Within two weeks over 1,000 bloggers made a commitment to come together and share their stories and thoughts on compassion on their respective blogs, each on his own yet bound together strongly like an energy that sparks the acts of kindness to further continue to make this world a better place to live in. Let the tidal wave of compassion flow across the virtual world to seep into the pores of humanity with every blogger doing his bit by sharing his post to contribute to this noble thought. I’m immensely grateful to be a part of this cause. The much awaited day has finally arrived for us to share and help grow the nature of compassion each of us have been blessed with.This is not exactly a new post but was written quite recently. I thought it was just ideal for sharing when the topic of compassion comes to my mind. So when 1000 bloggers have come together to write about their thoughts and stories of compassion to share on 1000 Speak for Compassion, this one was the closest to my heart!
Early this August when I landed in Mumbai all over again with a new job, I was put up with a few close family friends in a fairly unfamiliar and remote part of Mumbai. Although, we shared close family ties, I hadn’t been much in touch with them since my student days. Back home, I had heard stories about how this family of three, the couple and their young daughter were ardent animal lovers, especially stray dogs around their locality. It always had me curious on how they went about showing their concern for these less fortunate animals. During my stay of ten days with them, I had the chance to witness their generosity.
Every evening after the man of the house was back from work, even after a tired day at work he drove his wife in his car, with huge cans of food to feed about twenty seven dogs in and around their locality. A ritual that they have been following for past eight years now. These were huge aluminium cans with a large ladle to serve the special concoction that they whipped up especially for the dogs. The meal comprised of soft cooked rice, lentils and eggs. A huge sack of rice of about 60 kilos was parked right in the corner of their kitchen, and it was the month’s quota of rice just for these dogs. I absorbed all this with wide-eyed wonder. I mean, I’ve seen people doing a lot of good things for animals on and off, but to do something of this magnitude on a daily basis had me completely bowled over!
Come what may, the lady of the house would never have her dinner before she went out and served their grub to these dogs. They were her babies. Occasionally, when I got home early from work I went with them to witness their great devotion to this act. It was quite touching to note the way the dogs waited for their meals to arrive each day. The shower of wags and woofs were proof enough to declare their undying love for the lady who fed them with such warmth and affection. Interestingly, they all sat patiently in a line for their turn to be served, without creating the slightest of ruckus. There were days, it would be raining ferociously and the lady who has her share of health issues, had no one to accompany her or drive her to the locations that were inhabited by her dogs. But yet, she somehow manages to do this ritual dutifully with all her heart into it. On a rare day that she is unwell or has no choice but to delay feeding the dogs, she wouldn’t touch her own meal, feeling guilty for being unable to do her deed for the day and would sit brooding about how hungry her dogs must be. So much so, that she prefers not going out of town with the fear that her dogs will go unfed.
Apparently, this great deed was the brain-child of their then teenage daughter who got her mother involved in this noble cause along with her. Now, when the daughter is away in another city pursuing her studies, her parents still follow the ritual of ensuring that these orphaned strays are well fed every single evening before they themselves sit down for their own meals.
After all the stories one hears of atrocities meted out on the strays (read my post on the same here), there is only one emotion that fills my heart when I reminisce about this experience – respect. The very act of giving with selfless love to the unfortunate ones…especially the ones who are right out there, greeting you around the corner when you’re rushing back home, and sometimes you do not even oblige them with a glance, leave alone feed them everyday, has all my respect and admiration. Kudos to the noble thought which did not just remain a thought but got translated into action.
There are so many colors to the act of giving. But this one scores the highest on my list!
Originally written for #GivingTuesday Blog Hop at Write Tribe
What a beautiful and heartwarming story. With all the bad news we get every day, it is so wonderful to hear about people who are committed to doing good things! Thank you so much for sharing this post.
Thanks Laurel. I'm glad you enjoyed reading it. There's still a lot of good happening in our world despite the bad.
Very touching! The lady is doing great 'Punya' by feeding street dogs.I have observed that many people are now feeding not only the street dogs,but also pigeons,and other birds.
Yes Usha ma'am, I guess a lot of people are gaining awareness and trying to balance their karma by being kind.
A very touching post Vinodini :). You are right, for all the cruelty meted out to the dogs. I have seen a few people who just pick a stone when they find a dog and there are people like this on the other end who take such good care. The act of giving is a wonderful gift indeed 🙂
Thanks Vinay. Great to see you here after long! Its disgusting to see how people treat the strays by hitting them with stones as though they are a menace. Such people are missing out on receiving unconditional lov
*unconditional love from these lovely animals.
Thanks for sharing such a tender heart-felt story Vinodini. It really warms my heart to hear of a couple so dedicated and committed to feeding dogs before even feeding themselves. I hope they are blessed abundantly and karmically! 🙂 <3
I'm glad you liked it Elly. I'm sure this family is already blessed to be able to pull off this great deed for so long. I wish all of us could be as dedicated.
Kudos to the lady. She is doing a great job.
Yes Madhavi…awesome isn't it?!
I liked reading this, something positive between a flurry of bad news !
Thanks Nabanita! Glad you liked it 🙂
Such a positive gesture. God bless the family.
Good to hear this.
Thanks.
Yes Inderpreet, they indeed are a positive bunch. Thanks for your kind words.
Wow!! That's so heartwarming and sooo inspiring! Their devotion, care and commitment towards these stray dogs is exemplary! May their breed increase!
You bet Shilpa! We could really do with more of such people…in fact it just inspires me to raise my own bar higher to do my bit.
My heart goes out to this family! As well as my respect. God bless such selfless souls! Feels good to know that there are people out there who feel for the strays. Loved reading it, Vinodini.
Shilpa, great to have so many people blessing them. Such stories, I felt needed to be shared for people to get inspired from.
Wow!! this is so amazing… they are epitome of kindness, so much dedication and love for the animals 🙂 It's very inspiring.
Yes Rajlakshmi, they sure are dedicated to their service. I hope this inspires all of us to do our bit.
Wow, it takes some heart and dedication to do this and to earn the love of those loyal friends of mankind, it is quite something.
True that Keirthana.
Oh this is just so lovely. Long, long may it continue.
Thanks Kelly. Yes, I do hope too that it continues for long 🙂
Wow! Bless them! Such a beautiful story and to know such people exist! Thank you for sharing!
Thanks Aditi! I couldn't believe it till I saw them for myself 🙂
Positively inspiring and full of compassion. May we see and hear more such wonderful stories. May God bless them…
Yes Sulekha, we do need more people like them, don't we?
What a wonderfully inspiring story of compassion. The world is indeed full of such generous souls, that's how the world goes on I suppose. Thanks Vinodini for sharing this.
Its my pleasure to share this Beloo. You're right, the world sure has a lot of kind souls around.
Hi Vinodini,
Such a beautiful story of selfless compassion. I will be including this in a post I write about 1000 voices. I have been to Thailand and seen the dreadful state of the strays there going back 20 years and imagine these dogs are much the same.
I wrote largely about my struggle to pick a topic which resulted in a sense of compassion fatigue: https://beyondtheflow.wordpress.com/2015/02/20/compassion-fatigue-a-light-bulb-moment/ xx Rowena
Hey, thanks Rowena. I'm glad you're including this in your post. Strays in India are in a pitiful state and there are very few people committed to doing something for them selflessly.
Loved your post on compassion and burnout for the 1000 speak <3
This is truly selfless compassion. God bless them. Thanks for sharing such a heart warming story.
Yes, Suzy, selfless indeed. They really deserve a lot of blessings. Thanks.
Gosh, animal lovers always tug at the heart strings. A family friend does the same with about 19 cats in her vicinity. So much so that people have started dropping off any cat/kitten that they spot and her litter has only been growing. It was her brother's wedding but she went home to feed them and then came to the reception. I can totally identify with this family and their ritual. All I can say is God Bless them. Lovely, heartwarming post.
I so love your name 'Blogwati!' Its great to know that there are more people such as the ones we know, who selflessly do these acts of kindness for animals. Hats off to their dedication!
What a beautiful story to share with all of us. It is a special realm of compassion that is saved for our furry friends. Your friends are very special people.
Thanks Brandy. People like my kind friends here do require a special mention. I'm glad you enjoyed reading about them.
Thanks Brandy. People like my kind friends here do require a special mention. I'm glad you enjoyed reading about them.
Thank you for sharing this story for 1000 Voices Speak For Compassion. This family show true compassion – taking action to relieve suffering. It's sad that so many dogs end up as strays, but great that some people take care of them.
[…] fed a large pack of stray dogs in their vicinity every single day. You can read the post here. Today I wish to write about a member from the same family who does little acts of kindness towards […]