9. RUMI/TOMMY

Rumi was his original name.He was a police dog and was owned by an ex police officer who lived in our neighbourhood. He was a cross between the local and the Alsatian  breed and was maybe the tallest dog in the entire neighbourhood. Me and my mom are in the habit of going for regular evening walks.  We used to see him standing just outside the gates of his house exactly at the same spot looking at the passersby with somewhat dispassionate eyes. Once we decided to give him some titbits and watch his reaction. Even though he appeared friendly, he never allowed us to touch or to pet him. Slowly, we befriended him and he would follow us for some distance in our walk and then fall back when he reaches his house. One day my mother had to go in the same route alone, late in the evening. When she returned, it was almost dark and she was feeling a bit afraid. Suddenly Tommy appeared from his house and began to escort her, which he had never done before. Usually, the dogs being very territorial, wouldn’t leave their boundaries and if they did, the dogs from the other side would chase and may also hurt them. But that day Tommy crossed all the limits and came with her. Other dogs began to bark in protest, but where afraid of coming anywhere near him, owing to his huge size. He left my mother safely back home and went away. A few months later, his appearences became irregular and we often wondered why. One day we came to know that he was very ill and immediately went to his house to see him. He didn’t (or maybe couldn’t) eat the biscuits we offered but wagged his tail lightly on seeing us. He looked pathetic and we asked the owners why they wouldn’t take him to a vet. They said that the man of the house was out of station and so they had to wait until he returned. Tommy did not survive to see the next day. Later we came to know that he had some kind of tumor on his head, maybe because of which he refused to be touched.