An Incident that Changed the Life?

Life is a wonderful gift of God meant to be lived very cautiously. At times untoward incidents happen so haphazardly so unpredictably out of the blue that you are left shocked. One such sad incident happened to me a few years ago on the DIwali eve whose memories are indelibly etched on my mind.

I along with my mother was on my way to my friend’s house in the countryside to give him the festival sweets. It was twilight. The sun had just set beyond the horizon. There is a hairpin bend just a mile before his house that I always enjoyed during the ride. As I turned my bike along the hairpin turn, a pup came exactly in front of my bike…it happened so suddenly…my bike ran over the pup…it was in excruciating pain…it whined, writhed and shrieked…I stopped…my mother behind me…I thought of rushing it to a vet in the city. But it breathed its last in front of my eyes.

The cute, innocent face and its painful whine haunt me until this day. The memories of that sad incident have become my greatest regret. I have become very sensitive to all animals. In order to atone for my mistake, I kept a dog and gave it all the love and care I could. It lived with my family for more than 15 years.

Now, I pay extra care to animals, especially pups on the road. On many occasions, a pup came in front of my vehicle; but I was always cautious not to run over them even inadvertently.