The female puppy

GEORGINA PETERS

There it was again - a faint crying sound. Meenu went out and peeped through the gate. Yes! It was the same puppy. Brownish black in colour. Meenu had seen it at the end of the street while returning from school. It was standing near the garbage heap and sniffing the ground.

"Where did it come from?" Meenu wondered. May be it was lost. Or the mother had gone away, leaving it to look after itself. May be someone who did not want it, brought it here and left it, far from its own neighbourhood. But it was so small. Not particularly good-looking or bright. Just like any other unwanted dog who roamed the streets in the neighbourhood. A stray dog - unloved, uncared-for, hungry, cold, lonely and chased by everyone!

Meenu's heart melted at the thought. For some strange reason, she did not like the thought of this puppy growing up into such a stray dog. She went back into the house and came with a few slices of bread. Through the grill of the gate, she offered one to the puppy. The puppy moved back, trembling in fear, its stringy tail tucked deep between its twiggy hind legs. The eyes rolled, showing whites - indicating fear.

Meenu moved back . Now the puppy stopped moving and eyed her suspiciously. Meenu made small encouraging sounds by clicking her tongue. Now the tail came out, just a little bit, mind you, it wagged once or twice, very hesitantly. Its nose twitched at the smell of the bread and the small brown eyes brightened up.

Now Meenu moved her hand forward, holding a small piece of bread. Slowly, so as not to frighten the puppy again, she held it up. The puppy moved forward and took the bread, moving its head back, it chewed it hurriedly and swallowed it, its throat working up and down convulsively. Then another piece, and another piece until two full slices were over. It stopped eating and looked at Meenu with what looked like a grin to her, the tail now wagging fast!

Meenu felt happy now. She put out her hand and patted the puppy's head. The puppy jumped up and licked her hand. Now they were friends!

"Don't go, puppy! I will get you some milk!" she said to the puppy. The puppy wagged its tail and skipped as if it understood what she said.

When she went into the kitchen, Viji,her older sister followed her in curiosity. Meenu took the milk and poured out some milk into a small bowl.

"What are you two doing in the kitchen?" bellowed her mother.

"Amma, Meenu is taking milk!" screamed Viji, before Meenu could open her mouth.

"Milk? Whatever for?"

"For the puppy, Amma," explained Meenu.

"What puppy? Meenu, that milk is for the Baby!" said her mother, sounding slightly angry.

"Let me take a little, Amma," begged Meenu.

"Okay," said her mother, not fully satisfied.

Meenu heaved a sigh of relief, glowered at Viji who was such a tattle-tale, and went out with the bowl and offered it to the puppy. "She's always after me," Meenu thought, as the puppy lapped it hurriedly. As it drink, the bowl scraped on the floor, moving further and further with every lick, with the puppy pursuing it eagerly and relentlessly. Finally, the bowl was clean, almost as it was washed.

The next morning, the puppy was waiting for her at the gate. It jumped up when it saw her, and wagging its tail, barked happily. Meenu smiled at the puppy. She went inside the house and came out again with some dosai. The puppy ate it all up. But today, Meenu did not dare go for milk - instead, she gave puppy some water. The puppy followed her to school, tripping joyfully along, as if Meenu was the owner. At the gate of the school, it stopped because the watchman chased it away and did not allow it to enter the school.

Meenu's friends asked her if it was her puppy. She nodded proudly.

"Why have you not put a collar for it?" asked one of the girls. Immediately, Meenu decided to get a collar for the puppy - a black collar with a bright buckle. May be a chain too! Then it would really be her own puppy. It would not become a stray dog! Meenu felt very happy just thinking about it and smiled to herself, as she went about her work in the class.

That evening when she came out of the school, she looked for it but it was nowhere to be seen. Her heart felt heavy. She was so worried that she could not concentrate on her homework. By about dinner time, there was that whimpering sound again. The gate clanged noisily. She ran out and the puppy was there, pawing the gate. It began barking when it saw her.

Her mother also came out, carrying Meenu's baby brother.

"So that's the puppy! Why, it is only a mongrel."

"Can I keep it Amma?" asked Meenu. Her mother took a closer look at the puppy.

"Aiyo! It is a female! No, No! Never!"

"Why Amma?"

"Why? It will get puppies every now and then! That will become a nuisance. No, Meenu. We cannot keep a dog, that too a female one." Mother turned to go inside, closing the discussion firmly. But she came back, remembering something.

"Look, Meenu. Don't feed her and encourage her. She will not go away and then there will be trouble," she warned.

"But she's hungry!" thought Meenu. This was a new confusion. If it had been a male, perhaps her mother would not have minded so much. Was that why the puppy was abandoned? Because she was a female? Meenu looked at the puppy sorrowfully. She wasn't sure whether she could disobey her mother, but at the same time, she did not want to abandon the puppy also. Now, specially after it had become so attached to her, so dependent on her!

The following day being Sunday, Meenu did not go to school. She tried discussing about the puppy with Viji, but she did not show much interest. She was too frightened to approach her mother again.

Mid morning that day, she found her mother talking to her neighbour, as she was cleaning greens for lunch. Her baby brother was sleeping peacefully on the mat.

"The girls are studying well, Akka" she heard her mother say. "But their father says we cannot send them for higher studies. We have to concentrate on our son's education. Anyway, we will have to spend for their marriages also, you see!"

"Lucky for you, atleast the third one is a boy!" said the neighbour.

"Yes, yes. When Meenu was born her father was so angry. We tried for the third one, hoping against hope it would be a boy."

Suddenly the full meaning of the conversation hit Meenu. "They think I am small. They think I don't understand!" she thought. "If I had been a puppy, they would have left me on the street." A quick giggle escaped her which the elders did not notice. They went on with their own conversation about all the problems of having to bring up girl children.

Meenu had stopped listening to them. She had heard all that several times before. She even understood why her older sister Viji did not like her and always found fault with her. It was because she was the second daughter, thoroughly unwanted. She knew all that. Now, she was thinking about the puppy.

"We are both girls," was her thought. "I will not let her be abandoned," she thought fiercely. She slipped quickly into the kitchen and looked for something to give the puppy. Finding some left-over idlies, she came out of the gate and gave them to the puppy. As she looked at the puppy, gulping down the idlies, almost chocking on them because they were dry. Meenu felt a strange kinship with it. She brought some water for the puppy. She picked up the puppy and hugged it.

"I will take care for you, Kutti," she whispered. Putting the puppy down, she went inside and sat next to her mother. The neighbour had left and her mother was still cleaning the greens.

"Amma?" said Meenu. "Was your mother also angry because you were a girl?"

Her mother's head jerked up, her hand held still in mid-motion. She started at Meenu, her eyes slowly filling with tears.

This story won the first prize in the Young World short story competition. Meenu finds a puppy and wants to keep it as her pet. But her mother does not allow her to do so. Why? Read on and find out.

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