THE HUNGER OF HEART IS STRONGER THAN THE HUNGER OF STOMACH





Pic.: Pradeep Nanda
I have written about him many times before.

His name is Buzzo, and he has been living in this colony (where I have my classes) with his wife, Sony, right since his birth.  His mother is no more… and, his siblings - more than half-a-dozen of them – too, live here no more. He survived, essentially, due to the exceptional love and care showered upon him by the Kapoor family which lives in my building. Vinay and Devika, the Kapoor children, are, now, in their twenties. When Buzzo was a baby, they would fondle him so much, that, even today – almost, after ten years - he is so loyal to them… To believe the magnitude and depth of Buzzo’s loyalty to Kapoors, you must see it.  He can sense the presence of any member of Kapoor family from miles afar, literally… He would leave everything else, go near them, and bask in their affection…

The affection is so important to Buzzo… so much more than the food he needs! And, this morning, he made me strikingly aware of this simple fact…

Buzzo cannot tell us that he is hungry. But, every time he is hungry, he comes and stands outside my glass door looking towards me, with his two legs up, tongue profusely leaking with hunger… He knows that I will come out to give him his favorite Marie Gold biscuits… Till I don’t give, he won’t budge from there… If I am busy, he will draw my attention to him… But, he will go only after getting his quota of Marie biscuits…

So, when I saw him outside my glass-door, this morning, I could feel he was badly hungry. I immediately took the box of biscuits and placed before him his quota… He bent down to gobble his food; but, surprisingly, he left the biscuits right there and rushed towards the staircase… “What happened?” I asked him.

The answer was there, right in front of my eyes… Buzzo had sensed Vinay’s arrival through the staircase much before Vinay had landed on the ground floor… The affection of this master was much more important to Buzzo than the food he needed… The hunger of his heart was stronger than the hunger of his stomach…

Buzzo kept getting his affection from Vinay till Vinay got into his car. Till the car disappeared, Buzzo kept gazing at the direction of the car… Then, he came back to eat my biscuits…

Did I feel jealous?

Oh, yes, I did!

Buzzo is a street dog. Hundred people, like me, give him food. But, like all of us, for love and affection, he needs that sense of belonging… Only Kapoors can provide that to Buzzo…

Am I still jealous?


GERALD D’CUNHA

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