Pawsome

Have you ever wondered what dogs talk about when they meet? Whoa! you think we just bark at each other. We do talk, okay. You do not comprehend our language, which is another mystery for us. I mean, dogs have little brains compared to the gigantic ones you guys carry on your heads. We do not use idioms like ‘every dog has its day’, which let me tell you is very offensive. We do not have 100 different languages. Yet we understand you perfectly when you keep us as your pets. Maybe because, as they say, ‘love has no language.’

Love. It is the most beautiful thing in this world. Only next to the love of my life, Hiya. She is what you call 'beauty with brains. We met for the first time on a beach. Our human dads are good friends. They planned this family outing 2 years ago, and now we have a family of our own.

Now coming back to what we talked about when we met. Well! it is time to introduce the being I love the most, besides Hiya. My human dad, Akash. We talked exclusively about him the whole time. He is a nice man. He is in the true sense a dog lover, not the insta-dog-dads who show it off more than they actually care. He does care, about everything, from my food to my poop and everything in between. He takes time out for me from all his screens - mobile, tablet, laptop, and TV. Now you know, how marvellous he is.

But 2 years ago, we had a fallout. We had a guest, one evening. An unexpected guest. Akash was in the washroom. I suspected him to be a thief, so I barked. He kicked me in response. No one had ever kicked me before. I was terrified. I didn’t know how my teeth landed upon his thigh. But the time could not be anymore ominous. Akash entered the room and the brat started crying like a baby. He was at least 7 years old. We with our little brains turn adults by then, for God’s sake. It turned out that he was Akash’s only nephew.

Akash was disappointed, to say the least. He still took care of me, but it was not the same. For instance, he didn’t trust me with his relatives, anymore. In fact, I was surprised when he took me to the beach with his friend and Hiya.

I told her all about my problem with Akash when our dads were enjoying the spa. Akash didn’t want to leave me alone but relented because of Sid. Hiya listened patiently. When I stopped speaking and looked at her, I realized the blunder I had made. I had poured out all my frustrations, and she was not cringing at me. Her eyes were reflecting the light of the bulb on my left. I saw myself in them. This could have been our first date and I destroyed it.

“Do not give up. I am sure we can make him trust you again,” she said. I was mesmerized by her beautiful voice. She was trying to help me when I have been so selfish to make this whole afternoon about myself.

“Thanks! But enough about me. What about you? You have been so patient with me today. I want to know more about you,” I said. She blushed. Oh my God! she blushed. I wasn’t trying to flirt with her, honestly. But I wanted to give it a try now.

“My dad, Jay adopted me a year ago. He is also a very nice man. I think that is the reason he is friends with Akash. Does Akash watch movies too?”

“Yeah, sometimes. Why?”

“Oh! Jay is crazy about movies. I have watched all sorts of Bollywood movies with him. They are so much fun. The songs, comedy, fighting, twists, everything. The funny thing is that the fighting scenes are more hilarious than the comedy scenes,” she seemed in her element for the first time since we met. Then, her expressions changed as if she had a bulb of her own in her forehead and it had illuminated out of nowhere. She looked at me with a wicked smile on her face.

“I have the solution for your problem.” She was still thinking about me.

“What solution?” I asked.

“I have seen it in movies. Whenever a boy has to win the trust of a girl, he asks his friends to misbehave with her. So, he could fight with them and save her. This makes him a hero in her eyes. We can do the same with you. Tomorrow on the morning walk, we will signal a few street dogs to bark at Akash. When he gets really scared, you start barking at the loudest pitch you can and save him.” So filmy. But her enthusiasm made me want to try it out, so I agreed.

I wish the next morning things unfolded the way we had planned. You would be surprised to know that Murphy’s law is applicable to dogs as well. We could not find any dogs on our morning walk. We were just one lane away from the hotel, and I had given up on the plan. But Hiya didn’t. She started howling. You should have seen the expressions on Jay’s face. I could tell that he had not seen this side of Hiya before. In a matter of a few minutes, three dogs appeared. She explained the plan to them and became as quiet as a lamb.

Did I tell you that the other dogs agreed with our plan? Well! they looked at me in the evilest way possible and barked their lungs out. They were threatening me. I know that the plan was to save a scared Akash, but great Mr Murphy had predicted the opposite, so it happened. Akash saved me from the devils. No, that was not the only disappointing thing. When I came to my senses, I saw Hiya laughing at me. Thankfully, the dogs were gone.

Now, she tells me that I look cute when I am scared. I am not a man, so I am not offended. How can I be, when this cuteness worked completely in my favour. I have Hiya, right? And Akash. Well! he didn’t think I looked cute when I was scared. But it made him realize that I am not an aggressive dog. In fact, I am meeker than he would want me to be. Of course! he knew his nephew had kicked me but biting took the icing the other day. Time heals, as they say. He is back to his old self with me, thanks to Hiya and her brilliant plan.

I met Hiya because of Akash and then she helped me get my old Akash back. Mine is such a palindromic story. The two people I love the most made me find each other. And let us not forget the contribution of Bollywood movies. Akash and I are as addicted to them as Hiya and Jay. I might not have been able to impress Hiya with my action but I have learned my dialogues from the superstars of romance. Now, this is what you can call a ‘happily ever after’.