Enakshi interacts with the children of her class and finds out that some wished to own a dog. Find out which breeds children preferred? An exclusive for Different Truths.
Just recently, while having an ice breaker session with my new batch, I happened to ask the students what they desired the most. Surprisingly, most of them had materialistic desires like mobile phones, cameras, iPad, etc. that topped the list. It came as a shock that in spite of reeling under the pressure of the pandemic, the students were still far away from developing the emotions of empathy and sympathy.
To add to this, I also discovered how most of them desired to have a dog as a companion to blow away the cobwebs. Upon asking what kind of dog they wanted, the most common answers that I received were in terms of breeds like Poodles, Alsatians, German Shepherd. I decided to test the waters and posed my next question.
‘Why don’t you adopt a dog? So many of them are running hither and tither on the road.’
‘I am not paying for my poodle, so that’s a way of adopting,’ replied one of the kids.
‘That’s fair. But why only a poodle?’ I questioned.
‘All my friends have smaller dogs. These dogs are high-maintenance dogs. They are so cute, ma’am,’ answered the same kid.
I didn’t quite understand the contradiction in her own statement…
I didn’t quite understand the contradiction in her own statement, yet I decided not to probe further as I deemed it wrong to cross-question children in the very first class. But that didn’t give me any peace of mind either. I ended up thinking about how our choices are mostly governed by either peer pressure or the desire to maintain the status quo. It is saddening that the confidence to form opinions, irrespective of their correctness, is not there. This not only proves harmful in the long run when individuals end up taking some of the major life-changing decisions but also deprives them of the joy of helping those who can be helped.
I have grown up with dogs. While early on my grandfather did have an Alsatian and four spitzes, he never encouraged buying dogs based on their breed. If any of his clients put up the puppies for adoption, he would bring one or two or sometimes, even four to our home. With time, the same tradition was passed on to my mother and she began adopting the dogs from the street. Trust me when I say that those street mongrels have proved out to be more loving and caring towards us. They gave us a sense of satisfaction too, for the thought of giving a home to the needy did make us feel good about ourselves.
However, back then there were no judgements passed based on which type of dog one had.
However, back then there were no judgements passed based on which type of dog one had. The main purpose of having a dog was to ensure that the people had a companion, and the house was safeguarded. People didn’t get a dog to show it off to their neighbours. Unlike today, children were more sensitive towards the mongrels and understood their love. Unlike today, the parents didn’t make a desperate attempt to fit in or be a part of the elite society.
Love is sublime and unconditional. It is untrue that breed defines if an animal is going to prove its worth or not. No dog is bad. It is just the need of the hour to think about those who can have a chance at a better life than those who will eventually be adopted and will get a nice and comfortable foster home. It is about an individual’s effort to change the life of that one homeless dog who seeks love in the eyes of the stranger. It is about accepting the love of a mongrel who begins to love its owner unconditionally from the first day it is brought to its new house. It is about stopping discrimination just because one thinks that breed defines one’s social status.
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Enakshi is an educator, an author and a traveller. She loves to learn. Her writings have appeared in The Speaking Tree (Times of India), Woman’s Era, Alive, Infitithoughts, SivanaSpirit, Women’s Web, EfictionIndia and Induswomanwriting. She is an eminent book reviewer and she reviews books by Penguin, Rupa and Hachette India. Her stories and poems have been anthologised widely. She conceptualized two books- ‘Unbounded Trajectories’ and ‘Poison Ivy’.
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