Koji-The Pup

Yogika, had a friend who had a female dog that was soon to give birth to puppies. She had persuaded with a lot of difficulty, her father, to let her get one of the pups home.

A few days after the litter of puppies was born, an excited Yogika went over to her friend’s house and came back with a small little pup wrapped in a fancy flannel sheet, placed in a blue cane basket. Yogika had bought a playpen for the pup, a few days back, with her dad.

With much fanfare, the puppy was named ‘Koji’. Yogika spent the day, cuddling Koji, combing his hair, wiping his face with the choicest of facial wipes. In the evening she put some expensive dog biscuits in a bowl and put them into the play pen. The pup seemed to be quiet and sleepy. Yogika tried her utmost to get him to play, but the pup was not interested. At night, she wrapped him in a soft fleece blanket and kept his portable playpen, close to her bed. All through the night, she could hear him whimpering softly. She thought, he was cold, so she wrapped the blanket even closer to him.

In the morning, the pup was quite listless. Yogika was not willing to give up and return the pup to her friend. She carried the little one out and took it to the garden. She had bought a soft ball for him to play with. She threw the ball at a little distance and said, “Koji, fetch!” But the little pup could barely open its eyes.

Oh! What was that? Was it a tear? Koji was weeping! Yogika looked closely and found a tear trickle down the little one’s eye. He felt a little warm too. Perhaps he had fever. Yogika didn’t know what to do. Daddy was away for his morning walk. Mother had gone out to buy groceries. Yogika, wiped the pups eyes and cuddled it. She kissed it, hoping to make it feel better. But she felt quite helpless.

Just then, she heard mother come in. “Mama!” she cried out. ‘What happened, Yogika?” asked mother anxiously, seeing tears brimming in the little girl’s eyes. “Koji is not well. I don’t know what to do. Please help me Mama.”

Mother took the pup in her arms and said, “When did you last give him milk?” Yogika looked at her wide eyed, “Milk? Why?” Mother said, “Because that’s all he’s going to have for a few days. Tell me, when did you give it to him last?”

Yogika said, “Mama, I didn’t give him any …”
Mother quickly filled a baby bottle with milk and gave it to the pup. He suckled it and finished it to the last drop. Soon it regained some energy…

Many of us do what Yogika did. We provide the play pen, the doggie biscuits, the warm fleece blanket and the soft ball. But we forget to provide the ‘milk’. In bringing up our children, sometimes we are so enamoured by the fancy frivolities that we tend to over indulge our children. What we forget to provide is our love and our time.

What children really need is not fancy clothes and toys, nor expensive vacations and electronics. What they need is a part of you…. your love, and your time. These are invaluable…. they are priceless!
Baba tells us that parents today, lavish too much affection on their children. But such affection alone is not enough. There should be both ‘love’ and ‘law’. Only when both love and restraint are present will the love prove beneficial. For all the evil habits of children, who are naturally innocent, the parents are primarily responsible. Parents have to make sure that they teach proper values and behaviour to the children.