The last bark

His car pulled up in front of the modest patio along the deserted dusty road. No sooner did he shut the door of his car, Moti came out running towards its master, barking in joy, tail right up and tongue wiggling in utmost pleasure. Moti was extremely happy to see Umeshbhai, as all the fellow villagers used to call him, who had returned home after a much painful city tour. Umeshbhai was a small time trader dealing in plastic toys for kids. Chobari village from the Bhachau taluka of Kuttch, Gujarat had a plethora of poor but talented peasants. Although the country had attained independence more than 50 years ago, and most part of the country was flourishing with commercialization, the Bhachau taluka and Chobari village in particular was still languishing in the pre-industrial age.

Nothing much had changed in Chobari apart from a few migrants from nearby villages adding to the 6000 odd people residing and a few crumbling schools, hospitals springing up in the last few years. Infrastructure was lacking, one could still see a few bullock carts tugging along, women drawing buckets of water from the well, and old men sitting outside smallpaan-beedi shops snuffing into the desiversions of nicotine. The nearest railway station was more than 160 kms away at Rajkot. More than anything, the village boasted of the primitive Shiva temple which drew crowds from several small villages nearby. It was believed to be setup by the Pandavas more than 5000 years ago.

Umeshbhai was considered a wealthy person, one of very few, from the Chobari village. He owned a big piece of land behind his house which he used to rent out to the villagesarpanchfor conducting their annual village gatherings andpanchayats. Otherwise a busy person, whenever Umeshbhai was free or felt slightly unwell to travel to the city for work, he used to spend time and play with Moti, a street dog he had found a few years ago from the city which he adopted and gave shelter to at his Chobari home. Moti was considered an integral part of the family which consisted of Saritaben, Umeshbhai's wife and Madan their 10 year old son who used to study at the Chobari primary school.

On a chilly Wednesday morning; January in Kuttch region was the coldest period of the year; Moti woke up with a start. Daylight had not yet landed on the dusty bylanes of Chobari, a little before dawn, when suddenly there was a lot of howling and shrieking heard from several miles away. No sooner did the moans grow louder, Moti sprung up from its sleep chattai and ran out towards the street. It had learnt how to unlock the door knob with its nose and did not break a sweat in doing so even this morning.

Moti started moving violently towards the vast land behind Umeshbhai's house, ran towards the center of the land and stood there barking its lungs out, groaning in pain. Its strange behaviour and loud cries soon woke up Umeshbhai and a few other village elders who came out of the house, more out of concern for Moti than fear. Umeshbhai called for Moti, but the canine won't budge. "May be he is not well, we should show him to the vaidji?" said Roshanji, Umeshbhai's neighbor who also used to feed and play with Moti frequently. "Lets go and check." Umeshbhai sprinted towards Moti to the middle of the barren land.

Moti stood there barking, the intensity getting lesser with every second bark. Umeshbhai leaned down to his knees and hugged Moti tight, giving him the most passionate embrace. Moti responded by giving out a really profound mourn, one that had a lot of emotions, one that it seemed to be delivered from the most compassionate part of its inside. Moti was ill, it was looking pale and caught under the weather. Umeshbhai lifted Moti in his arms and carried it back home, carefully placing it on the warm quilt and covering it with a bedsheet to protect it from the cold. He asked his wife to warm a bowl of milk for Moti.

Within a few minutes, the warm milk seemed to have done the trick, Moti fell in silent slumber. Umeshbhai looked at it with a sense of comfort and felt happy. He left for the local market thereafter to meet the peasants while Madan left for school and Saritaben got busy in her daily household chores. Chobari was a really sleepy village, and the practice in the village and nearby villages was a unique one. All the small businesses and shops would remain shut for a few hours after lunch time to rest. The morning rush, business, satisfaction of work was not the basis of determining if the day was well spent. A good day in Chobari was a day when one would get the most peaceful afternoon sleep. Business and shops would resume only by 4 PM on any given day until sunset.

This day was no different; every living being of the small village was in deep sleep when all of a sudden Moti decided to bring an end to the silence. He again started barking his lungs out, crying as if to suggest something to Umeshbhai and rest of the village. It was getting back to being what it was in the morning. Howling for no reason, trying to suggest something to people around, running towards the open land behind the house. It invariably ended up dragging Umeshbhai and the rest of the village elders to the middle of the huge open field and stay there. It stayed there barking with the intensity getting lesser by the minute. Once again, Umeshbhai carried it back home that afternoon. He laid it to rest, looking at it patiently from a distance. Wondering what was wrong with Moti, he had never behaved in such a way in the past. Moti was an obedient pet and used to comply with all its masters orders. Today, things were different though. Moti was being difficult, no one knew why.

That night, Moti was tied up to the side of the bed with a harness. The rope was long enough for it to roam around the room, but it could not go out of the room. Umeshbhai did it, not because of fear of losing Moti, but out of concern. He did not want Moti to create a fracas again out in the fields. He did not want to inconvenience his neighbours and other villagers. Moreover, he was perturbed with the thought that a spirit, a supernatural being had resided over Moti's soul. A thousand thoughts raced through his mind, but there was little he could do.

All hell broke loose when in the middle of the night there were loud thuds being heard from the room everyone was sleeping in. Umeshbhai was stunned at the sight and sprang up running towards Moti who was banging its head on the door, trying to break it. It was weird because Moti knew how to unlock the door, it was still violently trying to bash open the door while being tied to the harness. It was very restless and nervous, but was really exerting immense force to break free from the bed it was tied to. Umeshbhai did not understand this and immediately released the harness fearing Moti would break open the bed mast. Moti ran outside the house towards the open field behind howling along the way and breaking into the deathly silence of the chilly night.

Umeshbhai followed Moti and found himself smack bang in the middle of the field behind his house. That is where Moti sat crying and Umeshbhai stood there valiant as ever with his best friend. The chilly sub-normal temperature did not seem to have any effect on Moti. It sat there gently clawing onto Umeshbhai's pyjama, not letting him go. Umeshbhai was losing his patience with Moti. As much he was concerned about Moti's health, he was starting to get agitated at the whole affair and wanted to bring it to an end. He picked up Moti even when it was protesting to be taken back home. Umeshbhai was furious; he carried it back home and tied it with two different harnesses. Moti cried in pain, but it had to give up against the tough built of Umeshbhai.

Moti did not sleep that night, nor did Umeshbhai. It kept crying softly looking towards Umeshbhai and then towards the door. Umeshbhai was worried but he did not know what to do. Slowly but surely amidst a million thoughts pointing to an equal number of possibilities likely; his weary head faded into a serene slumber. Next morning was routine, Moti was tired and did not have the early morning biscuits that Saritadevi always used to feed it. Moti remained in itschattai, lazily sniffing about here and there, crawling inside the house with no intention to settle.

That evening, Umeshbhai and Roshanji were sitting on thekhaat discussing what could be done to bring back Moti to its normal self. After much ponder and discourse, nothing materialized and they both decided to observe for another day and then opine further. Umeshbhai had a busy day tomorrow since it was a public holiday which meant more buyers for his toys in the city market. No sooner did Umeshbhai settle on his bed post dinner to rest anticipating a big and tiring day tomorrow did Moti began to get violent again. The fierce little being with all its might marched towards the open field in the back of the house and settled there. It had one leg up in the air as if to call Umeshbhai and the rest of the villagers. Umeshbhai and a couple other elders went towards Moti and started petting it gently to calm it down. Moti responded well by licking their hands and pulling them closer as if to suggest them to settle with it in the middle of the field.

After spending a good few minutes with Moti, they carried it back home, tied it to the harness and left it to sniff about within the room. Moti was looking pale and exhausted, slightly older than its usual self. Soon enough, the dusky orange gave way to the gloom of the dark night. The chirp of the birds had died; the whoosh of the trees had all faded into the stillness of the night. Chobari was asleep. Not a spec in the sky, not even the moon could be remotely seen. It was the chilliest night of the season not just in mercury but also because of the quietest deathly muteness that prevailed in the air.

Next day, it was 26th January, 2001, the 52nd Republic Day of India. Whole of India was up early excited and anxious at the prospect of the patriotic processions planned in each city. Chobari was no different. Madan was all gleaming and ready to sing patriotic songs at the Chobari Primary School that morning following which the principal would be hoisting the national flag. Umeshbhai was getting ready to leave for the city with a hope he would sell all the toys. Saritadevi was finishing up the morning breakfast. Moti was surprisingly active today, he had been released from the harness and was sniffing along on the road outside the patio, behaving normal, tail up and waging about in glory. The clock struck 8.46 AM, and just then, the worst disaster in the history of Chobari unfolded. It lasted just 2 minutes, but brought down everything with unmatched valor and force.

A few minutes later, nothing remained. Houses were a mere stock of bricks and loose mortar. The Shiva temple was completely destroyed, with only the Shiv-ling shining about glowing under the rays of the sun surrounded by red bricks, half broken. Schools had only books, dusty slates and a few lunch boxes lying about above the heavy debris that had crushed all students beneath. Chobari had vanished from the face of the earth. Almost as if, it was gulped by the planet, forcing everything within itself. 

Moti sniffed around of what was erstwhile its abode. It was just a huge pile of debris now, across which it made its way to its room, sneaked beneath the debris, clawing its way. Soon enough, Moti emerged from under the biggest pile of concrete, picking up its chattai. A few grunts and barks along the way, it swiftly moved towards the center of the field. There was no debris there. Moti laid the chattai, sat on it, tongue wagging out, a sorry face; it kept staring at the picture in front. It was a sorry picture. One that Moti had already seen between its ears. A picture that had come to life. 

Moti let out a loud bark, only to hear it echo back. It was the last bark. ~