Even as a toddler,i loved dogs.Inspite of my sister & my repeated pleas,our parents never got us a pup,saying we wont be able to go Kolkata again,leaving the pup behind.Even after all that,the desire for my own pup never ceased & I would continue my quest for my "dream pup".
I dunno from where it came but one day i saw a tiny pup sitting infront of my building with a couple of older dogs.
First thing you would notice about Rony was her tail which would wag endlessly.Within no time,she became my playmate & best friend.We were like Alice & her rabbit & she would follow me everywhere,to my school,play grounds,music classes & even run behind my bicycle when we would go cycling around our colony.Pranks,secret journeys,discoveries of hidden roads ,birthday celebrations..she was always around.
Rony had share of everything we ate,cakes,biscuits,chocolates & even coke!She was not just my best friend,but also a patient listener,someone I would confide all my worries & secrets.Not that she was able to pass any judgement or criticism but at times just to have someone listening to you helps a lot.
On the day of my science exam,just days before my 13th birthday,I was still revising the notes &
walking down when I noticed she was not in her usual place.Down the lane,something was sprawled in the middle of the road but I ignored it cause of the exam tension.After coming home, I was searching her when my neighbour asked if Rony had died.I thought she was kidding until my mom told it was true & the thing sprawled in the middle of the road was Rony in a pool of blood.She was hit by a bike & later on my neighbours had removed her body before I could discover .It semed like some cruel joke but it was true.
Rony didnt get the share of my 13th birthday cake & it almost seemed like God's punishment letting me into the teenage without my best friend & confidant.
Now,even though I m so far off from the tranquility of Ranchi & my colony,I still cherish Rony s loving memories and the childhood she made so special.
Its almost like a whirligig when I see that popular commercial,where the little girl is followed by her pup everywhere; my childhood days come rushing back,days which would have been so dull & incomplete without my pup.
When my friends jeer at me calling me a bitch,I retort instantly by saying,"Bitches are actually too good....I had one!!"
