Twelve years old Shreya and her five years old sister Sumedha lived in a small village with their parents. Shreya’s friend Pragya living in their neighbourhood, had a pretty, white dog as her pet. Sometimes they went together to Pragya`s house to play with the little puppy.
The little pet fascinated them. For hours they played hide and seek, running in the fields around Pragya`s house with the little pup yelping and following them.
When the little pup felt hungry, it would look innocently with its little pretty eyes, at the girls, asking for food. They threw crumbs of bread and biscuits high up in the air. Wagging its tail it would jump and catch these in its mouth in mid air.
Sometimes, the girls and the little pup played cricket. The three friends and their little pet formed the team. While two girls did batting at either ends of the wicket and the third girl threw the ball, the little doggie participated in the game as the lone fielder. It would run fast after the ball, retrieve it and bring it back to the bowler.
Because of frequent running in the muddy fields the shiny white coat of hair of the little pup would become dirty. Knowing that taking bath regularly was necessary for its health, the children would lovingly bathe the pup on alternate days.
The girls did not permit anyone to feed the pups. They knew that dogs are faithful to one who gives them food. . They were given food only twice a day, since feeding many times would have made it sick.
Children from the neighbourhood also came to play with the girls and their little dog. These children were very naughty. They teased the cattle and dogs by throwing stones at them.
Shreya, Sumedha and Pragya did not let these children tease their pup. Their parents had told them that animals too felt hurt like human beings, but since they could not speak, they could not express their feelings by complaining or weeping. Whatever the animals desired to say, they expressed through their eyes.
Their parents also said that God is displeased with people who hurt animals.
The three girls very much enjoyed playing with the little puppy. The baby dog also enjoyed playing with the little girls.
Shreya wished if she had a pup of her own, she and her sister Sumedha did not have to go to Pragya’s house to play with her puppy. If they had a pup, they could have their own small team to play cricket at home. Then they could do batting and balling alternatively with their pup doing the fielding. However, they did not know where and how to acquire a pup for them.
One day, when Shreya went to Pragya’s house to play, she was delighted to find that her pet bitch had given birth to four little baby dogs. Shreya asked Pragya’s father whether she could take one of these little pups home.
He said, “I can give you one of these puppies, but first you have to prove that you can take care of it.”
Shreya said, “Sir! I know how to feed, clean and bathe dogs. I have learnt it by watching Pragya do it.”
Pragya`s father said, “Besides bathing regularly, the dog has also to be taken out everyday, so that it does not make the house dirty. While walking the dog outside, you have to take care that it does not enter into a fight with other dogs of the street. Otherwise it may get hurt or catch infection from other dogs.
Shreya said “Sir! In the company of Pragya, I have also learnt how to take care of a baby dog while it is being taken out for a walk.” Pragya`s father also had a big burly Alsatian at his house. He said, “Everyday, in the morning and evening, I take this Alsatian out for a walk. Tomorrow, I am going out of the village with Pragya. There won’t be anyone at home to take care of the dog. You may take it out for a walk tomorrow morning.
Let me see how you take care of this dog, when you take it out. Please be careful that it does not bite anybody or hurts itself in any way.”
Next morning, Shreya and Sumedha took the dog out for a walk.
The big dog was tied around its neck with a long leash. It walked, here and there, sniffing around the bushes for a suitable place to ease itself.
The girls did not know that in place behind a bush, the villagers had dug out a shallow pit in the ground.
The dog slipped and fell into the pit. It struggled to come out of the pit again and again. But each time it put its forelegs on the edge of the pit to pull itself out, it slipped back into the bottom of the pit.
The girls tried to take the dog out by pulling at its leash, but the dog was too heavy for their combined strength. Each time the girls pulled the leash outwards, the frightened dog pulled back and slipped into the pit. The girls narrowly escaped themselves falling into the pit.
However Shreya and Sumedha did not lose courage. They were brave girls. Their parents had told them that there was always some way to solve any problem.
`They often told the girls that worrying or crying could not solve any problem. The best way to solve a problem was to think with a cool mind and have a conviction that a solution was always possible.
One cannot think with a cool mind unless one has faith in God. If you have faith in God and pray, HE gives you some idea, with which you could help yourself. Sometimes God sends someone to help or changes the circumstances that create the problem.
The girls did not panic. With faith in God, they looked around for help.
Nearby, a few men were digging earth to build their mud houses. The girls requested them to come to their help. However, when the men saw the ferocious looking Alsatian, they did not dare to come forward. They were afraid of being bitten by the dog.
But the girls did not lose faith in God. They were convinced that God was going to help them in some way or the other. HE would give them some other ideas for seeking help.
God does not disappoint a true believer.
An idea clicked in Shreya’s mind.
She remembered the story of the thirsty crow, her mother had once told her. In this tale a crow had found a jar of water, but could not drink it because the level of water in the jar was near its bottom. The crow could not reach the bottom of the jar with its small beak.
The crow picked up small pebbles and dropped them one by one into the jar, till the level of water rose up near to the mouth of the jar. Then, with the level of water within the reach of its beak, the crow quench its thirst.
Shreya thought, as the crow had raised the level of water by putting pebbles into the jar, they could also raise the bottom of the pit by filling it with earth. She requested the men who were digging the earth nearby to fill their buckets with mud and rubble. The little girls then carried these buckets one by one, and threw the material into the pit.
Each time the earth from the bucket fell into the pit, the dog trampled over it, raising the bottom of the pit a little higher. After some time, the bottom of the pit near its edge was gradually raised up to enable the dog to jump out of the pit easily.
With a calm mind, courage and faith in God, the girls could do what several strong men could not.
Happily the girls returned home and told the entire story to Pragya`s father.
He was so pleased that he gifted Shreya and Sumedha with two little pups.
MORAL
1. When facing a problem, never lose courage. God always helps those who have faith in HIM and who help themselves.
2. All good ideas, which help one in necessity, are gifts of God to the believer
