Silence is golden and who knows it better than our four legged furry friends. It is fleetingly that they communicate their joy or displeasure by barking, growling or whining.
This applies more so to my just turned 8, furry girl Cotton who is more often than not, very calm and reticent. The only time she gets frazzled is when a storm blow or it rains, or she hears noisy fire crackers being burst. And she vies for our attention when she is starved for snacks. All this without any noisy display of barking. Frantic shivering when the former happens and incessant pawing when hunger strikes.

They say that each being that comes in touch with us, teaches us new lessons. Cotton has had a long history of imparting nuances of nuggets my way.
One being this Friday, when I went to see off Alok at the elevator outside our door. A ritual I follow everyday as he leaves for work. And guess who else joins me in the “adieu ritual”. Well, none other than Cotton ofcourse. This was one of those days when I had lots on my mind and many chores and work related things to accomplish. So much so that I walked in and shut the door, not realizing I has locked poor Cotton out. On most days I bring her in calling our to her but on this day my absent mindedness got the better of me. I hurriedly got back to the table and engrossed myself deep in work.
An hour had passed, when Shantana, my help suddenly quipped, ” Who’s that outside the door? I can see 4 legs from under the door.” Distracted I looked away from the computer screen and asked her to go check.
As Shantana opened the door, poor Cotton sheepishly walked inside and came and plonked herself next to me.
I sympathetically looked at her and went back to work as I had a deadline to meet. It is later during the course of the day when I had some time for reflection that I began to think about how we as humans would have reacted in a situation like this. We would have knocked/ banged at the door or called out. But patient little being that Cotton is, she chose to keep silent and wait for us to open the door.
This is such a big lesson for me to stay calm in the face of adversity. The challenging situation you are in may not get sorted at once by banging the door, but if all fails what really helps is staying calm and strong.

29 October 2013