Wednesday, March 3, 2010

LIVING A DOG'S LIFE........


In the little life I had so far , I came across good and bad moments in mine as well as others life . When I hear about good experiences, I see people coming up with different words , expressions and sometimes there is no limit of words for expressing happiness . But , In all intense situatuons of expressing tough and bad moments , one would hear people ending up saying -" I was literally living a dogs life" . And this term has always fought with my conscience. I seldom asked myself what does "Living a dogs Life" actually mean . And why is that it is always typecasted to express negative things ?

I would like to tell you a small story . A very short one this time .

" Veterinarian John ,has been called for examining 10-year labrador named "Snowy".The house owner , his wife and their 7-year old boy ,Charles were expecting a miracle.John examined and found that he was dying of cancer and informed they hardly have time for its death.He said he could give mercy killing for it . And the pets owners accepted it , not seeing the dogs pain.

Charles was petting the dog for the last time and his parents thought it is OK , for him to stay coz he wouldnt understand much . Charles Mom asked him to say bye to the dog and he went and kissed it and whispered something in its ears. John did his work and Snowy quietly slipped away. Charles Mom was disturbed and she was in tears . And Charles dad and Mr John were convincing her that after all its a animal and explaining the sad part that it lives shorter than human lives . John observed that Charles was unmoved and he wondered whether the kid understood anything. Charles Mom continued to cry and she screamed "Why ? Why ?".

Charles who was quiet till then piped out , he said "I know Why". Everyone stopped talking and were looking at Charles . He was petting the dog with his little hands and said these words - " People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life , and then they try to be good , like being nice and loving everybody . Right ?". He continued -" Well, dogs already knew how to do that , so they dont have to stay as long ".

I too once had a cute little puppy . I saw it probably when it is just out of its mothers womb , I found it on the road side . I never knew what it feels like breeding a dog . But the way it saw in my eyes , I guess it was Love at first sight . I brought it home . Seeing its milky white face and fur , we named it as "Snowy" .


I witnessed its life totally . Snowy sees you as if it can understand you .It plays with you as if it has got no other friend.It eats only when it is fed .It shares everything it has got without even uttering a single word . Of course, it barks out when we(humans) ignore or cant understand what it is saying .I still remember the way it jumps/attacks on someone , who even for a joke acts/tries to beat my mom even if it was me .My mom is everything for it .It lived as if its life is not for him but for the people around it .When it went off , it created a huge void in me ,for days and for years. The impact was such that I never dared to have a pet dog again.Everything happened like in those so many movies we see , but to tell you long story short ,it was with us for 1.5 years and when it took its last breath , it was in my arms and we both were drenching in the rain . The rain washed the happiness we shared forever but not the memories I had with it.

I feel the greatest life led is when you live for others . And that is what humans also preach. And that is why people like Mother Teresa ,Nelson Mandela or Mahatma Gandhi are treated as Gods. They all said that's what we call "Living a Life" means .And when a dog shows it how to live a complete life ,it is called a Dogs Life . No doubt , it sleeps outside , it eats only when someone throws food , but how different are we ? . Im also eating coz some one feeds my bank account, which I call it as "My Money" .Unfortunately unlike me , dogs dont have call centers to query -"Wheres my money?". But still it does what it does better , most of the time not expecting much from you.


Sometimes I think , Did human beings give higher status to any other living being in this world apart from human beings ? . The answer is NO ( Have We ?) .We have never given it.We always made sure that we being intellectuals , with the growing science and with our fast paced lives have ensured that the greatest living being on this planet is only "HUMANS" .and I am not surprised , we calling its Life as "Just a Dogs Life". All the Good things of a Dogs Life are kept aside , and what is being projected is just the incomfortbaly comfortable life .Isnt this a hippocrisy ? .

When I think the way it lived its life , its great and its a dream for me . I wish I could live so nicely in such a crisp short time . And having experienced such a life , I never came to terms with people saying "Living a dogs Life" to express their dejected,sad or tough moments in life .

I am not writing to show my outburst nor I am emotional ,but I am just sharing my thoughts that touch me on the fly and next time after reading this , if it makes you think once before calling a "Dogs Life" ,then the very purpose of this post is satisfied.

Even though I share the same sanguine of humans , I am buoyant enough to say that I would like to Live a Dogs Life and Next time someone calls me a Dog [ I have a friend who calls me so :-) ], I will instead think that I am on track. What About you ? .

Miss you Snowy ,

TRYING to Live your Life,
Love,
Vicky

18 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. wow vicky ... very touching !!!
    Next time when i say dogs life .. i will say it to convey the positive moments of life.

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  3. BTW ... naaku nuvvu snowy ante ... smiley gurtochhindi .. j :)

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  4. You think Snowy is lucky to lead a complete life, but the fact is your family made sure that Snowy gets a complete life...
    All biographies of dogs will not be like Snowy... So we cannot generalize the statement.
    But good feelings though...

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  6. I never thought about the words 'Living Dogs Life'....but after reading this...i got positive sense on those words.....and also it reminds our pets...Romy and Tony....n...We r too not dare to have another pet......Anyway...Nice One Vikram :)

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  7. @ Rocky . Thanks , but sorry I dint recognize you - Rocky?

    @Hari : Thanks ra , Come on man , you are hurting dileep now :)

    @Sridevi : Hmm , Thanks a Lot .

    @Nag : Thanks Nag and I appreciate your comments . But I disagree simply coz there is no 'luck' in judging a dogs character. Its a truth. In the same way , you cant judge a human , coz every human is different with few similar charcteristics.Where as all dogs are same , with the characteristics I mentioned .

    You got me wrong when I say 'Living a Complete Life' , I said , living a complete life with the core values I mentioned in the post is difficult , and every dog just stays with its master (Unless it doesnt have a master).It never has its own life , but humans have . we may argue , that I love my son , my husband , i live for them , but somewhere every1 are selfish , they have their own needs and wants . But dogs dont expect like that (I think every pet owner agrees with me here ) .

    BTW , just for the record , Snowy dint had a complete life , it died coz of cancer . Still I call it a complete life , coz it never lived for itself .

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  8. Dude...
    I used to think that I know you, but with these blogs.... i started to think do I really know u???? gud & sensible write up.....
    antha banee undi kaani madhyalo Hari comment, daaniki nee reply ee baledu!!!! i hurted ;(

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  9. @Dilip . Thats a bigger compliment . If I can revamp my image completely with my writings then I am doing gud as a writer , and it is even better if it makes atleast a small difference(for good) in others life . Anyways thanks for that .

    And of course dude , you know me well. After all , we are chaddi-buddies :-P . I am d same guy who plays cricket 24*7 without any goal :-)

    And regarding my previous comment , Did I say anything wrong :-P

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  10. BTW Guys do u have any answer for this - "Did human beings give higher status to any other living being in this world apart from human beings ?" .

    I am curious to hear from you all .

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  11. I don't have any such experience of handling a pet to share with you. But Im sure all of us will definitely think twice before using the phrase "Living dogs life" after reading this post given the fact it's being the most frequently used phrase.

    "Did human beings give higher status to any other living being in this world apart from human beings ?"
    I feel like giving higher status to something/someone will be driven by the experience or bonding we share with them. But Im sure that the human being factor always takes an edge here.

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  12. @Subbu : I thot a lot before replying this and I tend to agree with you .

    We can give higher status only when we start bonding with others, and then respect comes from within . Now does that mean , that we dont bond much with non-human species ? , and so we underestimate their emotions ? . Hmm , this is getting somewhere else now . Food for thought.

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  13. @vicky: rather than terming it as underestimating their emotions I would say we don't understand their emotions...
    look at honeybees they have a social life, live in colonies have ranks in their society..so on
    but we don't understand them..
    may be dogs and other domesticated animals are a little closer for us understand and connect that too to a limited extent...

    I was wondering why did you think of this?

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  14. @shiv : Hmm Agreed with your words again . My point of contention is "if we dont understand them , so be it . At least dont use their name in degrading terms ."

    I am not stressing on we goin & understanding them , but just talking on behalf of those uncommunicative,speechless animals for their pride.

    And as I already said in the post , these are just thoughts on the fly . I am freelancer who is privileged to think on anything and everything . :-) Cheers !

    Love,
    Vicky

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  15. Hie bro,
    Poorvam lo kukkalni dongala bhayam ki,polallo kapala ki matram e penchukune valu & most of them were on roads....so appatlo swecha kolipoyi,Bhanisa batuku batke valu "Kukka batuku ani "annevalu[only 2 classes either under someone or on roads]....
    But Now,we buy them ....we have specialist doctors,Grooming centers(pedicure,manicure,hair cuts..etc).
    Coming to the point,Human identifies themselves with animals.....
    When they think someone is "cruel" then "FOX"....
    When they think someone is "happy,succeeded in something" then term as "Flying high like BIRDS"........
    when someone "eats every anything on earth" then "PIG"......i.e,they compare the highest quality that particular animal has.
    I think [DOG + BRAIN TO IMPLEMENT THE THOUGHTS,JUDGING CAPABILITIES = HUMAN BEINGS]....Amongs animals ,i feel Dogs are next to Human beings...cos we have most of dog qualities...Animal like Dogs has a very special bondage with humans than any other animal..Acually someone once told...."DOGS ARE THE MANS BEST FRIEND"
    so its common that we use when we are working as slaves,no freedom to do what we want then terming ourselves as "DOG" but again i Appreciate your sensitive insight of looking at the other part of Dog...And

    I TOO MISS SNOWY :(

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  16. @Vandana : "they compare the highest quality that particular animal has." . I again fail to agree , what we project in a dog now , is not its highest quality .

    Anyways thanks .

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  17. Simply superb!!!.DOGS ARE THE BEST FRIENDS FOR HUMANS

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