The pandemic has taken a lot away from us. But it has also taught us to slow down and find joy in the little things. In the last few months, many of us have spent more quality time with our families than all the years before put together. We have also spent more time noticing our neighbourhood, trying to make new friends or finding new pastimes.
Like, earlier, I did not know that every day at sunrise little black birds with yellow rimmed eyes sat in my balcony welcoming the day in their high-pitched voice. Nor did I know that my neighbourhood has a resident cat that is as fearless as they come. And that the culprit of half-eaten muskmelons in the kitchen was not a bird but a squirrel.
I find peace in observing these furry and feathery beings. I find joy in writing about them and sharing it with my readers :). Two of my earlier posts talks about pets. You can read them by clicking on the below title.
This post is about two of my furry friends in the neighbourhood and their unusual friendship.
Meet Yuki and Josefu
(Named by my husband and I, after the characters of our favourite childhood cartoon show – Heidi)
Yuki and Josefu are two dogs that live on my street. It was a few months ago, that I first noticed them. They are always together, almost inseparable. For the last six months that I have been seeing them around, I have never seen them apart. Not once. And what makes their friendship unusual is that Josefu is old – he is around 75 in dog years. He walks slow, sleeps a lot, never barks and always hangs out in the four places that he feels safe. He never wags his tail or comes rushing towards you when you offer food. Yuki, on the other hand, is young, energetic and always on his toes. Yet, he never goes on adventures with his younger friends, choosing to stay with Josefu instead.
On one rainy day, when they were asleep under the staircase, I placed a bowl of milk in front of Yuki. Josefu was fast asleep. When I returned sometime later, I saw Yuki nudging Josefu awake and pushing the bowl towards him. Turns out, Yuki had finished only half of it and had saved the rest for his best friend. Yuki wanted Josefu to finish his half before some other dog made its way to them.
On another day, I saw Yuki waiting for Josefu to get safely under the stairs while he himself got drenched in the heavy downpour. He waited for his friend to make it to the stairs while all the other dogs fled.
It sometimes bothers me to think what would happen to Yuki years down the line (Hopefully many many years) when Josefu is no more. I have read stories and articles about animals who suffer from heartbreak and even die when their partner dies. There are many animals who mate for life. But does it hold good for friendships as well?
Humans are complex beings with name tags on every relationship and emotion. Often the death of a close friend or a family member leaves a void in us for a lifetime. But as we grow, we learn to move on. How do animals deal with heartbreak and loss? How different, really, are animal relationships compared to human ones?
A thought worth pondering over…
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Love,
Ashwini
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Beautifully written! We often don’t stop to watch the little things in life. And the tremendous life lessons we learn from these trivial (not so trivial) scenarios.
Thanks, Anushree 🙂