dinner that night.

Around midnight I heard Sanjay asking mom if the dog could survive after the treatment. “Yes, the doctor said so.” I could hear her crying. There was a lot of tossing and turning in the room. How could one sleep when you know that someone amongst us would be put to death? Around 3 a.m. I woke up and saw Sanjay doing something on his cell phone. I asked him what he was doing. He shushed me and told me to go to sleep. The clouds of gloom overshadowed everyone the next day. Bindi seemed to understand the sorrow whenever someone would come home to see him, he would get up and lick their hand.

Days were passing with everybody going about their lives quietly. It seemed nobody wanted to talk about Bindi. I spent most of my time with him. Even grandma who never touched him before would often stroke his head. My friends would come to give me company. They would bring Bindi’s favorite treats but he hardly touched them.

After ten days, I heard Sanjay’s whistling again. Bindi perked up. Sanjay came with balloons and a huge cake. He was in a festive mood. I resented it very much. He said, “Hey you forgot, today is Bindi’s birthday! A year ago today he came to us. So let’s celebrate! Tomorrow you will take him to the hospital!” 

I was aghast, how could he be so insensitive? I blurted out, “How can I take him to his final sleep?”

“Well brother, nobody has the time. We all are working. You have holidays. The treatment is going to take a long time. And Bindi loves you!” 

All the tears I was holding back all these days came out and I sobbed uncontrollably, “But we don’t have the money.”

Sanjay told us the whole story. When he came to know about Bindi’s plight, he was heartbroken, frustrated and helpless. He felt there was no hope for this adorable bundle of joy. He started thinking if it had happened to one of us then what would we have done? Would we recommend the same to them? The family would chip in, we would sell our assets, we would work extra hard to earn more money. Then he shared his concerns with grandma, she thought for some time and removed her golden chain and asked him to get the test done to confirm the diagnoses. He was really astonished because grandma had never removed this chain ever. It was given to her when she was born by her grandma. It was a small ray of hope. This was her contribution, an old woman’s will to do the right thing.

The next day he visited the doctor and asked him if there was any hope of his survival. He assured him that there is an excellent chance as the dog is young and the cancer seems to have been caught early. He shared his idea to generate money. The doctor promised that he would not charge anything for his services and would try to get a discount on the treatment from the hospital. He then opened a YouTube account and uploaded all the videos of Bindi. He appealed for donations for his treatment and gave the number of the veterinary hospital. People donated generously and the good doctor informed us that Bindi’s treatment could start from tomorrow.

The whole house echoed, “Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to Bindi!” 

Somebody shouted, “Dance!” Bindi seemed to have caught the mood and perked up. He tried to dance on his hind legs. There was laughter and joy and hope was dancing everywhere.

Well, the treatment was difficult, surgery, radiation and chemo. Sometimes Bindi looked cheerful, sometimes lethargic and sometimes tired. Finally the treatment came to an end. Bindi has completely recovered. He is gaining his strength back and has started going for a walk with grandma.

Life is good. I learned a lesson. Never give up hope. Where there is hope, you will find a way!