THE JOY OF GIVING

JOY OF GIVING

It was a hot mid-April afternoon and Isha was hanging clothes in the balcony, cursing her maid for taking a day off for no reason. She lived in a flat on the first floor and her balcony overlooked a huge empty ground. She somehow enjoyed standing in the balcony and gazing at the ground for a long time. She felt that that ground had a little world in itself. There were many stray animals there dogs and pigs in abundance. Sometimes she would observe dogs chasing pigs, during monsoon it became a grazing ground for sheep and camels and a mini butterfly park and some beautiful birds. And many times, she could see a pair of owls in the starry night. It seemed that the ground changed its landscape and mood according to the season, the early morning dewy haze in monsoon and the heavy fog in winters and dry parched land in summer.

 A bitch had given birth to a litter of 4-5 pups and Isha used to enjoy watching them from when they were just a few hours old till they were really naughty and full of life and running about in the ground. After hanging the clothes, Isha was still grumbling and murmuring about the maid and gazing at the ground when she saw the puppies whimpering happily at a rag picker girl. The girl was donning torn scruffy clothes and had unkempt hair and looked cadaverous. She was holding a big blue polythene bag filled with plastic trash in one hand and a Styrofoam cup in another.

The puppies and the bitch circled her legs and licked her and she also petted each of the canines and played with them for a little while. Then she took the Styrofoam cup and offered something to them.  Having read in the newspaper and heard about certain “techniques” of getting rid of stray, Isha got vigilant and began to observe the girl and the puppies carefully. The puppies happily lapped up the contents of the cup and started pestering the girl for more. She took out half a bottle of frooti from her polythene bag, sipped a little just so to quench her thirst, and then poured out the entire drink in the cup for the puppies. After the puppies finished she sat for a while and played with them. Then petted all the dogs again and started walking away, humming a tune to herself, swaying her hands.

 Isha was dumbfounded with what she just witnessed, for she knew that this bottle of frooti, which the girl would have got in alms, could be the only thing she might have got to eat/drink for the day. And undoubtedly, it was a very comforting drink in this sweltering heat. Yet, she gave it all away, selflessly, happily to those pups. Isha kept on staring at the girl till she disappeared into nothing.  Isha felt a lump rise in her throat; she was dumbfounded at what she just witnessed. She felt so little, in fact, nothing in front of that girl. Here she was groaning and grumbling for a ludicrous reason and the girl, who had all the reason to do so was not even bothered about her hunger. Isha went back to her chores as a bit mature person, realising the value of immersing in simple joys of life.