A Dog Speaks


                                                          

Friends, Mr. Zaidi has been kind enough to allow me to speak through his blog site. I wanted to thank a few individuals for making us famous but I was not getting the right platform for doing so. Recently, I heard about Mr. Zaidi’s blogs through my master, who is a keen reader of Mr. Zaidi’s blogs and I got the idea of using his blog site. You see, like Busybee’s dog Bolshoi the Boxer, I can also speak. It’s a rare talent that only Bolshoi and I have.

So, one day I asked my master if he would contact Mr. Zaidi and tell him about my idea. At first, he was horrified. He said: ‘Are you crazy, Butter Scotch?’

Shaking my head, I said, ‘No, master. I am not crazy.’

‘Then why are you giving this idea?’ he asked.

‘Master, I want to thank a few people, for making us famous, and if I do it through Mr. Zaidi’s blog site, the readers will come to know about them and probably, some of them will pass on the message to other people.’

With some more persuasion, he agreed. So here, I am. Before I begin to thank those individuals, who have made us famous, let me first thank my master for agreeing to speak to Mr. Zaidi and Mr. Zaidi for agreeing for me to use his blog site. Thank you, master. Thank you, Mr. Zaidi.    

Friends, you all know that we are a grateful species. We never let go of an opportunity to show our gratitude. First on my list is the evergreen Bollywood actor, Dharmendra.  In film after film, he takes our name. ‘Kutte’ he calls out, narrowing his eyes and flaring his nostrils. He doesn’t address us singly but always in the plural form. He has been such a great BRAND (read DOG) AMBASSADOR for us. Thank you Dharam saab.

Next on the list is Jack London, the well-known American writer. In his short adventure novel, The Call of the Wild, he made Buck, a dog, the central character. From a ranch dog to a feral dog, the transition of Buck is masterfully captured. Buck is a fictional legend. Thank you, Jack London for paying tribute to us, the dogs, through Buck.

The third on the list is Rakesh Shukla, a software engineer from Bangalore, India, affectionately called Dog Father. He has done so much for our community that I have no words to say. More than 700 dogs are taken care by him. All these dogs were abandoned by their previous owners. Dog Father’s farm is a haven for all my cousins. Thank you, Shukla-ji. May your tribe increase.

Finally, I’d like to thank that farmer whose dog Qitmir, guarded the cave of the Seven Sleepers, the incident which is narrated in the Holy Koran in Surah Kahf (in Bible too). In the year 250BC, a group of pious youths to escape the tyrant king Decius, hid in a cave, where they prayed to God to save them. God made them sleep for more than 300 years thus protecting them from the despotic ruler. Thank you, farmer, for becoming a part of the group and thus making Qitmir being talked about in the holy book. We are proud of you and Qitmir.

That’s all, dear friends. Now, I am feeling relieved. I will end the page in the same way as Mr. Nasir Zaidi does, with just my initials. -  BS

-          NZ 
24.7.2019
 Note: This blog is written on demand.  A reader requested me to write on Dog.      


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