The Animal
Kingdom
My childhood
memories are infused with various animals—those who were fortunate or
unfortunate enough to spend their lives as pets in my home. This blog series is
about and for them.
Chapter
1: The Prince
Prince
has the credit of spending the longest time with us among all pets. I have a
whole lot of memories involving him. Prince was a dog of the Pomeranian breed,
and he lived a life as royal as his name.
Prince
arrived at our home before I was born - when he was less than a year old. He drank
Horlicks every day, got bathed every day, and could sleep anywhere inside the
house. My mother took good care of him. Until December 5, 1994. Until I was
born.
Horlicks
became tea. Bath became a luxury offered occasionally. He got a new kennel outside
the house to sleep. I happened to become the villain in his life. All the care
and love were being rerouted to this little piece of human who appeared out of nowhere.
It hurt Prince’s ego very badly.
I grew
up to learn that Prince always held his grudge against me. If Prince was lying
on the floor and my father happened to step on his leg while walking by, he
would whine and move aside. If my mother stepped on him, while passing by, he wouldn’t
even respond - not a sound, not a move. If I - someone who probably did not even
weigh a fifth of the weight of the other two humans - accidentally stepped on
him, he would swiftly jump up, bark in annoyance, and charge at me. He even bit
me on a few occasions. Ego. Grudge.
I never
considered Prince to be my enemy or competitor. Yet I did trouble him on
multiple occasions – not by intent, but through the impact of my actions. Let
me narrate one such incident. True to the name of my blog, I was a curious kid.
(I still am one.) One day, I got quite curious about how Prince (and other
dogs) barks. That elongated mouth of his opening, closing, and producing sounds
that conveyed all his needs and emotions. What if his mouth doesn’t open, what
if he doesn’t bark?
I
decided to find out. I went out of the house and looked for Prince. He was
chained to a tree to restrict him from roaming around after his routine bath. I
saw my opportunity there. I procured a rubber band from inside the house, went
towards Prince, and fastened it around his mouth; I sealed it. Prince couldn’t
make sense of my actions initially. He couldn’t react immediately either. He
was not barking anymore. But he started making a growly sound. He had visibly
and audibly become annoyed.
The annoyance
was escalating with each passing second. I realized that I no longer dared to
go ahead with this curious experiment of mine. The moment I removed the rubber
band, an attack was guaranteed. I panicked. I ran to my mother and sought help.
She carried out the rescue mission immediately. I did get a sound beating
for my act of curiosity. I’m sure you all think that I deserved it. Hmm…! I
ensured that I did not enter Prince’s vicinity for the next few days.
Prince was
a member of our family. He ate the same food that the rest of us ate. He loved
tea and so did my mother. Together they consumed at least a couple of litres of
tea a day. Other animals came into our kingdom over the years, but Prince held
the seniority and command. He ensured that the entire campus and all its
inhabitants (except me) led a disciplined life. He ensured that no outsider
intruded into our peace and happiness. Prince grew old with us. He lived with us
for nine years (his eternity) until he died a tragic death due to a vaccine
overdose. It took us some time to overcome the loss. My mother missed Prince the
most. They had a strong bond between them. Prince was very dear to my mother.
For Prince, my mother was the living being he had spent most of his life with
and whom he probably loved more than himself.
Prince was
given eternal rest in our backyard. My father soon got us another dog. A Doberman
pup. If a Pomeranian got a name as royal as ‘Prince’, what could a Doberman
expect? Our Doberman had already been named by its previous owner. Frooti!
More
about ‘Frooti’ and other members in the next chapter.
[Fun Fact: My parents have told me on multiple occasions that they had considered ‘Prince’
as the name for their first child if it was a boy. Not sure, whether they were
being serious about it. If yes, you might have had a ‘Prince Thomas’ in your contacts!]