Simba is sore at me. The heat has made him scratch himself raw on his cheek and it is worsening as the day progresses. It’s painful for Simba, painful for me – as I try to dab on the ointment that the vet has initially given me. He is angry. He bares his teeth and snaps – don’t you bother me, he growls. But I don’t give up. I take Bahadur’s and my son’s help to keep him down, clean him up, gauze and tape up the rawness so that his paws don’t get at it. And Simba is sore.
He looks at me from beneath his brows and turns away. His tail does not wag for a whole day. Taped around his cheek, with the tape running around his head is the gauze which he cant seem to scratch off and he is angry. He knows that I am the architect of his discomfort. So, he has ceased to be my shadow the last two days. He ensures that I understand his displeasure.
I crawl, coo sweet nothings, scratch him down his nose delicately. Simba just scowls. Not a tail wag to be seen. Even the Bahadur gets more attention. When we come face to face, he looks stoically at me as if to say, “What I have to bear to live with you.”
Tomorrow we go to the vet. I hope to heaven Simba will resume his unconditional love afterwards.
My view - No love is unconditional. I am reminded of the Akbar-Birbal story about a mother's selfless love; Wherein a few monkeys are thrown into a well and water pumped in. Finally the mother monkey does scramble out when the mother's life is at risk!!! Birbal was right. We love only ourselves unconditionally!
ReplyDeleteHmmmm... I do not agree with you Rajesh in that there are no sweeping assumptions in all this!! :) If you are lucky, you get it!
ReplyDelete