Dog tales

Itchy

They say when someone talks to you more than they normally do, one should be alerted. It was a bright and sunny, yet cool morning. He was home that day, so it must have been a weekend. He was surprisingly nice to me that morning. I thought my good days have started having finally seen someone so close look at me the way I looked at him.

I ate to my heart's fill - hadn't eaten that much all my life, all days put together. Mom was watching from the sidelines. All that food and she kept distance. I wondered to myself if she wasn't hungry. But then it was she who had shown me the importance of eating well when you can, WE being US. It later occurred to me that she had seen all this before.

And then it happened - the moment of darkness. It stretched for a long time - I could feel the jump and the turns. He spoke all along on his absolute necessity to protect the family. From me? "What had I done?" I thought as I began to itch badly, once again.
When it ended, I couldn't recognize where I was. He was there though. But not for long. His dull face turned sad and then stern as he rode away.
One son of a bitch had done in another.
It didn't take long for my unrelated cousins to take notice of their breakfast. And I didn't get to notice how long it took. As a last wish, I thought next time around, I should get a better shot at life.
I expected death to be scary, but strangely, it wasn't - well for one, it looked like me; except it was wearing a different coat.
I guess it's goodbye, then! Funny that the end of the ride was the end of the road as well.

The context: 
Years ago, we had a stray puppy living in our back garden. It developed fleas all over and all of us were horribly troubled as the fleas invaded our house. Our baby had scratch marks all over her. So I had to move him from our premises in a hurry. 
It was a cruel act, but I couldn't think of a better way at that moment. He stuck on in my mind and wrote these lines today as the price for his disappearance act.
A reflection that one good way to face death is to see it as a reflection of ourselves, our deeds. The "different coat" indicates that while we are the ones to have committed the deeds, death is merely a result of it. Of course in the context of the puppy, the only plausible explanation is that it perhaps took birth to settle some of it's past karma or it took birth to pass the karma to me.

Crawley

"I was starving, mom wouldn't feed me, by siblings wouldn't let me even if she wanted to. In two days I was staring at some very strange looking dark thing. So soon, God? I thought.
I mean, I was young alright, but anyone can see it when it approaches.
It picked me up and then I felt it. For the very first time in life. He had figured out a way to keep me alive. He fed me to strength and in a couple of days, I way like any fine, playful puppy. Crawley, he called me since I would start crawling when I saw him, out of sheer love.

Until one Day I crawled under his car a second time even after he moved me from there. I was saved by his kind hands and had died by them. A pity, love couldn't last longer than that."

The context:
Crawley was one of nine stray puppies born in a storm water drain. He starved from day one because his siblings wouldn't let him suckle. I fed him milk with a cotton cloth and in two days he was in full force. He chose to leave too soon though.
Let's just say Crawley literally crawled into sunset.

Boo

You trudged into our lives calmly and lived with us like a saint. We now understand the true reason behind your poise and unwilling participation in play. We unwitting humans take time to extend our thoughts beyond our perceptions; we humbly acknowledge that we failed to understand your receding physical condition. But you took our inexperience so willingly; absorbed all the expectations we threw at you.

You came to our life as divinity itself. Your memories and actions, your angelic gaze, the spots you would lie down frequently fill us with tears - but mind you - we are no more sad about your departing. I wont explain it, but our prayers are that our inevitable recollections of you should not hold you from transitioning to a place befitting your blissful existence notwithstanding the flawed body and you hid all that so very well.

We were fortunate to have had you and bid farewell to you with our hearts filled with your paw-prints. You have left us. Fulfilled.

A poem written in honour of Boo

Roo-Ba-Roo Roshni 
(In the presence of the light of the Lord: when the dog comes face-to-face with the Lord)

sochtaa hoon main ab
Kuch waqt aur mil jaata toh...
Thode saal aur diye hote
Mere saathi ke saath
(I wish I had a little more time with my human friend)

Sunaa, aur haste hue
Mere Daata ne kiyaa sawaal
"chaudhah saal ka manu-vaas
kya tujhe paDaa kam?"
(God asks back : 14 years of living with a human - is that less? note: 14 years of van-vaas and 14 years of manu-vaas)

Sharm se main ne kaha "Nahin"
mere Daata, Tere anmol virachanaa
ke zehen mein itna lamba vaas
uske dil mein rehnaa khaas
(No, My Lord, it is a long time, I apologize. To be in the mind of your most precious creation - it is very long")

usey sachche aur roohaani
pyaar ka karwaana anubhav
issey accha kya anubhav?
nahin chahiye aur saal
(what could be a greater experience than making the human experience true soul-level love?)

dobaara mujhe do yahii janam
ya na do mujhe kuch
main toh amar hoon
mera saathi rahe jab tak.
(My human friend will remember me and my friendship till he is alive because it was completely honest)

 

hum-qadam (Friend)

kaise main chukaaoon ehsaan iss nazraana-e-almaas ka?
jahaan mein naayaab hai, jo tu ne mujhe diya hai!  
"How will i repay the debt of this diamond, there was just one such in the world and you have given it to me."
Is this a question to God for having gifted the poet a precious friend?
Or is it a thanks to a friend who has gifted the poet with precious friendship?
In either case, the poet wonders if there is anything that he can find as a comparable repayment to the giver.

unhen khush-nigaah dekhne ki chaah ne
humen zindgi ki wajah se milwaa hii diya
"The urge to see happiness in the eyes of my friend, finally brought me face to face with the purpose of my life"
Which means the poet credits the friend with inspiration to write this and that it is the ultimate thing to have in life. Inspiration.

yaa to koi hum se behtar likhe
yaa woh hamari koshish ki daad de
"I wish my friend meets someone who will praise the friend more than me or i wish my friend (at least) applauds my effort to praise the friend"
The poet suggests he needs constant applause and appreciation to keep going. Reciprocation is important, the poet says

kyaa tum ho meri talaash ka makaam?
ya tum ho meri khwaahish-e-anjaam? 
"Are you the end of my search or are you the search of my end?"
To say if the poet will find solace in the company of the friend or will the poet be pining for reciprocation from the friend till he dies? 

dua main karoonga mere aalampanaah se
duniya mujhe bhoole aur meri shiddat yaad rakhe
(in that case of no reciprocation) I will pray to my Lord that, people should forget my story, but  they should remember my intensity (of friendship)

Sapien

Here I lay
Body and spirit bruised and trampled
Like a toy, played with and violated
Now I think "How this came to be?"

The wounded girl reflects with her last few breaths.


I had seen love all my life
I felt safe when Pa held me
Ma hugged and kissed me
Were those moments for real?

She grew up trusting other humans, who were unknown to her in the spirit side.  Even the people who assaulted her were unknown to her on the spirit side.

I came to be by an act of love
So divine yet enjoyable
Isn't it terribly ironic
That that very act ceased me to be?

A question to the maker: when you made the act of creation enjoyable, didn't you foresee that it is likely to lead to exploitation with our flawed intellect ?



Over the years I learnt
That life is a gift, unparalleled
To be lived for and loved for
How then, did life gift me away easy?



Her life was a gift, ironically she was gifted away (by life) to undeserving people

Who could see that
Taking one ride on a dark night
Would end the bigger ride
Didn't it seem a long life moments ago?

She couldn't fulfil the purpose of her life. her fault was that she trusted the system.
one ride=> trust on humans/ride on the bus
bigger ride=>purpose of life/living a full life
Dark night => prowling human predators
long life moments ago? => is she talking about her life before boarding the bus or is she talking about the moments assault that seemed like ages

Is it all over now?
I see some dim lights, some brighter
Do I feel much lighter
without the sapien body to weigh?

The lights of the real world are dimming, the lights of the spirit world are brightening up, the spirit has just left it's Human form.

The spirit world is pure,
Where all are the same
Is being Human then likely
soiling the spirit, carrying a bane?

What is the bane humans carry?
To live up to the purity of the spirit. They most often fail, because there is no incentive for doing that in the mortal world 


--- For Jyoti Singh Pandey/Nirbhaya/Amaanat. Fighting crime-against-women will remain a lifeless bunch of words until the society, the people stand up and fight on a daily basis.

The Dew Drop

On a joyous occasion
it fell from the heavens
Into a humble dwelling
Loving arms wrapped around.

It tried finding identity
Amidst countless chaos
There wasn't much to look
up-to, forward-to or beyond.

Some called it a menace
Others were weary
For itself, things weren't
any lesser dreary

A wanderer then picked it
And called it "Purpose"
Loved it, Cajoled it
And also gave it some.

With vibrant colours it shined
Sans one doubt slight
All one had to do
Was to hold it in light!

1. Every child born in this world is precious, it has a place in the world for it to claim. It is born to joyous celebrations.

2. In a humble premise, it struggles to find itself

3. Slowly it loses way and becomes a problem, a constant struggle building within it

4. In the hands of a teacher who takes it upon himself to make it feel useful to the world. The child became his purpose and it also gave the child a purpose.

5. After all, it was a person (as a dew drop) with countless abilities (colours). To see it's true potential you had to allow the light of knowledge and learning to pass through it.

Ishq-naama

Mere Maula, mujhe tu ne be-shumaar tohfa-e-gham diyaa
badle mein shukriyaa, mausiqui ka fann diyaa

my Lord, you gave me all the pains in this world,
But you more than made up by blessing me with music

kya ishq paane ya khone se hota hai muqammil?
manzil-e-ishq se badhkar hai ishq ka ehsaas

is the completion/realization of love decided by gaining or losing it?
the feeling of being in love surpasses the destination of love

meri ruh umr bhar rahii jawaan
unke deedaar ki aas jo thii jawaan

my soul forever remained young, because it thirsted for love all life

qafas guzartaa hai, main na rahoonga
teri bandagi salaamat rahe, mere Maula.

this body will perish, I'll cease to be
May the devotees of love follow my footsteps, my Lord

I think in all, it means, as a gesture of gratitude to my Lord (for having blessed me with music) I wish that I could spread love with it.
It begins and ends with the name of the Lord just like a life time of human existence meant to be spent in love for humanity.
In a sense, it is the biography of love.