To Chuni- In Loving Memory

There are many bonds a human being makes. His parents are the primary one. Hs friend circle is a secondary but an important one. And then, there is the bond between a man and his dog.

A man has always regarded a dog to be his best friend. That is the case. I had a dog for eight years and he brought me up. He was humble, generous in his affection, he never barked and he was a thorough gentleman. His name was Chuni which means ruby in Bengali.

 Chuni came into our lives in 2005. He was a few months old and immediately my mother bundled him into her arms and said to him that she was his mother. I looked at him with wonder because I had spent the past year nagging my parents to get me a dog, and now that that dream had come true I was speechless with happiness.

Over the years Chuni grew and made the house a home. He would always be there to greet us when we came back from outside. He loved to eat and he loved us. He would lie curled up on my father's side of the bed and when my father came to sleep, Chuni would position himself against my father's back and sleep.

I miss him. I miss everything about him.

I miss the way his ears pricked up when he heard the word "dinner". I miss taking him walking while listening to his favorite song (Octopus' Garden by The Beatles). I miss his wagging tail and forever smiling mouth. I miss stroking his coat, mixing his dinner and cleaning up when he made a mess.

Chuni died of renal failure on this day, five years ago at 3:30pm. It was painful. We tried everything we could and then found out his sister who was with my cousins died the same way. It was genetics.

Chuni was an experience I cannot put into words adequately. His tremendous capacity to love and be loved, his forever forgiving nature no matter how heinous the crime against him, his passion for food, his always being there and his ability to sense when one of us was feeling low. These are all attributes that made the experience rich.

I apologize for having run out of words to describe him, but a quote from a song by Alter Bridge titled In Loving Memory should suffice to wrap this up

"And I know you're a part of me
And it's your song that sets me free
I sing it while I feel, I can't hold on
I sing tonight 'cause it comforts me"

The Bilge Master