Ungrateful act

When a dog can express its loneliness , how can we humans be so self centered?

A couple of years ago, a mother and a daughter along with their pet dog Johnny, moved into our apartment, which they had rented for many years. They were all by themselves initially. But, later we used to greet each other. From the past six months my daughter and my neighbour’s daughter grew to be the best buddies, so the friendship blossomed in a great way with the families too, including the dog Johnny.

Both girls were of the same age, same class and had many things in common. After their 12th class, both of them wanted to study abroad. So we opted for a foreign university, and planned to move out. It was all decided in a very short span of time and had to leave immediately. The mother wanted to settle her daughter there and stay for six months and return.

Dog care in their absence was a biggest challenge, as taking him along with them, was totally ruled out. Who would take care of him was a question that was bothering them. We would discuss at length, about the possible options to make Johnny feel at home.

Initially, we were made the care-taker of this project, only valid reason we had was, my son’s great love for dogs, since we are not keen animal lovers, they probably sensed that and opted us out, we also graceful accepted, knowing our capability. However, we joined them, exploring options. Recently we had one more family with many kids, moving into our apartment, who turned out to be a very friendly and approachable person, she was eventually assigned the job of taking care of the dog, along with a fully furnished apartment. This arrangement was made only to keep little Johnny happy in their absence, making him feel at home.

The day arrived when they had to leave, it was a midnight flight, the girl cried bitterly, while departing with her pet, since Johnny was gifted on her thirteenth birthday, they were together for almost six years now, that was a very emotional moment. The next morning when I went to see Johnny he clinched to me showing up the insecure feeling and sadness. When I started patting him, he was wagging his tail. For the next two days he stopped eating and drinking. All the time he was lying on the sofa which was especially designated to him and kept looking at the window. With time he got back to his routine and normal activities, but very mechanically, not with a charm he had before, he expresses the sadness so well.

During the same period I heard, from a close friend of mine, that he had left his father in an old age home, a new trend that is making rounds these days in many households. As his wife was unable to take care of him. I fell into a deep thought, when a dog can express its loneliness, how can we born as human be so self centered? Is it fair to abandon ageing parents because we are too caught up in our lives to spare some time with them? How can we forget that they cared for us when we were dependent infants? Are we so thick-skinned, not to understand the feeling of our own blood, and keep them away, when they need us the most!

The greatest tragedy of the day is, we are becoming so insensitive to our own race.