Messenger from Heaven

In my childhood in Dhaka, Bangladesh there was a lanky, stray dog in our neighbourhood. Occasionally I would offer him leftover food. In return, he started guarding our door and wagging his tail as an expression of his gratitude.

While the monsoon season brought me joy, the dog’s plight troubled me. Soaked in rainwater, shivering with cold, he would take shelter beneath the leafy banyan tree behind our house. Some evenings I would sneak the dog in and allow him to take refuge in the dark corner of the veranda, but not without my intrinsic feelings of guilt for the deceit.

It has been an age-old belief that dogs are unclean animals and therefore not allowed inside a household. It bothered me as to why an innocent, faithful animal was considered unclean.

During holiday seasons we used to visit our maternal uncle and his family residing in the grandpa’s old house in the countryside. I remember one particular occasion when uncle took us to a fair. One of the shops was selling handmade pottery: colored decorative vases; pots and pitchers; statues of Maa Kali, Ganesh, and the Buddha; and toys of all kinds, including miniature animal figures: tigers, elephants, crocodiles and cobras. I stood there motionless, looking at the clay sculptures. And then in a lightning flash, I saw the heavenly light shining on earth.

God must have first created men and animals in different shapes and forms and then, like filling empty pots and pitchers with water, He poured life into them all. So, the dog and I must share the same life. Why would only one of us be “unclean” or even “inferior”?

In no time the dog and I became friends. I would call him Tommy. At my request, my mother allowed him to use the veranda during bad weather. Unfortunately, before his time, Tommy fell ill. For the first time, we carried him inside the house so that we could closely monitor his health. Tommy died shortly thereafter.

The dog went from being “unclean” to becoming a member of our family. We took some comfort in being able to care for him during his last days and grieved his passing.

I realized that the lanky, stray dog came to me not as a friend, but as a messenger from heaven.