I am Max, just a one and half years old puppy. When I was born I had five others to play with and a caring mother as well as lots of human friends, mostly children. Our days in Delhi were full of fun and playtime. Life is not always the same I guess so soon I lost my brothers and sisters to road accidents or disease. Worse came along when my mother too died due to some disease. Not knowing what to do I roamed the streets alone scared and lost. Very unsure I sulked and sat at the park corner with my head and tail tucked in. The children still played with me but I missed the home feeling. Lost and lonely, I was just wondering what to do when one of the children who often visited and played with me earlier came by and took me to her house. She was slightly taller than me, very bright and lively. That is how I now came to live with her and her parents. The rest of the children come to play with me now. I am happy again. With all the love and care I got slowly my life was filled with new love and plenty of fun. I am naughty and give the family a lot of trouble but they don’t seem to mind.
I am Manasi Verma. My school days in Class 3 stopped because of Covid. The online classes were keeping me busy but then it was different going to school. At home in my free time I used to play with my friends and lot of puppies from our locality. But something went wrong and they all died one by one and so did the mother leaving just one puppy behind. My parents are dog lovers and my dad always adopted street dogs since his childhood instead of getting a breed home. So when I too bought this lonely looking puppy home both my parents welcomed Max. The name was originally given by my dad but I shortened it. Max fills up my hours of the day as I wake up early to take care of Max. Earlier I was a late riser and stayed awake late and fussed about food. But now life has changed. I was up early, went to sleep early and did not fuss about food. Max was like having a second sibling in the house, a constant companion. I give Max a bath when required and medicines when not well. The only complaint my mother has is that don’t do my homework or studies. My dad said if I neglect my studies due to Max then he will give away Max so I had to compromise and study too. My mother loves dogs too as she worked with Alliance of Animals and People (AAP) The ngo worked for rabies eradication and education awareness about street dogs and all other living beings. My mother is very active and gives all her time to the organisation and worked tirelessly with Bondana Dutta who is the mentor and Managing Trustee.
You can visit their website www.allianceofanimalsandpeople.org to know more about how they are trying to build a more inclusive world of animals, humans and the environment around us. They are right, you know, if we take care of our street pets and adopt them then it sure makes life beautiful around us. Max brought us all so much of happiness into our family and friends.
* Media Consultant/Media Educator/Educational Documentary filmmaker/Instructional Designer Presently I am working independently as a consultant but have worked in the field of television production and later on the new media besides being guest faculty to share my experiences.
