She Keeps Waiting For Her Master

Emily was just a nearly two weeks old Puppy when she was brought home by her Master, Navin Arora – a resident of Mumbai in India.

Emily – a cute baby Yellow Labrador Retriever, as she was then – was one among the brood of six pups.

Sadly for all the Pups – their Mother was run over by a speeding car, leaving them completely at the mercy of a World unknown to them.

The owner of Emily’s Mother, Sushil Malhotra – a kind-hearted man and Navin’s dear Friend – was absolutely gutted by the shock of the tragedy, but soon regained his composure and decided to take good care of the orphaned Puppies.

He kept two of the Puppies with him and gave the others to his Friends, whom he trusted and was sure that they would love them as one of their own.

That’s how Navin got Emily and named her in the memory of one of his good Friend’s aunt, Emily Richards – who lived in Montebello, California till she died and was really cherished in her locality as an avid dog-lover.

Emily was very restless during the initial few days and would often keep searching for her lost Mother and separated brothers and sisters through half-expressed unspoken heart-rending wails and moans that can only come out of a poor little suffering soul!

Navin was no way apathetic to the Pain of his little Canine Friend and did all he could do and beyond to show her in every possible way that he loved and cared for her and realized her longings.

After much effort from Navin, his Family – his wife and little son – and doctors and staff of the neighbouring veterinary clinic, Emily finally accepted their love and care and soon became a member of their household.

The toddler would play with Emily and cuddle her all the time and they both got together quite well.

Navin would take her for evening walks every day after returning home from office and always accompany her in the family vacations.

It took some doing for Navin and others to get Emily really disciplined as she was more than happy with her uncouth lifestyle.

As she grew older Emily became more attached to Navin, rather than his wife, as his son left for boarding school.

Navin didn’t lack in his care either, as he left his office job and took up a home business, so that he would have more time for Emily and also can pursue his other passions – Photography and Music.

Once one of Navin’s new clients misbehaved with Emily during a dinner party that made Navin absolutely livid and he left the place the very next moment after giving him a mouthful.

He never had anything to do with that client ever since that ugly episode.

On those days when Navin returned home late at night after finishing several important business meetings with clients – Emily would wait patiently outside the Gate and no amount of persuasion or lure from Navin’s wife would make her budge.

Years passed by like this but the quietness of the house was slowly shattered as marital discord started to become uglier.

So the inevitable happened one day as Navin and his wife parted ways and his son also went with his Mother.

Navin was thus almost bereft of any family, as his parents had died long ago (he was their only child) and other relatives lived elsewhere.

Emily henceforth became Navin’s only real companion in life as she didn’t desert him like the rest, even though Navin’s son wanted to take her with him also and it just goes to show how deep can a human-animal bonding be if it is governed by untainted love that can even put a lot of other humans to shame!

Now, Navin would leave Emily with his neighbour on even fewer and rare occasions, unless it was absolutely necessary.

On one Sunday he just had to make a long distance travel on the road by car to fix a very important business deal with an overseas client.

One of his business friends was accompanying him in the car and they needed to hurry so that they can fix the deal before their business rivals got a sniff of it.

As usual, Navin took Emily to his neighbour’s house before leaving and just as he was about to enter into the car, something within stopped him.

He turned back, came to Emily and gave her a real loving hug and peck on the cheek while Emily licked his face all over to show her love!

As he sat on the backseat of the moving car and kept looking outside the window with teary eyes, Emily ran after the car for a little distance before giving in ultimately.

After a while she returned to the neighbour’s house and sat by the Gates quietly, waiting, even though it was raining heavily then.

This road trip of Navin took him through the accident prone Mumbai-Pune Expressway, as was the usual route and while trying to overtake a slow moving bus on the left in high speed, the car wheels skidded on the wet road, hit a crash metal barrier and fell down into a deep gorge.

All the occupants of the car succumbed to their injuries ultimately from the severe impact of the accident, before being taken to the hospital.

Day gave way to Night and as the rain stopped, the sky overhead cleared up completely and slowly the moon and the stars woke up with a deep sigh for the lone Silhouette that keeps waiting patiently by the roadside – for her Master to return – who will never return!

[This Poem is dedicated to all real dog lovers around the world and their lovely canine companions.]

If you are a real dog-lover then please raise your voice against this nonsense: https://www.change.org/p/president-of-the-people-s-republic-of-china-stop-the-yulin-dog-meat-eating-festival