Baba - Short Story of a Dog

I saw the time-table on the adjacent wall of my classroom. It showed "Value Education". The value education session talked we should love our surroundings and preserve it. It taught us to live in harmony, respect elders, follow strict hygiene, be clean, and love animals etc.

As the bell rang and our daily after-class prayer ended we all walked in a straight line out of the school. My best friend Meena's home was also in the way my home was in. That day as soon as Meena left. I started to walk following a cursory bye to Meena I saw a baby dog in the middle of the road. A car had stopped short of it when a middle-aged man lifted the dog and kept it on the other end of the road at a safer place. That was when I saw Baba for the first time.

Baba's skin was dark brown in color, shining black eyes with its gaze fixed on me. Baba looked hungry. I picked him up scanning the surrounding area as I couldn't see any trace of his mother or kins. I decided to take him home!

“Durga, What is this?”, My mother yelled at me.

"I found this lovely puppy while coming back from school, Mumma", I replied innocently while keeping Baba close to my heart.

"Go and throw it outside right now", she said in an animated tone.

"Please mom let me keep this, the dog is so lovely, I will take care of him. You don't have to worry. I will also do all my studies on time", I said in a begging tone.

"I said no and it's final", my mom replied and went back in the kitchen.

My mother was furious at me and did not like a bit that I was bringing a street dog in our house. She couldn't get the idea of keeping a dog. My attempts of making her understand the tremendous love I had, unfortunately, fell on deaf ears. Despite citing my value education teachers comment on animals, she didn't take heed.

As I was adamant to keep Baba I thought to keep him at the surrounding of our home for which my mother agreed.

I had kept him near my house, my friends from our building and nearby locality got acquainted with Baba. Scores of children played with Baba on a regular basis. The name "Baba" to my dearest dog was also given by one of my friends. Though, no one remembers how the name got conceived. Baba became an instant hit with many people but also a thing of annoyance for some others including my mom. With children, Baba was a craze.

Baba now was a healthy, grown up, strong dog. We celebrated his fifth birthday with much happiness.

Days passed by and our vacations were coming. My parents decided to visit our aunt in the nearby city. The trip was three days and taking Baba was a big no. Also, I wasn't worried at all about Baba as there were many who would look after him. Indeed, all my friends took good care of him.

This was the first time I was away from Baba. Most of the time that I was in my aunt's place I was thinking of Baba. I didn't like playing with other children and was longing to get back to our place.

"Do your studies properly, Durga", My aunt said while we were leaving.

"Forget studies she's now more interested in animal care these days", said my mother.

"No Shalini aunty, I do all my studies on time finish my homework and then we friends play with our dog for some time".

"So you are having a dog?", asked my aunt surprisingly.

"Yes, I got it from the street side and its awesome, lovely dog and...."

"Okay Shalini, we are leaving now and will keep in touch via phone", said my mother.

It was late evening when we boarded the train from our aunt's house. It was a chilly and dark morning when we reached near our house. Scores of people including several police officials were standing in the vicinity of our colony. I was curious about what might have happened and the reason police and so many people were around there. That too at an unusual hour.

My father inquired and there was a million dollar smile on my father's face. The news was that our very own Baba had foiled a robbery attempt. Our dog even managed to catch the thrives until other people came. Eventually, police detained the robbers.

The next day many newspapers carried a story which highlighted the braveness of our dog. One said "Brave Heart Dog Foils Robbery, Catches Thieves". Another read "Meet Baba the Most Courageous Dog of the City".

Now we were the proud owner of the bravest dog of the city. Suddenly, everyone started liking Baba.

Baba was sort of a celebrity and people from all places would feed and play with him, often taking him to their home. He was now a community-owned dog. The robbers turned out to be repeat offenders and faced legal inquiries. Police officials also managed to catch other members of the gang by interrogation. Robbers were still in the police custody. The next morning newspaper read "Brave Heart Dog Who Foiled Robbery Dies of Poisoning".