Romeo MUST DIE

Romeo Must Die

Romeo was too proud of himself. It showed in the way he walked, strutted, rock jumped and in the way he barked. He was the apple of the eyes for his masters.his scooting was very laughable and his barking adorable.

In fact, he became the pride and joy of the house, the moment he set his paw in. He came to Aryan when he was around 25 days old. The household was quite discordant and fractious, and there seemed to be islands of people with little communication. His father was overworked and used to return from office very late, quite exhausted. And used to grumble and mutter a lot which mostly fell on ears, which have been acclimatized and gradually deafened. All his job stress and insecurities were hurled on the hapless family. As a result, his mother became discomposed and apathetic. She was accustomed to early dinners in solitude, just to avoid bickering on the dinner table. His father spent his evenings mostly in front of TV, eyes wide open but with a bleary mind, not even caring for the content at times, just trying to bridge the time gap between dinner and bed, following which he managed to drag himself off sofa to bed and slumped on bed and snore off before his head hit the pillow. This was horribly regular to be called routine. Mornings generally started with fracas from the kitchen. His mother admonishing their housemaid, Rani on some apparently petty issue, much to the agony of late sleepers. This led to the petulant avatar of the Rani surface, making her more vulnerable for missteps and lapses. It only took a few days for Rani to understand that this chiding is a daily affair, more out of habit than intention and that these taunts the threats were as hollow as they sounded. So she gradually learned the tedious art of hearing but not listening. After getting her dose of deridement, she used to carry on with her chores, though muttering upon herself. She was human after all. Aryan meanwhile would sneak out of bed and get busy in readying himself for school, leaving many a day his packed lunch on the kitchen counter in his sheer edginess. Though he was a bright kid he was chronically precarious to the core, quite unlike children of his age, cheerful and careless. 

And to Romeo's dismay, there was one more family member, Mrs. Sharma, their next-door neighbor. She was as good as a family member, or perhaps more, as compared to Mr. Suri or their son Aryan, if this could be measured by the number of hours one spent in this household. She was very fond of Mrs. Suri and could be found as soon as she finds Mr. Suri has left for office. Her protracted visits were a matter of family squabbles as neither Mr. Suri nor Aryan liked her presence much. In fact, Mrs. Suri too didn't yearn for her visits or savored her presence as a matter of fact. Out of a sheer sense of obligatory sympathy, she hosted her and made to spend the better half of her afternoons with her. Mostly they drank tea together, cup after cup, and talked. In fact, their roles were well cut out. Mrs. Sharma did the talking and Mrs. Suri mostly listened. On her part, Mrs. Sharma came mostly to pour her heart out and vent her mental conflicts, not to drink tea together or schmooze. Her only purpose for these visits was to be heard without interruption and judgment, which Mrs. Suri did efficiently as she hardly gave attention while listening to her, her own mind preoccupied. In a vaguely obscure way, Mrs. Sharma was getting her counseling sessions done by Mrs. Suri, without knowing herself much about this. Mrs. Sharma had a troubled married life bringing her to the level of a psychological breakdown. In her times of despair, she didn't have anybody around to look forward to. Being herself a very intelligent and academically brilliant student in her college days, She was married to a senior office executive. Everything went fine for the initial few years but then her husband started rising in the corporate world and plummeting in his family commitments. This perhaps and her search for self-identity caused her to have dreary times which gradually increased in frequency, duration, and intensity. So much so that she had to consult a psychiatrist and on his recommendation was put on therapy. but these counseling sessions. didn't align with her as she found them to be very costly for such impersonal and banal sessions. One fine day she discovered while talking to Mrs. Suri, by virtue of her nondiscretionary listening, a good shoulder to cry on. And so she started frequenting their house. To her, Mrs. Suri seemed her only mooring holding her from getting adrift by her tumultuous mind. She had once divulged jestingly to Mrs. Sharma, much to her dread, that if she moved out of town(as were the chances then when Mr. Suri got his transfer order, which later stood canceled somehow), she would accompany her and live alongside her.

Coming back to Ronnie, when he came to this house, he was accepted and loved at first by Aryan only. It was a 

God sent, much-needed companion for him. In the house and outdoors. He at times couldn't understand why they didn't allow dogs to accompany him to school. Such was the adherence and affection, that in a matter of a few days, that Romeo felt free enough to occasionally sleep in Aryan's bed and eat on his plate.

Romeo was presented to them by Mr. Suri's brother, an avid hobbyist and dog breeder. On his behest, Romeo was introduced in this household. He appeared to be an additional string of chores for Mr. and Mrs. Suri, for which they thought they were too busy and pressed. Once when Aryan was away for a school trip, his father had to walk him out for doing his needs. Little Romeo used all his charms to entice him. From wagging tail to sitting in between his legs. He lured him into stroking him lovingly. He did all the adorable and cute tricks in his kitty to impress Mr. Suri and get his attention. And, to Mr. Suri's surprise, it didn't take long before Romeo had made a deep ingress into his heart. He relished the time spent with Romeo, at home and more so outdoors, where he would talk to him about his office and work, while he listened to him very intently, with head tilted, eyes half drooped and giving his paw to him every now and then as if to approve him. It seemed he had learned to reciprocate Mr. Suri's emotions, just by the pitch of his voice. Obviously, this had a very soothing effect on his frayed and short-tempered demeanor. He made it a point to reach home early and go for long walks with Romeo. To his genuine amazement, he could feel getting unfathomed love from Romeo, in return of his little attention to him. He loved the way Romeo went crazy when he reached home and leaned on him with Low front, mouth wide open and wagging tail.

 A dog is a man's best friend.

He realized that soon he was enjoying his evenings at home like never before, and as a result of his newfound contentment, things started to get better at home. His wife also started feeling the ripples. And long before they comprehended, they were family again. Inwardly they all thanked little Romeo for this progress though they seldom acknowledged this openly. Romeo, as long as he was able to see all of them together and hear them laugh together on his silly tricks, loved this absolutely. They all started having dinners together, Ronnie getting center of attraction licking up from Aryan's plate. Romeo was loved and adored by all.

At least this was what he thought.

Rani, the maid, had a son two years old, which she at times brought along to the work. Prior to Ronnie, the baby was the center of attraction and used to draw whatever little love was there in the household. He was picked up, kissed and offered all kinds of biscuits and chocolates. Rani took proud delight in this. After Romeo things started to change for them. Romeo gradually started getting a larger share of those chocolates, cookies, and love, quite to Rani's detest. She developed an antipathy towards him, and it soon grew into hatred. She just wished this dog to disappear She daydreamed, thinking ways to get rid of him. Her mind toyed with queer ideas like walking him down to unreturnable distance, throwing him over the terrace, drowning him in the bathtub and even about poisoning him. This hatred started as a slight queer figment, which soon grew to a firm desire to get rid of the dog. She lacked in determination though. How much vile someone can become by hatred, was written all over her. She ill-treated him, despite Romeo,s frantic yet vainful efforts to charm Rani with his mojo. Mrs. Suri was not unaware of this changed attitude or reasons behind it and relegated her from dog chores.

There were others too who had reasons valid enough, to dislike him. Mrs. Sharma had lost her unflinching companion and solace. It appeared to her that she had once more strayed into the turbulent open seas of her wearisome thinking, losing her mooring once more. After Romeo happened to Suris’, Mrs. Suri felt Mrs. Sharma's company more and more disdainful. Once the veil of melancholy started lifting from Mrs. Suri's psyche, She regained her merited fears that listening to Mrs. Sharma could bring back her gloom back, and so tried to avoid her, which evidently started betraying her hospitality. Rather she preferred to spend her afternoons with Romeo(His evenings and nights were already booked with her son and husband ) when she was alone and found him to be quite a company in long forlorn afternoons. She felt loved unconditionally and cared for. In fact, her housekeeping and homemaking zeal took a new beat. It was a welcome change and respite from spending her noons listening to Mrs. Sharma's woeful thoughts. This was very well read by Mrs. Sharmas' and she stopped coming to their house altogether abruptly. She was deeply hurt and her resentment was obviously more for Romeo than Mrs. Suri.

Once while talking to Rani (her maid as well) she blabbed, confiding in Rani than she should, more so on getting encouraged by Her. She expressed her animosity for the animal and her cruel wishful thinking of this dog to disappear, anyhow. This resonated with Rani. But she purposefully kept her dark intentions to herself.

If someone is loved too much, hatred can come from many surreptitious quarters to balance life. Such is nature. Mornings were the best time for Romeo. He got to do so many wonderful things. Getting a warm bowl of chocolate milk and cookies was one. And to bark in playful justness at the milkman another. Romeo loved to jump on his legs and occasionally hump his legs leg as a simple display of playfulness and attention-seeking. Once during this act of sheer adorable naughtiness Romeo accidentally tore his lungi. Hari, the Milkman gathered his lungi’s torn end and rolled his eyes in a funny way, encouraging Romeo to bark back lovingly, This was misunderstood as impertinence. Hari tried to shoo him away. Romeo very this too very amusing and barked at him and jumped in a rollicking manner again in an attempt to ‘earn’ some love in his eyes. He found this very amusing and waited for the day when his charms would entice him eventually and he will pick him on his lap. Every morning Romeo waited for milkman just to play with him and loved the game of rebuffs and awkward frightening of the milkman. There was none beyond his love, he had this confidence in himself, but he was misconceived. Little did he realized that all this unsolicited playfulness has caused Hari to start abhorring him and feeling quite flustered in the mornings. unknowingly Hari got himself in the ever-growing queue of the people wishing for the dog to disappear and a queue of people ready to take this matter in their own hands-on getting the right opportunity.

Then there was Devesh, Aryan's friend, next door, who was from a different school, Disha, a school for children with special needs. Until last year Devesh had been studying in the same schools as Aryan's, but over the last two years, he was not able to cope with studies and slumped pathetically in all aspects, academics, sports, and social interaction. Caught in a muddle, On getting analyzed by a counselor, he was ‘labeled’ as autistic. He was pulled out of that school and leave his few friends, one to be precise, and readmitted to this special school. On the counselor’s recommendation, he was furnished with a dog to help build his social interactibility, as part of a therapeutic regimen. The dog he had was a Pomeranian, not quite cute and endearing as Romeo, a Retriever Labrador. More than that the time he used to spend loitering with Aryan in the evenings and weekends, in the nearby park, was taken over by Romeo. Out of sheer childish envy and forsaking, he wished this dog to die or drown. A negative emotion which he felt for the first time towards anyone but a strong one too.Though his tender age and mentation precluded him from having any further vehemence.

It was a lovely, cool November morning. Fresh and crisp air heavy with fragrances from nearby Rose bushes and Parijat(night Jasmine) were making the air too deliciously scented and the morning had a nip of love and warmth in the ambiance.

Mrs. and Mr. Suri woke up a little late, making full use of Sunday morning. They were ‘interrupted’ by the doorbell, likely from Rani, for which she was yelled over from the bedroom asking her to wait for a few minutes in the lawn. After a few minutes Despite him trying to pull her back, she rose to make tea for herself and him, feed the dog and opens the door for the Rani. She opened the door and stretched her arms up and drew a deep breath as if to inhale as much of this fresh air as possible. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Mrs. Sharma closing the latch on the wicket-gate on their lawn, trying to sneak out stealthily as soon as she caught her eye.she found this a little odd.

“Good morning Mrs. Sharma. What happened.”

Mrs. Sharma almost startled, replied

“Oh, its nothing. My towel just sailed over from clothesline, yesterday evening, over the balcony railing to your lawns “.and in an obviously flustered movement tried to hide it in her underarms.and hurried off to her house.

Mrs. Suri shook her head. She found it a little strange how her lawn had been capturing and gathering neighbor's things in the past 24 hours. She remembered yesterday night at around 8 when she went out to last check the gate and lawns before going to sleep, she caught Devesh closing the gate just before leaving. on asking he told that his football fell to their lawns while playing on the road.

Meanwhile, she let Rani, already waiting for the last 15 minutes in the lawns, inside.

She glanced at Romeos’ kennel.

Ronnie was still inside, and his bowl of last evening supper cleaned up lying in front of his kennel.

Mrs. Suri went inside and made a cup of tea for herself and sat reading the newspaper, allowing her husband, son, and dog to sleep a little longer on Sunday morning. though she missed the usual scratching of Romeo on the door, by now, to let him in. After her tea, she prepared Romeo's breakfast and took it to his kennel. She set his bowl on the floor and tapped his kennel. No response. Again she thumped, yet no movement. She peeked inside and saw Romeo lying in an awkward position.on his back with limbs stretched crazily like a dead bug and face hanging to one side. He appeared stiff and unresponsive. It took her a few moments before She realized he is dead. she yelled for her husband, who came hastily followed by Aryan

 and Rani.

It was a tragedy of the utmost gravity. Over the last few months, they had never thought of Romeo as an animal or pet but was rather a family member. He earned family membership. Nobody can fully understand the meaning of love unless he’s owned a dog. A dog can show you more honest affection with a flick of his tail than a man can gather through a lifetime of handshakes. They realized they will never ‘get over’ the loss of Romeo. Only thing they can do is to learn to live with it and rebuild around the loss they had suffered. Grief was so painfully real for them all. Their neighbor would come to them for condolence and say things like"you should buy a new dog" or “what caused your dog to die" realizing little that these things were as insensitively cruel to say as can be. They thought “Dogs come into our lives to teach us about love, they depart to teach us about loss. A new dog never replaces an old dog”

Ten days later, Mr. and Mrs. Suri, while sitting in their lawn after dinner, still feeling the void in their lives, tried to talk away their grief, palpating and consoling each other. Mrs. Suri was sobbing unabashed and Mr. Suri too found himself choked for words. He gathered himself and asked,

“So why do you think Romeo came to us and gave upon us so early”.

She didn't reply. She hasn't come to terms with the loss yet.

Though she had her suspicions, she doesn't want to ruminate on that. It was pointless and very painful to think about it. Images of Mrs. Sharma, Rani, and Devesh flipped in her mind but it all seemed too fanciful and far fetched, though not unwarranted, for her to implicate anyone. After all, they all were like her extended family and families don't do such things with each other. She didn't even share her suspicions and fears with her husband purposefully, not to addle him up and add to his agony. Though she knew it would be a piece of painful luggage to carry it singlehandedly in her heart.

“I think we didn't deserve love as selfless and deep as Romeo’s,” she said in self-reproach. It is amazing how much love and laughter can someone bring into our lives and make us understand so much, without ever speaking a word. He filled an unfathomed emptiness in our lives we didn't know existed.

“Hmmm.perhaps you are right. The last few weeks had been the happiest in our lives. I had a promotion at the job, Aryan has been more responsible, sincere and respectful towards his life. You too seem less frustrated more cheerful now and we too have rediscovered our long lost spark. He truly was a God sent. I wonder how much time we will take to forget him.”

“Forever,” she replied without looking up,

“But promise me one thing.”

“What “

“You will remain like this forever. Cheerful and caring. This will be our only tribute to our Romeo.”

“I will.” he said in a tone reminiscent of “I do” sounding like wedding vows.

And life moved on because it had to.

After 10 days they received the autopsy report which Mrs. Suri opened with trembling hands and heartache. She read,

"Cause of death: asphyxiation. unnatural perhaps from a small piece of bone found stuck in his throat."

Indeed,

It has been said, 'time heals all wounds. But All the wounds leave some scars. And This one had them on Psyche of certain.

In a manner of poetic justification, Mrs. Sharma backflipped on Rani and deposed her from her duties as her maid. Even after this she didn't find heartsease, fearing Rani would disclose her sinister thoughts to Mrs. Suri, which she shared with her, and lived in a virtual hell of dread from there on and added extra baggage to her already weary mind. Rani, had her own reasons for her jitters, and out of sheer guilt, lest his nervousness betrays her, she began avoiding eye contact with Members of the household. And couldn't work there for more than a few days more, out of her sheer remorse and self-reproach. She then had her difficulties in finding a decent home for work as the word about Romeo and her possible implication in his demise, spread in society. Devesh pitied Aryan for his loss and having got an inherent lack of emotional buildup, couldn't express his sympathies or guilt and developed unreasonable paranoia for his own dog. As for the milkman, Mrs. Suri stopped taking his services out of her surmise. She conjectured him as one of the suspects. 

This is the l price you pay when you abhor Love.

It is too difficult to live with so many wanting you to die.