summary of the bond of love

Two years ago, the author and his friends were passing through the sugarcane fields near Mysore. People were driving away the wild pigs from their fields by shooting at them. Suddenly a sloth bear came out of the field. One of the writer’s companions shot at the bear. It fell dead. They came near the fallen animal. They saw a bear cub riding on its mother’s back. The cub was making pitiful howls. The writer tried to catch it. But the bear cub ran away into the field. The writer and his companions ran after it. At last, they were able to catch it. The baby-bear tried to free itself. It tried to scratch the author with its long, hooked claws. They put the bear into a gunny bag and brought it to Bangalore. The author presented the little creature to his wife. She was very happy. She named the bear cub Bruno. The author’s wife brought up Bruno with love and care. She looked after the bear cub as he were her own child. At first, Bruno was taught to drink milk from a bottle. Within a few days, he started eating normally. He drank and ate everything. Ile ate porridge made from any ingredients. He ate vegetables, fruit, nuts, meat, curry and rice. Ile did not mind even condiments and chillies in the curry. He ate bread, eggs, chocolates, sweets, pudding, ice-cream, etc. As for drink, he drank milk, tea, coffee, lime-juice, aerated water, beer and other things. Be became attached to all the children of the tenants living in the bungalow. He spent time playing, running into the kitchen and going to sleep in the beds of the author and his wife. Because of the love and affection showed by the author’s wife, he developed great affection for her One day an accident befell Bruno. There were rats in the author’s library. In order to kill them, he had put down barium carbonate in the library. It was poison. Bruno entered the library and ate some of the poison. He suffered from a stroke of paralysis. But he dragged himself slowly to the author’s wife. He was weakening rapidly. He was breathing heavily and vomiting. The author at once took him to a veterinary doctor. The vet gave him 10 cc of anti-dote through an injection. But his condition remained unchanged. Then another 10 cc was injected. This improved his condition. Bruno got up and enjoyed a good meal. Another time, the little bear drank a lot of old engine oil. But fortunately, it had no effect on him. With the passage of time, Bruno grew up in size. He became equal to the Alsatians in size and even outgrew them. But he was just as mischievous as before. He was very fond of the people around him. But he especially loved the author’s wife. She also loved him. She changed Bnmo’s name to ‘Baba’, which in Hindustani means ‘small boy’. The bear could do a few tricks also. When he was asked ‘Baba box’, he started boxing with anybody who was near him. When someone gave him a stick and said, “Baba hold the gun”, he pointed the stick at him. He had concealed a stump of wood in his straw bed. When he was asked, “Baba, where’s baby,” he immediately produced and cradled that piece wood. But because of the tenant’s children, the bear had to be kept chained most of the time. With the passage of time, the bear became too big to be kept at home. The author, his friends and his son advised the author’s wife to gift Baba to the zoo at Mysore. After some weeks of such advice, she finally agreed. A letter was written to the curator of the zoo. He agreed to take the bear. Baba was sent to the Mysore zoo in a cage. But the author’s wife felt very sad. She wept and for the first few days, refused to take food. She wrote a number of letters to the curator of the zoo. She asked in her letters about the condition of Baba. At the zoo, Baba was also in a similar position. He was inconsolable. He also did hot take food for the first few days. He was well but looked thin and sad. The author’s wife was very sad at her separation from the bear. For three months, the author restrained her from visiting Mysore. At last, he took his wife to Mysore zoo to meet Baba. The author and his friends had guessed that the bear would not recognize her after three months. But as soon as Baba saw her, he recognized her. He cried with happiness. She ran up to him and patted him. He stood up on his head in delight. For the next three hours, she did not leave the cage. She gave him tea, lemonade, cakes, ice-cream and other things. At last, the ‘closing time’ came and she had to leave. The author’s wife wept bitterly. She felt that she could not live without the bear. She requested the superintendent to send Baba back. He was a kind man. He consented and Baba was brought back into the author’s home. At home, an island was made for Baba. It was twenty feet long and fifteen feet wide. It was surrounded by a moat, six feet wide and seven feet deep. A wooden box was kept for Baba to sleep at night. Straw was placed inside to keep him warm. Baba was very happy in his new home. The author’s wife spent hours sitting there. It is the story of the love between man and animal. It shows that animals also have a sense of love, affection and loyalty.