Bumba!

Many times I think what it is about Boomer that melts my heart and makes me go ‘Awwww…’.

Yes, agreed I was his foster Momma for a while, but I had promised myself to not get emotionally attached to him. I told myself before I even saw him that he would be a guest, and I will make everything in my might to make his stay with me comfortable. Husband agreed to get Boomer only if I promised to not cry when Boom left and to not think of my own dog, and how I lost her. His stay in my house was supposed to help his parents and also to give me an idea on how having a dog would be. Nothing more, nothing less.

Finally after a couple of email exchanges and one trial session of staying with each other for a while later, Don left Boomer with me for that month. I was very excited, and being a non-dog-person, Husband was very jittery. He just wanted that month to pass, and was waiting for me to get out of the whole we-should-have-a-dog mood.

The first evening, after I returned from work, I took Boomer down for his evening walk, and tied him in the balcony and went on to do my regular chores in the kitchen. I heard a slow whimpering which turned on to be a loud bark in a short while, and I ran to see if he was alright. The minute he saw he , he got calm and started wagging his tail. Thinking he was hungry, I told him that his dinner was getting ready and gave him water in his bowl, which he immediately splashed all around and looked into my face. Having lost touch with how dogs behave, I considered it to be either insolence or that he started missing his Dad. I spoke to him for a while and went back to the kitchen only to find him start screaming in a minute. This loop continued for a while, and I started panicking. All kinds of questions like - What if this dog doesn’t stop barking? What if he starts missing his Dad? How am I even going to have him with me for 20 days if he can’t stay put with me for just a single day? Did I do a mistake by agreeing to have him around? Is there anyway I can get out of this jhamela? May be I can call the other person who agreed to have Boomer?

Exasperated by all his barking, I decided to let him loose around the house. The minute I did that, he went to each and every corner of the house and sniffed it. It was a new place and he was beginning to assimilate that. The 8 month old baby knew that bedrooms and kitchen were off-limits and he was not supposed to get in there. After a thorough inspection of the living area, he lied down in the middle of the dining area with a thump, and stay put there. I was relieved to see that he was finally not barking and that he was fine, but was jittery about leaving him unleashed as I was instructed by Don to not do so, because of Boomer’s chewing habits. (I figured out later that Don was being over-cautious, and though Boomer used to chew on stuff back then, he would not do it when people are around)

After finishing what I had to do in the kitchen, I came back and sat on the bean bag and started talking to him. I asked him what his problem was and why he was barking? He immediately got up from where he was, came up to me, sniffed my face, wagged his tail a bit and lied down on the floor with his head on my feet. Nothing after that. And I was speechless for a long time. I just kept on staring at him, watching my heart react to him every second, and I knew it!

If I have to say the moment I fell in love with Boomer, this had to be it. My heart started melting that instant, and it just kept on going. I felt immensely at peace with myself and as if I was re-uniting with a long lost family member. I realized that with each passing day, I was getting attached to him more and more, and the start was that moment.

When Husband returned from office half-expecting a mad-panicking lady and a confused dog, he was pleasantly surprised to a completely-at-peace-mother-son-duo, mother sitting on the bean bag reading a book, and Boom by her side, sleeping peacefully.

Over the past one month, there was a lot of transformation in me, Sharanya and us as a couple, and all thanks to Boomer! He taught us responsibility, love, what our freedom meant to us, and above all, reinstated the belief in me that a dog is a kid no matter what. He taught Sharanya that he really loved animals after all, but was too scared to realize those feelings because the thought of losing a pet was unimaginable for him. He taught me that I might love dogs, but having a dog makes me more responsible than having a kid ever will. He is the first thing to make me feel that there could be a mother inside me, and that I too can have motherly feelings!

In short, he became too important for us, to even think of him leaving us and going back to his parents.

From the people who thought how the month will pass and how soon we will give him back to his parents, to the people who cried their life out when he left and looked for ways to keep him with us forever, Boomer gave us lot of moments to look back on and laugh, cry and cherish about which we speak even now, months after he stopped staying with us.

All of them apart, whenever I see him hold his leash and lead his way during the walk, my heart trips and makes one happy purring sound. I realize why I love him so much, and my heart just tells me to take him home. That one look on his face when he holds the leash will speak thousands, and he is his cutest-best at that moment. And yes.. that is what makes my world go around Boomer for that moment! That precisely is the moment when I feel he is not tugging the leash but the strings to my heart! And I know I am still in love! And this has been repeating consistently with the accuracy of a Six Sigma process. He holding his leash and pulling the person behind it, and walking off wagging his cute butt and tail, and I standing behind him and wishing he was mine! Every single time!

[The above photo was clicked after the whole pulling-the-leash antic. I have tried a 100 times to capture the exact moment when he starts pulling the leash and the person behind it, but have been unsuccessful. So till the time such a photo is taken, I have to be content with ones like this! :-( ]

(And as I write this and imagine him with his leash, my eyes turn misty, and my heart swells with pride and love for the baby which isn’t mine and yet is mine!)

[Title: Oh well.. this is just one of the hundred names his Mom and I use to call him. And he responds to each one of them. Its like he knows whom we talk about and what too!]

When I stayed in a different house! – Part 1

Preethi Momma clicked this photo of mine (Oh, she would roam around with the camera on her neck to click my every move, but let's talk about that some other thime!) when I was relaxing in her balcony, taking in the fresh and cool breeze. She thought I was waiting for Sharanya Uncle, my then-foster-daddy and even named this pic that way. Little did she know that this is one my favorites places in her house, and I was just relaxing there. Sharanya Uncle had just left with huge bags after hugging Preethi Momma and telling me a Bye. I was a little miffed that he did not tell me where he was going, and just left leaving Preethi Momma with tears in her eyes. I tried to console her a bit by licking her face, but Preethi Momma being herself did not let me lick and show my love. This also miffed me a bit, but only after staying with her for a while I understood that she has a totally different way to show love towards me, and I adapted to it.

Okay, a little bit about Preethi Momma and why I had to stay with her then, in spite of me having a great set of parents -

When my Momma and Pappa had to get married, they were not sure where to leave me. Yeah, they had me much before they got married(I sometimes laugh and also feel bad that Pappa calls me a bastard, but then, that's true! *knowing smile*) and we were a very happy family - me, Momma and Pappa. Yes, I was growing up, and Momma was taking care of me because I was still a kid and Pappa was teaching me all good habits(No wonder, I am such a good boy now. I know how to behave in every place, and I can take care of myself! *proud look*), but Momma had to leave after a while to her parent's place. She wanted to spend sometime with them before she can come and stay with me and Pappa forever! Pappa handled me all along. He managed to teach me good habits, and take me for my regular walks and still play with me. I did miss Momma but me and Pappa did fine by ourselves.

After some blissful days of guy bonding, Pappa also had to leave to Assam, and he wanted someone nice to take care of me. He could not just leave me with some random person and least of all in a kennel. After all, he loved me. So he spent a great deal of time in figuring out just the right person to take care of me. And all this while, I was unaware of the fact that Pappa also would be leaving me for a while. I was being a kiddo, and I was having all the fun being by myself in the house, with Pappa's friends visiting, and partying with me.

One fine day, Pappa took me for a walk, and got onto the main road. I was clueless as to where we were going, but I was excited because it was an outing. We got into an auto, and I was in a very playful mood. We then entered this very strange place, and I had never been there before. We met a strange lady near a shop, who apparently was waiting for us, and we walked together - me, Pappa and this strange lady with specs. There was a man following us, from a distance on a very big bike. We all went into this strange lady's house. Pappa tied me in the balcony and sat down on the table near by. All of them started talking. I could gather that it was about me staying there, and I began to become restless. After all, I was just a 8 month old baby, and Pappa was already talking about leaving me there. I could not imagine what I would do without Pappa also, with Momma having gone. So I started telling him that I would not stay with the strange lady. Pappa knew what I was saying, but he covered up by telling her that I was probably hungry, and she immediately went and gave me milk. Now, who doesnt want some extra milk. So I had that milk and started telling Pappa that we should better get going. This strange lady looked like she had plans to keep me there, she was being nice to me, doing baby-talk to me and all. And I did not like the strange man in the corner of the room. He kept on looking at me as if I would pounce on him, and the strange lady had to convince him again and again that I am harmless. Hello... How can I harm anyone? Couldn't he see that I was a cute kid who was bothered that his Pappa was leaving him? Okay, he did mention to that strange lady that I was extremely handsome and Pappa gave a proud smile also, but I wasnt calmed down. I did not want Pappa to leave me with her. But he eventually did it. The strange lady diverted me into doing something and Pappa slipped off. I went around the house with her holding my leash sniffing for Pappa, but there was no trace of him.

I then understood that he probably went for a short while, and began to make myself comfortable in her house. After all, they did not leave me with another option, right? All the while, the strange man was in the bedroom.

Now, Pappa and Momma had taught me some really practical habits-

- I was not to enter anyone's bedrooms.

- I was not to pee or poop anywhere inside the house or in the building premises

- I was not to enter anyone's kitchen. If I loved what was being cooked there, I can stay by the door and make a cute puppy face.

Since these have been ingrained in my head, I did not enter the bedroom, but stood by the door and looked at him. He started speaking and told that strange lady that he was very comfortable if I stood by the door and looked at him, and also that he finds me all the more handsome this way. I had mixed emotions at this time. At the back of my head, I was looking for Pappa, I was trying to figure out if I would love this strange lady, and I did not like being called Handsome. I was a kid and kids dont look handsome. They look cute, that's all. Then, the strange lady got onto her knees in front me and started talking to me. She said - Boomerang, I am Preethi. And I am your foster momma! Do you like me?

And she smiled. Now, I might be a bit pissed at Pappa for leaving me there, and a bit defiant to consider any other lady as my Momma, but when I saw her smile, I realized that she really loved me already. I decided to give her a chance, though I knew she would never become my real Momma. After all, she decided to try. I had also resolved that I would give the strange man, some time to get used to me. I would not bother him with my kiddish antics, and I would stick to this lady who insisted on being called Momma. So I resolved to call her Preethi Momma.

She then introduced me to the strange man, and told that he was Sharanya, my foster pappa. Now, this man looked no way like my Pappa. My Pappa was soo friendly with everybody like me, and loved everyone of my species. This man looked so wary of my species and was also talking to me from the other side of the door. So I decided to call him Sharanya Uncle.

After the initial set of introductions, we all got on to the task of knowing each other. Since I had resigned to the fact that if this lady was nice to me, she might be really get to be my foster Momma, I decided to be good to her. Momma also had called and spoken to Preethi Momma and gave her a set of instructions. She and Pappa had apparently liked Preethi Momma and Sharanya Uncle and so decided to keep me with them when they would honeymoon!

Over the next two days, Preethi Momma played with me, took me for walks and attended to my every whim! I got to tear a couple of papers in her house and play with a couple of doormats too.. and I had begun to enjoy it all.

After a couple more days with Pappa where Pappa gave me a thorough bath, and told me repeatedly to behave myself in Preethi Momma's house, I finally came to stay with her, with all my belongings - my tie-leash, my walk-leash, my bowl, my favorite chewies of all flavors and a big bag of Pedigree(I wanted to yell and tell Pappa that I do not like Pedigree, but he wouldn't listen.) He told Preethi Momma about my eating and peeing habits and left after Preethi Momma distracted me again. When I finally realized that he had really gone, and would come back only after another 20 days, I decided to calm down, and enjoy my stay at Preethi Momma's house.

In my next post, I will tell you guys what all I did in Preethi Momma’s house! And how much we both had together! Of course, and how I bonded with Sharanya Uncle eventually, and even thought momentarily that I could call him Sharanya Pappa.

chicken, preethi mumma, rachita aunty

day: tv day

mood: happy and sad

mammam was telling me someone will come. but i could not guess. at first came preethi mamma. i jumped jumped, whoo, whoo. and i suddenly saw rachita aunty. whoo, whoo. and also santosh uncle. i jumped on all of them. whoo, whoo. and then i showed them how i play with my bone. and mammam started "drop it boomer". imagine!

i saw all best things on the table but mammam only gave me chicken and rice. i ate all chicken, all bones and played again. sharanya uncle came. everyone started holding at my collar. i only wanted to sniff sharanya uncle and say hi. two glasses down he got stroking my fur. mammam gave me a bath and i was sure i was not stinking and i let him stroke it. umm. umm.

we all went down for a walk and i had barely done my susu, i saw rachita aunty's car. i knew they had come to take me to the city. i told her today that i miss apples and grapes and the watchman's dog who taught me how to lift my leg and susu. i quickly got inside the car. but mammam pulled me down. preethi mamma also said ta and all drove away. i waited for them for a long time. mammam said they will come to see me again.