There is a popular saying,
“Beauty lies in the eyes of beholders”. I had got a slightly protracted
learning that, “Love could be felt with eyes first”. Throughout my career, I
had worked with core FMCG organizations and had mechanically worked towards
distribution dealing with the channel partners and people.
When I was changing the
organization in 2013, was a little apprehensive for the organization as this
organization wasn’t a typical FMCG companies. I cleared all the rounds though.
It was a last HR round with the HR Manager. It was merely a formality before
the offer letters. The HR Manager asked me, “Do you love Dogs?”
“Umm, not really. However, I
don’t hate them either.” Was my plain reply. It was so spontaneous answer that
I haven’t realized that this could cost me the job. After all I was appearing
for an interview for a Pet Food Company.
The HR lady was impassive. She
said, “What you do when you see stray dogs going back home in the evening?”
What kind of question is this? I
have never observed they exist even. I drive back home mostly in my car or at
times in taxi. Ok yes, whenever I am walking nearby stores for some top-up
grocery needs, at times they woof, and it scares me a lot.
“When I get petrified, I try scooting
them away with whatever is there in my hand. Some of the times I even have
picked stone from road and threw on them to make them scare.” I don’t know why
I kept doing self-goal responding this way to her.
“Hmm, so what I heard that is you
throw stones on them if you get scared. Amitesh, today when you go back home,
would recommend buying a packet of biscuits and when they bark over you, throw
some biscuits on them. You will see the magic.” With this advice, she got into
completing the formality of the employment.
I landed to Kolkata at around 10
in the evening. Took a radio cab and was on the way home. While in taxi, was
reviewing the entire day and trying to comprehend if the day was productive to
me or not. I don’t know for some reason I asked my cab driver to stop at a shop
for a while. I went inside and looked for Pedigree. Haven’t found it. Bought a
couple of packs of Parle Biscuit and came back to the taxi. I was just having a
laptop bag with me. So, I stopped the cab around half kilometer before my
society. Came out of taxi and walked towards my apartment.
There were 4 – 5 strays on the way back home
over the street. One dog barked and rest all harmonized their barking with
that. I had got a piece of advice today on what to do when stray barks. I took
the biscuit packet out of my bag and gave a couple of it to the nearest dog. It
suddenly stopped barking and ate it fast. After finishing, that dog upstretched
head to look towards me. That was the first day when I actually have had eye
contact with any dog. The light over the street was a bit dim coming from that 20-foot-tall
streetlight. In that dim light I saw into that dog’s eye. Oh my God. That dog’s
eye was filled with love and compassion towards me. Just by having few
biscuits, that dog literally forgot and exonerated all my shooing and stones
that I would have thrown over them. How much tolerant we could be that just by
small gesture of love, can forget all the past transgression. They are. This
beautiful dog took a piece of my heart immediately. I literally fell in love
with this mighty creature. Would that HR manager not have told me to do so, I
never have bought the biscuits for them and would not have got this beautiful
experience. Ever since, I had seen nothing but Love for me in their eyes. They
keep getting now Pedigree from me but that is just a small token of love from
my side for the immense love they are showering over me.
-Amitesh
