Jun 12, 2012

Insensitive.!.!. Are We?

A joyous evening... the playground is ablaze with lights and live with anticipation... children running around, parents scattered around ground, some sitting talking amongst themselves, some wondering around looking for a seat, some running around looking for the frolicking children... all eagerly waiting for the curtain to raise...all of a sudden there is a loud bang, followed by another. Spectacular firework brightens the midnight sky, loud chorus of voices start shouting "Happy New Year" to each other...children running, grown-ups rejoicing.

I sit amidst all the happy chaos, looking at and worried about the strays around the playground. They look utterly perplexed, scared and extremely stressed. We all are sitting in the common playground, which is temporarily converted into a concert hall with a stage and some chairs for seating, along with speakers to facilitate broadcasting of music and anchoring. The atmosphere is one of joy and frivolity...festive. But while all of us are gearing up to welcome the new year with colors, lights and dance...no one seems to have taken into consideration the gang of adoptive stray dogs of the housing complex. There are some 6-7 strays that have taken up residence in the communal areas and are fed by the collective dog lovers of the colony. There are two dogs which are adopted by the security guards of the society. Though of Indian origin, these are better in terms of lodging and food...since they share both with the security guards. One amongst these all, is a new mother with a litter of 4 cute fur-balls.



While the members of housing society are rejoicing at clock ticking 12 and bringing in a new year...these mute spectators are confused, and scared of happenings. They don't understand why their usual living space is all of a sudden ablaze with flood lights, why are all people gathered there and are making so much noise...and worst of all, why are there fireworks going on?