A TRIBUTE TO MY DOG-MY LIFE
"Jangu"..."Jangu"..."Where are you?","Come Here...Sit..I say sit...don't move...C'mon sit here..right here!" A little girl in a frilled frock ordering a giant Alsatian Dog seemed happy with her life and amazingly the giant too was lovingly following all the orders behaving like a mouse! love dripped from the giant's eyes as he panted and played with girl!
Getting ready for school, the girl was constantly ordering GIANT JANGU OR RATHER JANG BAHADUR THAPA as her brother had named him..."Jangu, bringgg my shoes,I am getting late for school and Jangu would come running and panting to the girl with the shoes hung by their laces,securely in his teeth.After getting ready for her school,the girl would carry her schoolbag and happily join her bunch of buddies, waiting for her to walk along the school ,forgetting totally about the giant but the giant always had plans to follow her up to the school.A chaos among her mates would suddenly, after a while make her realize that Mr.Jangu was following-she then ,angrily would shout at the top of her voice.."JANGUUU, MOVE,GO AWAY!!" And Jangu would pretend , not to be following her-he would start looking some other side feigning as if he was out for some other errand! BUT HIS LOVE FOR THE LITTLE GIRL COULD BE SEEN IN HIS ANIMAL EYES!
After school forgetting all the "morning showdown", the girl would barge into her house shouting,"JANGU..JANGU..AND JANGU ALWAYS READY TO PLAY WITH HER START RUNNING ALL ACROSS THE BIG HOUSE! Without Jangu her life was unimaginable,he would wag his tail non stoppingly unless she walked towards the biscuit cans!! Then the biscuit game would commence-she raising the biscuits higher and higher-he balancing on his hind legs for hours to get his prize.
She remembered,he always sat near her study table,while she would do her homework,pretending to sleep.BUT his ever active ears sticking out and pupils under covered lids reacting at the slightest sound!
At times when she would be sick or feeling low,Jangu would sit quietly near her,trying to bridge the gap of humans and animals,understanding spread across his canine face.The same understanding was shown by him on the occasion of her marriage."janguuu, she had wailed, I am goingggg and she literally wept in his arms".A tear trickled down his eyes .The shehnai, flowers,cook,the continuous huslte bustle in the house assured him that the little princess who had grown into a beautiful girl,was going to leave him,as her other sisters had the left the house.
Drifting to the past ,reminiscences of college days again captured her mind.She remembered,how Jungu would even in her college days,follow her to college bus and while she would be busy chatting,laughing with her friends,he very stealthily would put half the giant body of his, inside the rickety bus ,searching and looking for her, to create a havoc and drive all the "dadas" supporting typical "Bihari Neta Moustache",out of their wits.The poor conductor, in a state of total amazement ,trembling unceasingly would shout,"Kiska kutta hai bhai"..."isse bahar karo...arrey bhai bus kaise chalegi!"And Janju being the clever animal would get down immediately,as his eyes met hers, back home,running ,showing his "track skills"!!!That day when she came back home from college,he was no where to be found as he knew,his punishment was definite.
After a while when he was assured the incident was forgotten by her,he would come very innocently and lick her feet ,put his front legs in her laps,while she was hanging on phone,as he would sense that she was talking to someone dear...and instead of being punished he would be hugged! Jangu really had his ways with her!!!!
BUT SHE LOST HIM.YES SHE LOST HIM.After her marriage,lots of cobwebs ,in the form of responsibilities had settled around her, and her dearest,lovable childhood friend was forgotten.Few months after when her husband left to join his training of his services,she visited her parents.The entire family encircled her except Jangu."Ma where is Jangu?".she questioned.Her Ma with a little hesitation replied that he had gone for vaccination."Moreover,he has become old and not keeping fit these days",she added."Oh!",she exclaimed but other things caught her attention and she started fooling around with her nephews,who were then in school.
