Tale Of Three Great Street Dogs, Which Protected An Abandoned Baby
This world seems to have fallen prey to negative forces. Or else, it would have been easy to find meaning in the happenings of world. Old friends turn into foes in no time; parents leave the kids into lurch, whom they once raised with great care; trust gets repeatedly shattered by the ones who are supposed to be most trustworthy; lovers who loved each other with great intimacy come to parting of ways over insignificant issues; friends appear more lethal than actual enemies, and couples who tied knot in glittering ceremony having religious and legal sanctity, live in same relationship which a customer strikes with a sex-worker.
While surfing the net, I came across this very moving picture. It shows a new-born protected by three stray dogs. The news item below this picture, clicked by Tapan Mukherjee, stated that these three dogs not only protected this child throughout the night but also followed the crowd, which carried the baby to Burtolla Police Station. They remained there and returned only after the Officer-in-charge at Burtolla Police Station completed the proceedings of shifting it to home for abandoned babies.
This baby was placed near the dustbin in one of the localities of Calcutta on the evening of 23rd May, 1996. One might argue that this type of incidents are pretty common in nation having population of more than one billion people. It’s understood that this baby either due to social stigma or curse of poverty was left at the mercy of fate. Still, the photograph filled me with pain. That’s because I have seen many couples wishing to have baby but baby always eludes their fate. They remain childless. On the other hand, we find parents subjecting their child to such cruel treatment, involving abandonment.
True, human beings in our times might be competing with devil, but it appears animals have retained the attributes found in Lord. They realize what sensitivity really means, and the great words/phrases carved by human beings like “care” and “sense of responsibility” are in actuality lived by animals, or else one would have found such words in dictionaries alone. Paradoxically, these stray dogs are projected as nuisance by civilized human beings and subjected to death. However, human beings continue to emerge successful with their shrewd manueveres which are not only poisoning social relationships but also corrupting the entire globe. Kudos to these street dogs, which exhibited to God’s most beautiful creation, human being, the art of offering true help. Kudos to news reporter Pinaki Mujumdar, for reporting this heart-rending news in touching manner, making it clear that some people are still left in fourth estate to add dignity to it.
Photograph by Tapan Mukherjee, courtesy Aajkaal, a Bengali daily (Dated 25th May 1996)
Original News Report Filed By Pinaki Mujumdar
Savage Humans and Stray Dogs, a book by Hiranmay Karlekar, Sage Publications 2008
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