It was after I had been placed in Infosys, through campus drive at my college. I had gone home for the weekend. It was late when I reached home. Mom was waiting for me at the door-step, ready to hug me hard. I always miss it when I leave home. As soon as I entered, there he was, a baby land turtle, in a big white tub, too large for its size, peeking out from his shell, a.k.a Bob. Well, he wasn't named yet, and Mom insisted that I name it. So, there he was, Bob. He was so small, and looked so delicate. But his shell, looked equally strong and hard. As soon as I went near him, he put his head inside his shell. After a few moments, he peeked out, to see whether I was still there or not. And then, he brought out his head slowly, and stared at me. He was so cute. I could look at him forever. But I was tired for the day, so decided to call it a night. From that day, he was a part of our lives, and more importantly, Mom's life. She used to talk with him all day, just as if he was a person. It sounds crazy, but whenever I went home, I used to talk to him too. And all he did whole day, was to sit around, or make rounds of the big white tub. For me, he was a sight of sore eyes. When I came home for the Diwali vacation, all I would do is take care of him. I even held him in my hands. He was smaller than my hand. His legs, or rather his nails, left a tickling sensation on my hand, as he used to struggle to get back in the water again. I adored him. Then, it was the day of going for the trip, a 15-day long trip to Himachal Pradesh. We decided to give him to our watchman's care, hoping he would take care of Bob. We gave him all the instructions, as to how and when to feed him, and how much. 15 days passed, and we came back home. I had missed him so much. We got him back from the watchman, as soon as we arrived. He looked just the same, peeking and bobbing his head up and down in the water. And then I left for Nadiad for exams. It was after I came back home, for around 5 days, that I noticed something wrong. His shell was white in color in the middle, and there was water collected at the end of his shell. Mom reported that he had not been eating for days. I yelled at all of them for not looking after him. We decided to take him to a vet, the other day. The vet examined him, and informed us, that he had viral as well as skin infection. He said that he had stopped eating days before. He gave us a powdered medicine and some liquid medicine and told us to cool some lukewarm water and put him in that water. But the doctor warned us, that he can't be quite sure, whether Bob will be cured or not. I got scared, he was still a small baby. I was so angry on Mom, Dad and my brother for not taking care of him. That was on December 2,2014, Tuesday. We gave him medicines, did everything the doctor said, but to no avail,
I was to leave on December 6,2014, Saturday, in a 10.30 am train. When we woke up that morning, we noticed that Bob was hardly moving. The doctor had advised us to put him in mild sunlight, between 8.00 am and 9.00 am. I went to take him from our neighbor's at around 9,10 am. He was still, un-moving, but I had not lost hope. When I entered my home, my brother asked me, in signs, and I moved my head, as a no. He and dad, both got up as I put the big white tub down on the floor. He still wasn't moving. My brother told me to touch his neck, I did, but Bob dint move. And then I knew.
Bob died on December 6,2014, a Saturday at 9.10 am. I took him in my hand, and he lay there, still and silent. It was just after a few moments, that I broke down, and wept. Wept like a baby, for my baby, for my Bob. He was not supposed to die this way, he was not supposed to die so soon. No. Never. It was our fault that he suffered this much. We dint take care of him. After some minutes, Mom came rushing towards us, and asked us what happened, and she saw Bob, lying in my hand. She broke down, and apologized to Bob, for not taking care of him. I apologized silently, as I cried my heart out. My dad kept apologizing to me, accepting his fault of not taking care of Bob. I will never forgive them for it. It felt as if I had lost a part of me. Mom then poured GangaJal over him. I wept silently, with Bob in my hand. It was time for me to leave for the station. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done, to leave my Bob, his dead body, in my Mom's hand. I never wanted to go away from him. I wanted to keep him with me forever. He was supposed to live more than us, turtles always do. I felt guilty, for not taking care of him, for not loving him enough, for not being there when he fell sick. I know, our lives won't be the same ever again, especially Mom's and mine. He will be my first and last pet. No one can take Bob's place. The guilt of our foolishness, the pain of losing him, will always remain with me. This is one of the things I can do, to keep Bob alive forever, in my memories, and in everyone else's too. This is for you Bob. I miss you. Alot. I am so very sorry. I cannot apologize enough. I love you, Bob, and always will.