My brother Aayush has always been very kind hearted and nature loving. He has special love for animals – especially the stray cows and dogs that roam untamed around my house that I have been living in for the past twenty years with my mom, dad and Aayush. Actually, I was born in this house and grew up in this small community outside the city of Panipat in Northern India, not very far away from New Delhi, the national capital.
Anyway, these very stray but actually pet animals of Aayush’s would get special treats every evening as he would ask mom to prepare extra roti (Indian bread widely consumed all over the country and abroad in different forms including naan bread) for them. Occasional celebratory meals for a birthday or mom and dad’s wedding anniversary would make for a scrumptious banquet for these creatures. He would distribute the meals among all the guests, now including crows. However, dogs would be given priority. He says cows are herbivores and have many grazing options in our township and crows are cunning enough to fight for their food. Dogs, of all creatures, are the most innocent, he believes. As they would start gathering outside our house, Aayush would start showering his affection on them. On one hand, he is enjoying cuddling with stray dogs and cows, on the other, I am losing my mind watching him embrace STRAY dogs and cows, imagining the worst possible microbes they carry around with them. Did I mention that Aayush is almost four years younger to me?
I feel Aayush is blessed with a kind heart, especially toward animals. Anyway, there is a latent mischievous side to his personality too. Look at his eyes for proof. He would touch these stray dogs and cows and then tease me by rubbing his hands on my face. My knee-jerk reaction would be to scold him or even threaten to beat him. His favorite dog, who he preferred over others and fed specially, would always escort him while he would go for post prandial walks every evening. Whenever we would hear a council of dogs barking outside, I would tease him. “Aayush, your friends are waiting for you, I would remark.” This was the show every evening and we both enjoyed these meetings and teasing each other, until one day. It so happened on my parent’s wedding anniversary on May 12, 2006.
After a small family get together, he and I were, as usual, feeding his pet dogs and cows. He was being his usual playful self and started pestering me by touching me with his germ-laden hands after canoodling with the creatures. I stopped him a few times but he didn’t listen. I got annoyed at last and pretended to kick him. Accidentally, unintentionally and sadly it was his favorite brown-skinned, brown-eyed dog who got hit. The morsel of roti fell off his mouth. I was taken aback. I was in shock for having hit an innocent animal. Ignoring all levels of personal hygiene, I grabbed the dog in my arms and constantly kept on apologizing to him till Aayush said, “Look, he’s not listening to you. Stop irritating him.” It was a moment of transformation for me. The very next day, I took the dog to a veterinarian doctor for vaccination. At home, I gave him a bath. He was a new addition to our small family of four. ‘Transformer’ is what I called Aayush and named the dog ‘Speedy’. I believe mine was a case of speedy transformation after all.
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