Rocky June 1998 - Nov 2008
It was my sister and Didibhai (grandmother) who bought a lil golden retriever to our lives in August 1998. I was then in Nagpur doing my engineering and was thrilled to know the news. I named it Rocky, rather Rocky 2 after my beloved first dog which was a mixed dash hound in origin. Rocky was a golden retriever, two months and very sweet. I met him when I came back home for Durga Puja in October. Rocky came into our lives as a bundle of joy and over this 10 years he was great friend and great company to my parents back home, while I was in midst of shaping my career. My sister, who promised to own up all responsibility for Rocky to get him and finally manage to keep up to one promise of loving it and playing with it, other responsibilities were passed on to rest of the family, which was anyways expected. Since I was away, Didibhai, took up the responsibility of training him, Maa took care of his basic requirements and Dad got to play the role to leash him around for his walk. He must have cribbed every day he had to do so, but today I am sure he misses him like a son, who would take him for a walk to bring atleast some discipline in his walking habit.
Early days of Rocky were very memorable. He was good tempered, sweet looking, disciplined dog, who hardly barked at strangers or as a matter of fact anything. Our neighbors, inquisitively asked us one day “Is he dumb?, cos he hardly barks J We gave the credit to Didibhai, saying we have trained him well, so that he does not disturb your sleep ;-) But all said and done, he was well trained. No getting up on beds, sofa’s, No toilet in the house, No unnecessary tantrums. He was saint, but very sharp.
I still remember, when my sister, urged Baba to buy her a pup, she sold a dream. She said, this breed of dogs can be well trained, and said, every morning, the dog shall get him his newspaper, help Maa with some daily chores, all picked up from hindi movies. A day came, when dad demanded these dreams to be met, and my sister conveniently appointed a trainer for Rocky. I got this news over phone, and said to myself, when I am in Calcutta next, it will be exciting to see a trained dog.
My dreams were shattered, when I sneaked in to Rocky’s tution class, which was at our terrace, without the knowledge of the trainer. To start with enthusiastic Rocky jumped around a bit and then paid attention to his trainer. “Rocky Speak” said the thundering voice of the trainer, which moved me, but not Rocky, he was in his own world of eyeing sparrows and crows on our terrace, one more time it came “Rocky Speak” and then a “Bow Bow” which the trainer did himself, probably to remind Rocky, that’s how he is supposed to bark.
The class got dismissed, so did the trainer and my dad accepted the harsh reality of life and said, all my kids (which included Rocky, my sis & me) were useless, and no teacher was good enough to teach us !! He lost hope and accepted that his dreams of getting the newspaper delivered by his dog, still remained a dream.
Years went by, and Rocky grew up, my sis got married and she went to her home, which already had 2 cute dogs, and my dad’s hope of sending rocky as a gift (dahej) was also not fulfilled. Rocky was very close to mom dad and Didibhai, may be more than me and my sis, his routine was set, he was very disciplined with Didibhai, playful with Baba & adored Maa. He would never drop without dad taking for a walk in the evening, and at times threw some tantrums to feed him personally by Maa, and always use to sleep in Didibhai’s room.
He was the company and a great friend for my parents and didibhai, probably brought the kiddies charm back in the house, now that me and my sister were not in Kolkata. He helped in keeping the spirits up and cheered our parents of not missing us as much. Dad played with him and if you would listen to Maa talking to him from a different room, it would never sound like a discussion between a human and a pet. What always amazed me was how did these pets learn a language? Rocky was spot on with Bengali and he understood every bit of it.
Rocky found fans and friends in the neighborhood. One of his favorites were my sister’s family, an ardent dog lover, were amongst his favorites, their dogs Tito & Liza, were his friends and I remember early days when we all went for a walk with 3 of them to give us company. Our relatives and friends all liked Rocky, not to forget my uncle from Lucknow, who always got sandesh and rosogolla, especially for Rocky.
His last days were painful and I fail to understand, why such beautiful creatures have such painful deaths. He died on 30th Nov at 5.30 AM with my parents around him and it was an emotional moment to lose him. I am told, Rocky’s last journey to his burial was emotional, and people from our locality came across to convey their love and affection for this beautiful friend we lost.
I pray that his soul Rests in Peace!!
