How a bunch of kids from the park showed us the true joy of giving

It was the early onset of the pandemic.

I was staying at a Paying Guest accommodation with my sister .

Fear was everywhere. News of death from all over the world left us shocked everyday. We slept every night with silent prayers for our family’s well-being.

Thankfully our office work, calls from home and friends saved us each day.

Right opposite our PG is a beautiful jogger’s park (that is the only reason why people opt for this PG).

The caretakers of the park stay with their families there. While the elders from the family took up day jobs for a living, the children either go to school or stay home.

With lockdown declared, the entire family was not able to move outside the park.

They were also unable to afford any food or vegetables unlike people like us who were using delivery apps and complaining about survival.

The city corporation helped them. Everyday they would deliver food for a month to these people. That was their only source of three times food for the day.

Precisely at this time, a dog in our streets (we call her Bala) had given birth to a litter of puppies in an open space that was near the pg.

She was fond of us and allowed us to play with her children and people used to come to visit these little ones and feed them a few biscuits and milk now and then.

“Are the puppies okay”

This question gave us something to look forward to each day. Or the reason to wake up everyday.

Turns out we weren’t the only ones.

The kids from the park were delighted as well.

Added to the already 5 puppies present there, a passerby would come and leave another pup who will later adopt us (yes, that is the best way to put it) and enter our lives.

We call her Sonu.

There were the twins (ET 1 and ET 2) who distrust the human race, Sapna who loved us with all her strength and left us laughing with her innocence, Caddy with her beautiful brown shaded fur, Lizzy named after our love for Thomas Hardy and lastly Cookie, the only guy in the girl gang.

They took these names to heart and only responded when people called them so.

Acts of altruism

Lockdown exposed us to a lot of humanity. An elderly activist would come with a bucket full of chicken rice for the pups.

Volunteers would arrive daily with packets of milk and biscuits for them. We would join them later. And thanks to these angels, I learnt to cook.

One early morning, we saw a scene that would become our finest memory.

That day the kids were having their breakfast supplied by the corporation.

Turns out they weren’t the only one.

The park has huge fences and kids climb them to reach the other side.

The entire gang of puppies were huddled near the fences and happily munching the rice, the kids were offering from the gap between the wired fences.

Their parents knowing this had saved up their food for these children.

The laughter in their faces and the moment itself was surreal.

Later I would hear from the caretaker that the children were feeding the puppies every single day from their share.

We were lost for words.

That was example of true love, altruism or whatever term exists.

I learnt a huge lesson that day.

To give when you have in excess is amazing.

To give when you have just enough for yourself, expecting nothing in return and of course with no expectations of any form of acknowledgement with the purest joy and smiles was the truest message of love.

We were blessed to get a glimpse of pure love and innocence at least.