He gets scared and hides under the bed every time they light a cracker. He fails to understand why the family is celebrating amidst noise and fire! He wants to be a part of the festivities but no matter how hard he tries, every time there is a sudden noise he scampers under the bed and starts shivering.
Lobo, the cuddly golden retriever, is the favourite of the family. He knows each and every member of the family by the unique smell emanating from them. The cool scent of Old Spice is associated with the man of the family. Lobo knows he would always pat him after settling in his favourite chair. The whiff of lavender emanates from the lady of the house.
He associates this fragrance with food. He knows she is the one who cooks the yummy food and keeps on shooing him away from the kitchen all the time. There are the little girls who always keep on pulling his ears. He never expresses irritation when they don’t let him rest. To Lobo, they smell of baby powders and silken shampoos.
But today there are no pleasant fragrances around. Every time he raises his snout, he ends up engulfing thick and toxic fumes. It has been a year since they brought little Lobo from a breeder. In the initial days, he yearned for his mother with every breath he inhaled. Soon the family’s love and affection won his heart. And he forgot his mother and siblings and became the heart and soul of the family.
But today they have betrayed him with their callousness. They have been busy since morning. They cleaned the house and made rangolis. They lit diyas and candles. And now they are bursting the awful crackers making him fearful of his own existence. Lobo whimpered to catch their attention but they did not hear him amidst such noise and cacophony.
Lobo must have felt claustrophobic in the confines of the room. He made a dash towards the open gate to make a daring escape. A booming and deafening cracker burst made him run faster as he exerted that last ounce of energy. The maddening noise made him deaf and the brightness of the lights made him partially blind. He did not see the car that hit him in the fraction of a second and tossed his body around. A thousand Lobos lose their life and vivaciousness every Deepavali because we don’t care. Let us pledge to make our pets part of our festivities and let us celebrate in ways where we make them comfortable, loved and wanted.