DEDICATED TO HACHI (28th September 2014 - 4th April 2015).
Reading the title above, you will definitely be reminded of the movie, which had the same name. It was a heart touching story of a dog, who was adopted by a really awesome man, and grew very close to him. The man died while at work and this dog waited at the train station for many years, and eventually died there. I cried watching that movie, and I thought to myself, what have I been doing for so long? I should've seen this a long time ago!
Around 2 days after I saw the movie, my roommates, who are my fellow students at SRM University rescued a pup from the streets. I was sleeping then, and they woke me up and said, "Hey, Ayush, we got a surprise for you!" I woke up, and went outside my room. There was a small box in the balcony, and when I glanced inside, a small black ball of fur was curled up inside. The fur was shining! A healthy pup had indeed come into the house. I immediately said, "Let's name her Hachi!", as a tribute to the dog legend! My senior had assured us that he'll take care of the dog when we leave college as he had a job in Chennai itself, and so I agreed to keep the dog!
Hachi was a very difficult dog to manage. She was much different than most other dogs. Training her was possible, and we made significant progress on that front, but it was very tough. I still remember when she actually sat when I said, "Hachi, sit!". I even asked one of my roommates to take a video of that historic moment when she started listening to what I said to her! Eventually, Hachi learnt fetch, and to stand on two legs for food. She also was pretty violent. If no one was around watching, she was sure to destroy something from the house. Inspite of telling her not to do so, she would take stuff from the tables and destroy them. My phone charger, my roommate's laptop charger, my roommate's spectacles, another roommate's spectacles, one guy's laptops, my roommate's girlfriend's sandals and my roommate's flip flops are some of the things which were her victims. She also loved infiltrating the kitchen and look around for something to eat (She was always hungry)! And she hated almost every other dog.
But inspite of everything, the dog loved everyone and loved cuddling. She would sometimes run into my room, when I would be sleeping and cuddle around and sleep with her head on my arm. And the welcome I used to get whenever I returned back from my classes was something which I will always miss about her. She was so innocent, so soft, with curled up black ears, with a white patch extending from her forehead, down to her muzzle and mouth. She feet had a white patch around the paws, and some white at the tip of her tail. The black used to shine brightly. She eventually grew, with her muzzle extending, which signified the end of her puppy look and the start of a doggie look! She looked cute even then and it was a joy to hug that warm fur bundle!
My senior got transferred and he said that he'll come for the dog once he has settled and when he came for his convocation, a few months later. So we kept the dog. The problem was that the convocation happened, and he severed all ties with us. Never picked up calls, never called back, never replied to messages. We were concerned! None of our parents would allow this dog into the house, and she had nowhere to go! We realized that we had made a terrible mistake by keeping this dog for our amusement! But then again she was hungry and had a defect in her feet, and we gave her life.
Once I had a window of opportunity to return to my home, and see my parents, my brother, my sister and my grandparents. Oh! And there was my other dog too, the cutest dog in the whole world, a pomeranian named Coco. Days went by, my brother and I recorded songs, I had lots of stuff to eat, made by my grandmother daily, we played games, and took part in the renovation which was going on over there. One day, I was sending out links to a recording of ours, which I uploaded on YouTube. This girl was responding by saying that it is very nice. And suddenly, she said, "Ayush Sinha", with the crying emoji! On asking what was wrong, she only texted back one word... "Hachi...."
I frantically sent her texts, asking what happened to the dog... And after a while, she replied, "Hachi met with an accident, she is dead!"
My hands worked on their own, I was calling people here and there.. It was April, and I was hoping that this was all a joke. Many people confirmed this and then came my mom, who asked me what was wrong. I broke down, and hugged her, and started crying loudly, muttering "Hachi" all the time. "My baby is dead, maa, my small little baby!" I cried. It took my family, and Coco, who was licking my tears, a full day to calm me down. I eventually returned to Chennai the next day and my house was dead silent. Nobody spoke to nobody. There was an unfinished bowl of Pedigree dog food lying around with a bowl of water next to it. A new packet of the dog food had just been bought. I received no welcome. And because of this gloomy atmosphere at home, I decided to spend some time at my friend's place, only to return at night. I heard the full story later on.
The elders in our society don't like us walking dogs in the society and they always send us outside on the national highway to walk the dog. On that fateful day, my roommate did just that. Except, Hachi suddenly struggled and her collar came off. She ran onto the highway, and crossed a side. And jumed across to cross to the other side. But then she stopped to look at my roommate, and in a flash of a second, a bus hit her. And just to make sure she stayed dead, God sent some three or four more cars, which flattened her to the asphalt. He could not even recover the body in that heavy traffic.
We have moved on since then. I assume that this was all planned by God, as the poor baby had nowhere to go. She now stays by His side. He also made sure I was away when this happened. I was with my family. I really don't know what would've become of me if I was here in Chennai when it happened. It still pains me a lot, when somebody who doesn't know about it asks about her, or when I see something torn and realize that this was her doing. We all sorely miss her, and her cuddling, her massages, her bathing time, her tricks, and most of all, her welcoming ceremony. I hope she is happy wherever she is and I wanted you to know about her. Hope you too remember her as your own, and remember her through my words. Rest in Peace, dear friend, you shall be missed!
Reading the title above, you will definitely be reminded of the movie, which had the same name. It was a heart touching story of a dog, who was adopted by a really awesome man, and grew very close to him. The man died while at work and this dog waited at the train station for many years, and eventually died there. I cried watching that movie, and I thought to myself, what have I been doing for so long? I should've seen this a long time ago!
Around 2 days after I saw the movie, my roommates, who are my fellow students at SRM University rescued a pup from the streets. I was sleeping then, and they woke me up and said, "Hey, Ayush, we got a surprise for you!" I woke up, and went outside my room. There was a small box in the balcony, and when I glanced inside, a small black ball of fur was curled up inside. The fur was shining! A healthy pup had indeed come into the house. I immediately said, "Let's name her Hachi!", as a tribute to the dog legend! My senior had assured us that he'll take care of the dog when we leave college as he had a job in Chennai itself, and so I agreed to keep the dog!
Hachi was a very difficult dog to manage. She was much different than most other dogs. Training her was possible, and we made significant progress on that front, but it was very tough. I still remember when she actually sat when I said, "Hachi, sit!". I even asked one of my roommates to take a video of that historic moment when she started listening to what I said to her! Eventually, Hachi learnt fetch, and to stand on two legs for food. She also was pretty violent. If no one was around watching, she was sure to destroy something from the house. Inspite of telling her not to do so, she would take stuff from the tables and destroy them. My phone charger, my roommate's laptop charger, my roommate's spectacles, another roommate's spectacles, one guy's laptops, my roommate's girlfriend's sandals and my roommate's flip flops are some of the things which were her victims. She also loved infiltrating the kitchen and look around for something to eat (She was always hungry)! And she hated almost every other dog.
But inspite of everything, the dog loved everyone and loved cuddling. She would sometimes run into my room, when I would be sleeping and cuddle around and sleep with her head on my arm. And the welcome I used to get whenever I returned back from my classes was something which I will always miss about her. She was so innocent, so soft, with curled up black ears, with a white patch extending from her forehead, down to her muzzle and mouth. She feet had a white patch around the paws, and some white at the tip of her tail. The black used to shine brightly. She eventually grew, with her muzzle extending, which signified the end of her puppy look and the start of a doggie look! She looked cute even then and it was a joy to hug that warm fur bundle!
My senior got transferred and he said that he'll come for the dog once he has settled and when he came for his convocation, a few months later. So we kept the dog. The problem was that the convocation happened, and he severed all ties with us. Never picked up calls, never called back, never replied to messages. We were concerned! None of our parents would allow this dog into the house, and she had nowhere to go! We realized that we had made a terrible mistake by keeping this dog for our amusement! But then again she was hungry and had a defect in her feet, and we gave her life.
Once I had a window of opportunity to return to my home, and see my parents, my brother, my sister and my grandparents. Oh! And there was my other dog too, the cutest dog in the whole world, a pomeranian named Coco. Days went by, my brother and I recorded songs, I had lots of stuff to eat, made by my grandmother daily, we played games, and took part in the renovation which was going on over there. One day, I was sending out links to a recording of ours, which I uploaded on YouTube. This girl was responding by saying that it is very nice. And suddenly, she said, "Ayush Sinha", with the crying emoji! On asking what was wrong, she only texted back one word... "Hachi...."
I frantically sent her texts, asking what happened to the dog... And after a while, she replied, "Hachi met with an accident, she is dead!"
My hands worked on their own, I was calling people here and there.. It was April, and I was hoping that this was all a joke. Many people confirmed this and then came my mom, who asked me what was wrong. I broke down, and hugged her, and started crying loudly, muttering "Hachi" all the time. "My baby is dead, maa, my small little baby!" I cried. It took my family, and Coco, who was licking my tears, a full day to calm me down. I eventually returned to Chennai the next day and my house was dead silent. Nobody spoke to nobody. There was an unfinished bowl of Pedigree dog food lying around with a bowl of water next to it. A new packet of the dog food had just been bought. I received no welcome. And because of this gloomy atmosphere at home, I decided to spend some time at my friend's place, only to return at night. I heard the full story later on.
The elders in our society don't like us walking dogs in the society and they always send us outside on the national highway to walk the dog. On that fateful day, my roommate did just that. Except, Hachi suddenly struggled and her collar came off. She ran onto the highway, and crossed a side. And jumed across to cross to the other side. But then she stopped to look at my roommate, and in a flash of a second, a bus hit her. And just to make sure she stayed dead, God sent some three or four more cars, which flattened her to the asphalt. He could not even recover the body in that heavy traffic.
We have moved on since then. I assume that this was all planned by God, as the poor baby had nowhere to go. She now stays by His side. He also made sure I was away when this happened. I was with my family. I really don't know what would've become of me if I was here in Chennai when it happened. It still pains me a lot, when somebody who doesn't know about it asks about her, or when I see something torn and realize that this was her doing. We all sorely miss her, and her cuddling, her massages, her bathing time, her tricks, and most of all, her welcoming ceremony. I hope she is happy wherever she is and I wanted you to know about her. Hope you too remember her as your own, and remember her through my words. Rest in Peace, dear friend, you shall be missed!
