Happiness Comes With A Tail

by Sandra Phillips (India)

Making a local connection India

Happiness Comes With A Tail The job market was bad, and there were not many openings in the city, and being unemployed for two years and listening to endless bickering and debate on my increasing age and how that is directly proportional to me to ever find a guy. It was a tough decision to leave my home and everything familiar and good behind and making a home in the new city. While Delhi wasn’t new for me, since I had visited the city often during my childhood and then completed my higher education from the city as well, I never planned on coming back. But as fate would have it, I did come back and had to start everything afresh, since I had no friends in the city and my colleagues were not that friendly at first. I use to live in a decent colony, which had multiple apartments next to each other, all occupied by professionals like me and to make my life a little easy, the market was within a walking distance and transportation was easily available. At first, the days went by quickly and I had no recollection of how quickly months passed. It was as if I was living my life like a machine and without any purpose or meaning. One evening I was standing on the balcony and talking to my mother, when I noticed this happy dog, white with a black patch on its back, wagging its tail and greeting everyone who walked by. While some were kind enough to pat him, others shooed him away and then there were some who either ran away or changed their paths because they were too scared of him. I was amused seeing how humans close them from being loved and being scared of something that wants nothing but love. One morning as I waited for my ride, this happy dog comes up and starts wagging his tail as if trying to say, “Love me, and pat me”. I call him happy, because I don’t know his name, and well, ‘happy’ was a good name. I did pat him and wished I could play if I wasn’t already getting late. However, I promised him that in the evening if he is out and about, I will play with him, and I left for office. Surprisingly I was in a better mood than what I had been in months and I wasn’t even aware of why it felt different. Growing up, I always had a dog but after my last dog died, it was too much to keep another and so I decided not to have one. Meeting happy in the busy city, where no one bothers to say hello or even cares, happy was the only one who was actually happy to see me and greet me every day. He would come and stand with me every day while I waited for my ride, and then in the evening when I reached home, he would eagerly wait for me. Those ten minutes with him made my days better and made me feel less lonely. When I was leaving the apartment, I was sad about saying goodbye to my only friend, and my heart broke, because I wouldn’t be able to see him every day. Oh! How I wish, if he could speak or understand me, I know he does more than most people but I hope, I could just tell him how much I’ll miss him. While I did shift to my new place, I missed happy, especially in the morning as I waited for my ride and often thought if he even missed me. Soon, my life got busy and the days went by quickly, just like before. Then, one day while I was looking for a place to move in, I called up my old landlord, as inquired if there was any flat available, and indeed there was. Nine months had passed by, and I wasn’t sure if I would see happy again, or if he would still remember me. But excited and hoping that he remembers me, and if everything goes well maybe I get to adopt him and call him my own.