Fluffy

You were so tiny when we bought you. I remember it was a day before my math board exam, and I was extremely paranoid as math isn’t my forte.  We had been deciding for a very long time to buy a dog, and that day it just seemed right. You were given to us by this pet shop and I was so scared to even hold you, lest I drop you by mistake. You licked my hand, and then my chin and I still remember how that felt. We put you back into the car, and mom drove us back home. It was evening time. Dad had absolutely no idea that we had a new member in the house and when he came, you ran out and started barking. Dad was so happy to see you. I still have a vivid image of the smile on his face. He just couldn’t stop smiling. That night I was so relaxed and I knew that I would be able to handle the exam that was to happen the next day. I took you up to my room, placed you on a cane chair, made the cane chair face the wall, and made sure that the chair was as close to my bed as possible. You didn’t bark, or whine. You slept so well. I kept waking up at night to check whether you were still in the cane chair and saw that you were fast asleep. I slept with a smile on my face that night. The next morning I woke up and saw that you had managed to get into my quilt, on my bed and that you were right next to me when I woke up.  I laughed out real loud, and then hugged you, petted you, and started getting ready. When I was leaving the house you had that expression on your face (with one ear up and your head tilted sideways) as to being confused of where I was off to. When I came back home, you jumped on me, licked my hand and didn’t let me out of your sight.

After that day, whenever my bus came to drop me from school you used to bark till I came into the house. You would climb on to the area near the window sill and would wag your tail in a frantic manner till I entered the house. You were a beautiful dog.  We shifted from Nashik to Devlali, and here you made a friend- the neighbourhood cat. God you hated that cat! I mean we just needed to say “billi” and you used to run out of the front door and start barking crazily without there being any sign of a cat. I remember mom combing you, bathing you. You absolutely LOVED the way mom used to pamper you. I was like a friend to you. I mean, you had decided that my bed was yours and that if I left you home alone, you would tear my shoes or clothes in rebellion... You were so choosy about the food you were given!! You would go towards your food bowl, would pick up your left foot and would smell the food from a distance. If you liked the smell of it, you would then go and inch closer and have a tiny bite of it, and then IF you liked the taste of the first morsel, would you eat your food, otherwise you would look at the person who put the food in you bowl with an expression that suggested (“are you out of your mind!!! I am not eating this!!”), and then Mom would crush some biscuits and sprinkle them on top of your food... and then your highness would eat... We loved pampering you. I remember how when one day I was going to catch my bus, and you decided that you didn’t want me to go to school that day, you started running inside the house and jumped so high that you crossed the border of our house and landed in the neighbour’s house... I don’t think I have laughed as much as I did that day, ever again...

You were run over by a van. You still got up, trotted back till you got home. I ran downstairs, you collapsed on our front porch. You had froth coming out of your mouth, you still kept pawing me. I hugged you really tight and tried giving you some water to drink. You were dying and I couldn’t do anything about it. We called the veterinary doctor, and by the time we picked you up and put you in the car, you were gone. You left. I couldn't have seen you being buried and I didn’t accompany mom and dad. I cried, a lot. Mom, dad, veer. All of us did. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like without you in the house. There was silence. No “fluffy, come here!”, No “ fluffy handshake!”, No “fluffy billi.” It was all gone. But you will always remain in my memory.

I miss running up the slope, trying to get you off my bed, rather my pillow, playing with you, training you, telling you things that I wouldn’t share with anybody, telling you that I would give you a biscuit if you would sit down quietly. I miss all of that. I miss you fluffy. And you were truly the best dog ever.