Shivani had recently joined a new company and was dealing with a lot of newness. For starters, her office was located across the town, so she had to move closer to it. Luckily enough, the house she had rented came with a cosy garden. And the best thing about her new place was the friendly pack of street dogs and pups that lived nearby and befriended her in no time. Shivani got into the habit of feeding them right outside her garden everyday. It became a routine where the dogs welcomed her in the morning with their barks and licks and she repaid the sweetness with some food.
And just when Shivani was settling down to her new life, things took a turn. On one sunny morning, Shivani’s doorbell rang.
“Can I help you?” Shivani asked as she opened the door to find a stranger’s face.
The woman frowned. “Are you Shivani?” she demanded.
“Yes, I am,” Shivani answered. “Is there a problem?”
“I am Mrs Kalyan. I live next door,” the woman said, pointing to her left. Before Shivani could nod and say something, Mrs Kalyan continued. “There is leftover food just outside your garden every morning. I find food all over the footpath, we can’t walk or jog or even stand sometimes. It’s disgusting!”
Shivani blinked. “I’m so sorry but is it about feeding the dogs? I always clean up after feeding them. I give them some food and pick up the scraps after they are done.”
“Well, someone’s not cleaning up,” the woman snapped. “I’ve come across it and cleaned it up twice this week! See, if you’re going to feed them, at least keep it contained. Or better, stop feeding them altogether.”
Mrs Kalyan seemed very particular about maintaining the cleanliness of the neighborhood. She also seemed like the person who didn’t like having animal caregivers around. Shivani felt frustrated and at a loss.
“I genuinely didn’t mean to dirty the lane. I will clean up better from now on,” she said, slightly confused at the situation.
Mrs Kalyan looked dissatisfied with Shivani’s response and stormed off. Shivani closed the door and started thinking hard. If she wasn’t the one dirtying the path in front of her house, then who was?
The answer came by soon enough.
A few days later, as she stood by her window and sipped her morning coffee, she noticed a figure coming up her street. It was an old man carrying a bag of food. He was just outside her garden when he stopped and started to scatter food. Soon, the dogs came running at his whistling.
Shivani gasped. “Excuse me,” she squealed as she came running out of her home.
The old man turned around, surprised. “Oh! Hello, miss. I didn’t mean to disturb you.”
“I’m Shivani,” she said. “I see you are feeding the dogs, I’ve been feeding them too, but a neighbour was upset about the food scraps being left about.”
“Oh no,” he said. “I didn’t think anyone would mind. Actually, I go on my morning walks through this lane and noticed these puppies recently. So, I just drop some food for them here every morning. I didn’t know it was causing trouble.”
Shivani smiled. “I’ve been cleaning up after you, as has my neighbour.”
“Oh, that’s not good. I’ll make sure I clean up the mess I make here onwards.”
“I love feeding them too, uncle. Maybe we can work together and take turns to feed the dogs and keep this path clean.”
The old man smiled. “That sounds like a good idea.”
And from that day forward, Shivani and the man, now known as Uncle Acharya to her, met every other morning, feeding the dogs and cleaning up after them. They quickly became friends, given their shared love of animals. And Mrs Kalyan was also appeased, satisfied that the path in front of their houses was clean.
Shivani learned that sometimes, it took a little extra effort to keep the peace, but having compassion was worth fighting the good fight. As she watched the dogs wagging their tails in the morning sun, she felt warm knowing her small effort of feeding them along with her new friend was making the world a little better everyday.
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