So we had left at the part where I name the Puppy, right? Ok, so now let’s see what happened when I came back from school.
One look at the fence and I remembered the puppy. I rushed at it. I was not disappointed with the lack of the puppy’s presence. I made a clicking noise that I had always seen my elders do. This attracts dogs and assures them that we are safe and friendly. As if on cue, DIDDO appeared out of nowhere. Again, the mom wasn’t there.I was so happy to see it. I put my fingers through the criss-cross fence and pampered DIDDO. I had never seen a puppy so small. It looked as if it was just 1 or 2 weeks old.
DIDDO then started to chew and suck the iron rods of the fence. It was also making pitiful sounds. I figured out that it might be hungry. I quickly put my bag down and opened my tiffin. I took out the puran poli smeared in ghee.( sweet flatbread with sweet stuffing and covered in clarified butter) I held out a piece to DIDDO which it readily accepted. But it was only familiar with it’s mother’s milk. So it tried to suck and slurp it. After the piece was finished, I gave it another one. By now, it had figured out that it was not the way to take in this particular food and tried to chew it. It had so little teeth! There were hardly 3-4 teeth and the rest of that piece was chewed by its gums. By then, one of my neighbors, who was a little girl and was watching me all along, was excited to see the puppy readily taking food from my hands. She came near the fence and asked me if she could feed DIDDO too. I agreed and gave her a piece. I could see she was a bit scared but was eager. I soothed her and told her how to feed DIDDO. She stuck out her fingers along with the food through the fence. As the puppy happily came towards the food, she was frightened and dropped the piece on the ground on the other side. DIDDO didn’t mind at all and took the piece from the ground. But I minded VERY MUCH! I didn’t want young DIDDO to eat dirty food! It was soo little and deserved fresh food. That was the whole point of me giving it my tiffin with my own hands. Seeing my grumpy expression, she requested for another try. I agreed and this time she did it correctly. The rest of the dish was quickly finished by DIDDO. All the while I was wondering where it’s mother was. It seemed that DIDDO wasn’t with it’s mother even in the afternoon. ( while I was in school)The watchman uncle came along and was pleased to see me feeding DIDDO. He told me that the puppy had been making pitiful sounds all afternoon and was roaming around the fence. It’s mother was also nowhere near it.
I suddenly felt very sad and sorry for the puppy. It was soo young. WHERE was it’s mother? WHAT was she thinking?!There were no other pups to be seen either. WHO will take care and feed DIDDO. Monsoon was nearly here and HOW will DIDDO survive in the wet and cold weather without it’s mother?
As if he had read my thoughts and worries, the watchman uncle pitied DIDDO and said, “ Take the puppy with you. Take it to your home and take care of it.” I just wanted someone to say that and boost my confidence. Uncle could be very funny sometimes and I didn’t know if he was joking or really meant it. But something told me that he did and there was truth behind it. For I was well known for being an animal lover and rescuing them. ( I had rescued another puppy and a kitten a while back. The puppy has grown 1 year old now and was with his family safely. I’ll definitely write blogs about them) And anyways, the puppy would be far safer in my home than in the lonely, dusty and cold construction site. The monsoon season would make it worse.
“ I’m taking it home”, I said and ran and called( yelled, I was so excited)for my aunt to come down. The watchman uncle looked happy for the puppy. I guess he really meant what he had said. But there was a problem.
DIDDO was on the other side of the fence and the door beside it was locked. The only way for us to go to there was to take a huge turn around the colony to get to the other entrance of the construction site. And it was a kilometer away.
Uncle and I started to think how to bring
DIDDO on this side. Then uncle remembered and spotted the opening in the fence. The view of the opening was hidden by a little wooden fence and shrubs. But how to get DIDDO come through it. Also there was a thin drain between the opening and the other side.
Uncle called one of the workers and told him to pass DIDDO through the opening. The worker was afraid of dogs and called another worker. He lifted DIDDO by the fur of its back. DIDDO started to make a that ‘ puppy’ sound. It wasn’t hurt but was scared of being lifted up and didn’t know how it was off the ground. I was very angry with the worker for picking up DIDDO like that and treating it like dirt. But before I could say anything, Uncle scolded him and the worker picked up DIDDO like a baby and passed it through the fence. I was beyond happy.
DIDDO walked a few steps and i quickly understood that MANY dangers threatened a baby. DIDDO was about to walk one step but I diverted it and changed it’s direction. Or it would have fallen into a little opening of the gutter. Then I picked DIDDO up and took in in the lift. I kept it down and quickly pressed the button to the 3rd floor. The doors closed and the screen showed the numbers as I went up each floor. 1…2…and 3. The door of the lift opened and I and DIDDO stepped out. Hello Home, Here we come! ( Did I mention that I had left my school bag down?) TO BE CONTINUED IN PART 3.
TwilightArtist 