March, 2006 - Exam days
"Alright, you listen to me now. You listening? Okay, did you know that workers who supported Lenin were known as 'Bolsheviks'?" I ask. No response.
"Cool, let's not talk about Russia now. Anyway, I tried to cheat during the Science test yesterday. I copied off a formula from the girl next to me. Is that a bad thing to do?" I ask again. Still, poker face.
"Okay okay fine, what's done is done and there is no use talking about it now. But, I have something much more interesting to tell you. Guess what? A new family has moved into our neighborhood and I saw a very cute guy among them. Now, what do you think?" I try once more, hoping to get a wink at least. All I get is a head-turn.
"Great! Thanks for not listening to anything I had to say. Clearly, you are not interested. So, I'll stop now. All you care about is food, food, food," I say crossly and take out one of the three pieces of rusk from my pencil purse. Ah there, finally the tail wags and the tongue sticks out. But, annoyed by the earlier rebuffs, I stand up, stretch my hand upward to the highest possible and hold the rusk there until an angry bark comes after a couple of failed attempts at a jump. "Well, I needed to give a tit for your tat, buddy. Now, we are even," I say and toss the rusk. Togo leaps and deftly catches the rusk with his mouth, crunching it down in an instant. Then, we duly go back to our discussion about the Russian revolution for a brief moment before the second piece of rusk needs to be taken out.
Now
Togo, my German Shepherd, is one of the craziest guys I have ever met. He just doesn't care about anything in this world except the tonnes of food we give to fatten him up. Hmm, maybe he also cares a tiny bit about me at times when his tummy is full. We took him in when he was a mere 45-day old pup, all cuddly and cute. I was just starting my 9th grade then. When my mom asked me what we should call him, I spent an entire week looking up all kinds of names on the internet. Simba, Vicky, Blacky, Jimmy, Timmy, blah, blah, blah. I finally named him Togo because I was a fervent fan of Pogo during my school-days and hence the name. Only later did I find out that there is an African country called Togo.
Once Togo came into my life, I spent most of the evenings after school with him, playing catch and rolling with him on the lawn. Some days, mom gave me bread or biscuits to feed him and I would make him leap up in the air to get them. At times, I would have something very important to share but knowing that the right person would never understand what I had to say, I would run straight to Togo. Making him sit down beside me on the lawn, I would lie on his furry back and talk of inconsequential stuff. I never measured my words before saying him anything because, the guy loved me no matter what, occasionally demanding a bite of food and an affectionate scratch in return.
On top of every moment that we shared together, the days I had my annual exams were when I needed Togo the most. Sitting at our usual spot with my books, I would hold his paws, look into his eyes and spell out math formulae, years when every historical war took place, what molecules make up acetone and so on. For a person who never liked study groups much, I was strangely comfortable with Togo as my study partner. #Together, we were one strange pair of crackpots.
Soon, days passed and I moved to a different place to pursue my under-graduate degree. My days with Togo came down and I met him only during the rare weekends I went home. Even then, I never gave him much of my time since I had to meet up with everyone else. Slowly, as I made new friends, I buried the past and built a whole new life for myself that had no space for Togo. Now, Togo is long gone. He left us a couple of years back. Only when Togo left me for good, I realized. We forever spend our lives searching for someone who will become our sunshine. But, in the mid of that search, we forget those, for whom we are the sunshine. Seeing us happy would make them happy. Our smiles would give them all the optimism they need to carry on with their life. In short, they will never be able to see past you and those are the kind we need to celebrate in our life. Togo deserved much more from me but I fell short of it. He was my go-to guy whenever I needed to let out and recompose myself. He gave me so much, yet I gave back so very little. Thank you Togo, for being there for me whenever I needed you.
My 2 Cents: Who doesn't love Captain Cool's finishing-off-in-style boundary? Who doesn't love ARR's heart-melting melody number? Who doesn't love the aroma that wafts from the kitchen when our parent's cooking? Who doesn't love that fleeting moment of butterflies in tummy when your crush smiles at you? Who doesn't love watching R-A-J-I-N-I zoom in before the Superstar's movie begins? Who doesn't love waking up to coffee and breakfast in bed? In fact, moments like these define the happiness of our life and inspire us to keep moving on to see what's next. Togo was one guy in my life who gave me such moments that I would forever treasure. We all have such kind of people in our life even though we may never realize until later. But, if you know, then better hold on to them tight and never let them go, including your pets. Just so you know, pets are also precious because you are the sunshine of their brief lives on this planet.
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"Alright, you listen to me now. You listening? Okay, did you know that workers who supported Lenin were known as 'Bolsheviks'?" I ask. No response.
"Cool, let's not talk about Russia now. Anyway, I tried to cheat during the Science test yesterday. I copied off a formula from the girl next to me. Is that a bad thing to do?" I ask again. Still, poker face.
"Okay okay fine, what's done is done and there is no use talking about it now. But, I have something much more interesting to tell you. Guess what? A new family has moved into our neighborhood and I saw a very cute guy among them. Now, what do you think?" I try once more, hoping to get a wink at least. All I get is a head-turn.
"Great! Thanks for not listening to anything I had to say. Clearly, you are not interested. So, I'll stop now. All you care about is food, food, food," I say crossly and take out one of the three pieces of rusk from my pencil purse. Ah there, finally the tail wags and the tongue sticks out. But, annoyed by the earlier rebuffs, I stand up, stretch my hand upward to the highest possible and hold the rusk there until an angry bark comes after a couple of failed attempts at a jump. "Well, I needed to give a tit for your tat, buddy. Now, we are even," I say and toss the rusk. Togo leaps and deftly catches the rusk with his mouth, crunching it down in an instant. Then, we duly go back to our discussion about the Russian revolution for a brief moment before the second piece of rusk needs to be taken out.
Now
Togo, my German Shepherd, is one of the craziest guys I have ever met. He just doesn't care about anything in this world except the tonnes of food we give to fatten him up. Hmm, maybe he also cares a tiny bit about me at times when his tummy is full. We took him in when he was a mere 45-day old pup, all cuddly and cute. I was just starting my 9th grade then. When my mom asked me what we should call him, I spent an entire week looking up all kinds of names on the internet. Simba, Vicky, Blacky, Jimmy, Timmy, blah, blah, blah. I finally named him Togo because I was a fervent fan of Pogo during my school-days and hence the name. Only later did I find out that there is an African country called Togo.
Once Togo came into my life, I spent most of the evenings after school with him, playing catch and rolling with him on the lawn. Some days, mom gave me bread or biscuits to feed him and I would make him leap up in the air to get them. At times, I would have something very important to share but knowing that the right person would never understand what I had to say, I would run straight to Togo. Making him sit down beside me on the lawn, I would lie on his furry back and talk of inconsequential stuff. I never measured my words before saying him anything because, the guy loved me no matter what, occasionally demanding a bite of food and an affectionate scratch in return.
On top of every moment that we shared together, the days I had my annual exams were when I needed Togo the most. Sitting at our usual spot with my books, I would hold his paws, look into his eyes and spell out math formulae, years when every historical war took place, what molecules make up acetone and so on. For a person who never liked study groups much, I was strangely comfortable with Togo as my study partner. #Together, we were one strange pair of crackpots.
Soon, days passed and I moved to a different place to pursue my under-graduate degree. My days with Togo came down and I met him only during the rare weekends I went home. Even then, I never gave him much of my time since I had to meet up with everyone else. Slowly, as I made new friends, I buried the past and built a whole new life for myself that had no space for Togo. Now, Togo is long gone. He left us a couple of years back. Only when Togo left me for good, I realized. We forever spend our lives searching for someone who will become our sunshine. But, in the mid of that search, we forget those, for whom we are the sunshine. Seeing us happy would make them happy. Our smiles would give them all the optimism they need to carry on with their life. In short, they will never be able to see past you and those are the kind we need to celebrate in our life. Togo deserved much more from me but I fell short of it. He was my go-to guy whenever I needed to let out and recompose myself. He gave me so much, yet I gave back so very little. Thank you Togo, for being there for me whenever I needed you.
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| Image Courtesy: Favim |
My 2 Cents: Who doesn't love Captain Cool's finishing-off-in-style boundary? Who doesn't love ARR's heart-melting melody number? Who doesn't love the aroma that wafts from the kitchen when our parent's cooking? Who doesn't love that fleeting moment of butterflies in tummy when your crush smiles at you? Who doesn't love watching R-A-J-I-N-I zoom in before the Superstar's movie begins? Who doesn't love waking up to coffee and breakfast in bed? In fact, moments like these define the happiness of our life and inspire us to keep moving on to see what's next. Togo was one guy in my life who gave me such moments that I would forever treasure. We all have such kind of people in our life even though we may never realize until later. But, if you know, then better hold on to them tight and never let them go, including your pets. Just so you know, pets are also precious because you are the sunshine of their brief lives on this planet.
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This post has been inspired by and written for a recent campaign - '#Together', by Housing.com.
To know more about who they are and what they do, take a look at their new video ad shared below.
This post has been inspired by and written for a recent campaign - '#Together', by Housing.com.
To know more about who they are and what they do, take a look at their new video ad shared below.
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I never had such a feeling for any pet in my life !!! Its jus a well portrayed essay as I could feel de way how Togo made u happy in ur life !!! :) I really loved it !!! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Nandhini :)
DeleteWell written Anusha! Had it been Tiny the Ginger Cat, the scene would have been totally different. :D :D
ReplyDelete"Alright, you listen to me now. You listening? Okay, did you know that workers who supported Lenin were known as 'Bolsheviks'?"
Tiny: Good. Another not so fun fact yey. Mother Russia, Save me.
"Cool, let's not talk about Russia now. Anyway, I tried to cheat during the Science test yesterday. I copied off a formula from the girl next to me. Is that a bad thing to do?"
Tiny: Yes Human. Everything, except feeding me and pampering me IS Bad.
"Okay okay fine, what's done is done and there is no use talking about it now. But, I have something much more interesting to tell you. Guess what? A new family has moved into our neighborhood and I saw a very cute guy among them. Now, what do you think?"
Tiny: Uff. Another crush yey. You know human, all the crushes you have had is enough to crush all the titans back into tartarus. No purrr intended ofcourse.
Annoyed by the earlier rebuffs, I stand up, stretch my hand upward to the highest possible and hold the rusk.
Tiny: Oh I see what you are doing. Do you really think I am going to pounce for that rusty rafty rusk? Get me some meat already.