I will be honest with you all. I have never been close to dogs or at least for the last 15 years. Nor have I ever been a dog lover. Certainly not the kinds that you encounter on Instagram or like Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson kind. These creatures have thrown me out of my saddle while riding my bicycle many a times causing me physical injuries or that is what I have thought it to be. Because of which I had never been a fan of them, nor have I cared for their existence.
I have been locked down in the Shiv Nadar University for the last couple of months. There are a lot of clubs and communities in the University. This kind of diversity and awareness is something I really like about SNU. So there is also a community for dog lovers by the name
Dogs of SNU. I am clearly a misfit here given my original disposition. But in the desperate times with lesser the number of students on campus I was given this responsibility of feeding the dogs of my cluster by
Dogs of SNU. To be honest initially I thought what unnecessary irk I got down my throat and I was not very willing to do it initially. But then I thought what the heck, if I cannot help the poor creature in the time of need being available on the campus then who will. Keeping my prejudices related to dogs aside I agreed to take up the responsibility.
Now I am really thankful and grateful to
Dogs of SNU for giving me this opportunity to serve these creatures who are epitome of faithfulness. This exercise has transformed me in many ways and changed the way I think. It changed me not just in my approach towards dogs; by being more empathetic towards them; but also in a way I started seeing other human beings. It also helped me a great deal in dealing with my break up.
It was never these dogs who threw me off my balance and bicycle I have come to realize now. It was my fear. As I started coming closer and closer to these beauties I have come to a realization that you better know and understand your fear rather than running away from them so that they don't throw you off your balance in life. But rather transform into love and compassion.
I had grown very acerbic and bitter towards others because of my breakup. As Buddha has rightly said and I quote "you are the first victim of your own anger". I would say it is true not just for anger, but for every negativity that you generate, you become the first victim of it. Being a Vipassana practitioner I knew this for a fact but when it comes to real life and situations the mind has its own ways. But I am really thankful to my practice and these dogs who have helped me see it.
The clouded compassion started shining again once the clouds of negativity started to clear. There is one more thing I have learnt about humans through these dogs that when you get to know dogs better, you tend to develop a comfort zone around them and vice versa. Same is not true with humans. As and when you get to know humans better you need not develop the same comfort zone. It can also be that the comfort zone that you had before you have known the person in depth, gets transmogrified into a discomfort zone. With us humans ignorance is bliss. With dogs it is not.
Lastly I just want to thank
Dogs of SNU for giving me this opportunity to come close to these beautiful creatures. They have really helped me in transforming my being. They helped me in being a better person, from being spiteful to being kind. Now they don't scare me anymore. All I have for them is love, compassion and an easy sense of friendliness. I still may not be a notarized natural dog lover, but I don't care for anyone's approval. I am happy with this change in my being.
“The better I get to know men, the more I find myself loving dogs.” – Charles De Gaulle
