The Twist of Fate (part II) ....

Well, after the story of Kunjal, I am onto part II explaining it from the point of view of Pixie....

Before I go into the details I would request the reader to read my earlier blog, The Twist of Fate (part I) ...., before going to part II as that would put him/her in a much better position to synchronize with the parallel happenings regarding the 2 lead characters.

Firstly, Pixie is a 8/9 yr old brown coloured female stray dog who is an integral part of the PVG campus emotionally since at least 6 years. Her pic - (snapped at her planned new home) 

Life was well for Pixie till Friday, the 17th of September when the unfortunate attack on Kunjal changed the situation completely. 20th September dawned with no intimation of the things to follow. I was in the college library at 11.30 am in the morning when I received a call from a friend who asked me to arrive at the college porch pronto. Before I reached the porch a painful scene had unfolded before the eyes of the crowd in which Pixie had been captured and dumped into the PMC truck. I was told that she was howling and trying to escape during that time but to no avail. A few students tried to intervene and convince the dog catchers of her innocence but I believe the dog catchers were doing their job and hence it was futile arguing with them. I went over to have a look. What I saw made my eyes moist, Pixie was literally crying. I looked in through the small 5" by 5" window and put my hand to it and Pixie recognized me. The look she gave me then did not leave me for the next few days. Her eyes carried that singular hope for freedom. Her eyes begged me to rescue her but it is easier said than done. After she was taken away did we learn about the attack on Kunjal.

The same evening we decided to visit Kunjal as we knew that she too had been put through a lot of pain and it would be nice to let her know that we care for her and extend our good wishes to the mighty spirit!

From what we had learnt till 21st September morning, we were of the opinion that even if Pixie was innocent it would be in the fair interests of the majority that she stays away from the campus and that was the time we decided that Pixie should have a new home where she gets her freedom but away from the campus as we agreed with the management's decision regarding the whole issue to de - stray dog the area.

The very same day, in the afternoon,  in a hope to move her to a better place 4 of us (the team changed here with myself being the lone member from the earlier group) visited the Dog Pound, Near Naidu Hospital, Ahmednagar Highway, Pune where Pixie was kept. The place was next to hell. Many injured dogs in 5 ft by 4ft by 5ft cages with a stinking smell of poop in the air; dogs barking madly and jumping over each other in common cells, this is how I will put it. Some of them were listless with absolute no hope from life. It was a general demotivating scenario. We saw Pixie after some searching and she recognized us immediately. We asked the lady who was in-charge there as to the best possible solution to which we got the answer to await Pixie's return to our area as that is what happens with these dogs (they are sterilized and taken away to another region from the PMC Dog Pound which is not a surprising thing if 40 dogs are captured daily and brought over!)

But we did not want this to happen as it would again be a deterrent if she returns to the campus given the state of affairs there. So, we decided to make arrangements for Pixie elsewhere. There was a farm of Jeev Raksha Animal Welfare Trust nearby which housed stray dogs who had been injured in road accidents or so. They treated such dogs there and these dogs were made available for adoption. We visited the place immediately late afternoon on the 21st and were welcomed to the farm in a grand style by a horde of stray dogs. Many of them were injured while others had healed. I could sense the happiness radiating from each of them and decided then and there itself that this was the ideal place for Pixie. If a dog with his right front leg and hind leg amputated could jump with joy at our arrival what will be the happiness quotient of the place? We crib with the slightest of injuries but this champ was so happy even after losing 2 out of his 4 legs! Marvelous! I was asked to call back on the morning of 23rd to enquire whether Pixie will be accepted and she was when I called back later.

We set off immediately for the Dog Pound to take Pixie into our custody. That part went smoothly (of course, the part when Pixie protested tooth and nail to get into the rickshaw is not taken into account while using the word "smoothly" !!) and we shifted her over to the said farm by 4.30 pm on 23rd September. With hope in our minds ( and tears in a few eyes! ) that she leads a better life we left the place with the satisfaction that we had given our level best.

The week long story would have ended here had there not been another twist in the tale. This twist would not have been a part of this blog if I would have stuck to my original plan of posting it on 26th morning. As I returned home after dinner in the evening on 26th I was flabbergasted to see a familiar face at the main gates of the college - Pixie !! She had ran away from the above mentioned farm and traced back to her home which is nearly 10 kms away !!

This entire episode has posed more questions than it has answered. If fate had decided that Pixie was to return home why had the almighty put me and my friends on this journey and made us drop her (after paying a lot for it! ) at the farm? Why were we taken over to the girl Kunjal? Why did we have to witness the scenes we did? There are many such questions out of which only a few have been answered and many more remain to be solved. It was a route of many twists and turns. We experienced the essence of life to some extent in the process. I don't know now what the future holds for Pixie or rather all those who had been involved but I firmly believe that there was something going on. Life was teaching us something and what that something exactly is, is a question we have to ask ourselves.

As far as I see it, I deduce that this drama was meant to instruct that nothing stands in the way of fate. Both Kunjal and Pixie were caught in the game of Fate. Both were innocent and yet both had to go through the maximum agony and pain. Both Kunjal and Pixie fought back against the circumstances and for good measure triumphed over them. So when fate decides, it does and we cannot change it. What we can do is respond rather than react to our predicament and that too positively. Fate would keep churning us and keep twisting and turning us since change is the only constant. We cannot control our results but we can definitely decide our efforts and the intensity and passion behind those. Neither Kunjal nor Pixie gave up on what they wanted. Be it complete recovery in the former case or the return in the latter but the determination I believe is of the same kind.

Kunjal and Pixie have bolstered me by their actions. Whatever the pain they have gone through, both of them are happy today. Pixie as always is frolicking around the campus and licking her human friends just like pre - 20th September and Kunjal is on her way to a speedy recovery. (damn it! I am still finding it hard to believe that Pixie trudged back 10 kms through unknown areas just on her power of smell !! It is so easy to get lost in the camp area - I did and that too twice in as many days while returning from Pixie's supposedly new home!! )

I will be looking forward to the next Twist of Fate in life and what it has to offer me as its student....

Jai Hind!