Mother Nature And A Mother
Devastating flood hit Kerala on 16th August 2018. I was coming from Trivandrum International Airport. I could drive only up to Chengannur.
So, I parked my car at my wife's aunt's House. From Chengannur I got one Tamil Nadu Lorry to Thiruvalla.
Water was rising in an alarming rate. Even at around 11:30am the sun was giving only a diffused light.
My uncle and aunty is staying around 11km away from my house. They are very old. I used to visit them twice a month. I was so worried about them.
So, decided to go to the place where they are staying. Its was a very risky situation. The place is called Neerattupuram,(very near to Kuttanadu). I started at about 11:30 am. It felt like it was 6:30pm in the evening.
Anywhere you look, you could see people wandering here and there. No one knows what is going to happen next. Town was almost deserted. It looked like a Ghost town and felt eerie. I managed to go up to a Place called Kavumbhagam on my bike.
Then I started walking towards my uncle's house. 8 more kilometers to go.
We, a group of six people were there. They were also going to see their relatives. Water was rising steadily. If we look anywhere, it was like one single river flowing.
Lots of Cars, Trucks and Other Vehicles were parked in the middle of the road. Theft alarm and lights were going on and off from some of the vehicles. Within minutes, the Water started flowing over the Bonnets of the cars.
Then onwards, I was not walking but swimming. Water level had already crossed my chest. Heavy flow made us to walk very very slowly. When we reached a place called Nedumbram, We stopped for a while.
We sat on a JCB. Suddenly we heard a cry from a near by closed shop. It was like a human cry. On the other side of the Shop there was a house. Ground floor of the house was already under water.
Owner of the house had already moved to the First Floor. They shouted at us saying Someone was trapped in the old Shop. Shop's Front Door was not a Shutter type. It was made of old style Wooden door.
We jumped from JCB and carefully started walking towards the shop. We clearly heard the heart rending cry again. We decided to break open the shop. A stronger one among us went back and came with a lever from JCB.
We inserted it between the door gap and we managed to break it open. Everyone was anxious to see what was inside. We first saw some cement and fertilizer sacks piled up towards the roof.
We looked inside and could not not see anything in the poor light. Suddenly a Dog appeared from the Top of the pile. The dog looked like he/she had swam across the Atlantic and Pacific.
Dog started barking at us and it seemed he/she wanted to tell us some thing. Water will reach the top in no time. Dog suddenly disappeared to back and appeared with a small puppy in her mouth.
Everyone was stunned. She jumped back into water, swam back to us with a puppy held between her teeth and handed the puppy to one of the persons there. At first he hesitated but later he took the puppy .
She went again and gave her second puppy to another person. Such a loving and Intelligent Mother. What happened next broke our heart.
She licked both the puppy and swam back to the top of the pile and sat there.
The mamma dog was an ordinary dog. She was not a high pedigree one. Nobody was going to have a second look at her. Nothing Special.
What was she thinking. May be she was thinking we will take the puppy and give them a life. She trusted us. She knew nobody was going to accept her.
The sad look and the appearing of that mamma dog haunted me long time after this incident.
Perhaps she knew she was going to die. Suddenly another man came there . He was going to the same place where i was going. He called the mamma dog.
At first she hesitated, but later she swam towards him. We all got out of the shop. Owner of the house was axious and asked us what had happened there.
We told him the whole thing. He agreed to take the two puppies and their mother. He took them to the first floor via car porch staircase. He gave her food and a mat to sleep. We reached the first floor via the staircase. We saw her settling down with her two puppies.
She looked at us with big jubilant face. Her eyes were glowing. This is the love of a Mother. She conquered our hearts through her pure love.
Then we started walking towards our destination. Nobody was talking. Everybody was thinking something.
The First person to depart from the group was me. I had to take a by road to my Uncle's house. As we departed, everybody wanted to say something but, could not talk. One person managed to speak.
He said "Dear Friends We did a good thing".
After around 3 months later, I went to my uncle's house on my bike. Road condition was so horrible. I searched for the shop we broke. Nothing was there. Only an empty space. I asked one person who was standing there about the shop.
He said the Shop owner stopped the business and He demolished the shop. I was so curious to know what had happed to the mamma dog and her puppies. So, I went near the gate of the house and looked inside.
Nothing was there. An old lady came out with quizzical face.
I shouted to her at the top of my voice asking her about the Owner of the house. She said he had gone out. I said OK. I turned back and started my Bike.
Suddenly, I saw a big dog followed by two very naughty puppies barking with high pitched voices. All three ran towards the gate. I looked at them.
Then they started doing the things they were doing before. Playing and playing and playing under the watchful eyes of the their mother.
They were playing together. Puppies may be 3 months old Now. I am so glad to see the sight.
I continued towards my destination.
(Got 1st Prize For this Real Story in the Story Competition conducted by my Company)
