~Kamal Manandhar~
He is little taller than an ‘average’. Muscular body, smart & alert. His eyes twinkling & keen enough as if too wise. Little rough & sometimes fierce too. Altogether totally masculine. He mostly wants to stay closer to me and doesn’t like most of my visitors. So most of my friends & relatives fear of his hostile countenance to enter my home. But he is obedient too and easily coaxes on my caress. Although little late, he usually mingles with most of my friends. Maybe he cares our home little much or maybe he is too possessive, he often doesn’t like visitors wander around & touch things inside my home. Moreover, he hates those who stares at my home or stops outside the compound wall to pick over the flowers in my garden.
Due to his alertness, I’ve inadvertently become careless. With him in my room I can sleep whole of my nights without any agitations. I deny hearing any intensity of sounds in my sleep. Because I’m fully assured, he’s so alert that even at the slightest sound he springs out of his sleep, peeps through the windows, runs down the stairs, checks main entrance, scrutinizes every corners & possible hide-outs until he is fully assured of any unwanted invasion. He rarely bothers to awaken me to carry a torch & walk behind him. Maybe he knows I hate being disturbed in my sleep & mostly I may even hit him on any mid-night disturbances.
Sometimes I imagine, had he not been in my room with me in the nights? I would have rather frozen in my bed at nights, eyes closed but unable to sleep. I don’t even dare to look how horrible everything in my room looks in that gloomy blue night lamp. I would’ve closed my eyelids tight and prayed the god the whole night to be my armour and drive away all the dangers away from me. I know, it’s a shame for a brave and challenging girl like me to be that timid, but at nights, it’s sure that the fear of any possible Hazard would kill me. He is along with me, so I’ve been oblivious of the depth, ‘how much a feeling of security means to a person’.
However, in the mornings, while I love to sleep till late & overhear my alarm sound, he is there, angrily pulling my rugs over. I deny waking up, a short tug-of-war starts. I know he is arrogant and never gives up but I want to sleep too. Always, soon I have to give up because I am no match in strength with him. I reluctantly rise, prepare breakfast, cook food angrily and murmuring on not having desired lovely late morning sleep. Sometimes I hate myself being a girl in this male-dominated society & I hate girls being assigned with all these household works. More worst, sometimes I’ve to prepare warm water, soap & towels too for his bath. Make him bathe, help him wipe dry, oh….. God….!! ….. Then hastily rush to my office.
Soon I come out on streets, on the way to my office, I estimate, if he were with me, I could walk in a distinct style & security. No one could even venture to come closer to me. Even the street punks, usually teasing me on the way, would have walked the other side. Because everybody knows he is short tempered & ready to fight on any unwise excuses. He’ll even bet his life at the fights, maybe he wants me safe or he wants an appreciation from me. I always have to pull him back from fighting. I want him to know “a fight “is never a gentle way for us. Besides he might get hurt too, but he rarely cares. If I back him up or excite him a little, his courage more than doubles and doesn’t retreat even before a huge opponent. Maybe he is that courageous or maybe he doesn’t want to show himself weak especially in front of me. . If I sincerely fumble inside me, I love him to be that brave (maybe even more). So, often my anger towards him is easily mitigated by his sincerity & loyalty.
On my way back to home from my office, I always remember him eagerly waiting for me. Everyday, I enter my home I can estimate how much he loves me and misses me the whole day. I want him happy too, so I can’t stop myself from buying some of his favourites, mostly biscuits. No sooner I reach my home he is there at the entrance to greet me with love concealed in his twinkling eyes & joy in his waving tail. I can’t stop myself from embracing him and become very happy on having this lovely dog in my home.
Kamal Manandhar
Maitidevi
(Source : Tanneri Dot Com – Issue 3 – Falgun, 2061)
