A rainy trek with a shaggy dog

Its one of the few things that I can write about, without any disclaimer. It is just pure, unadulterated happiness. Its something I have wanted to do for a while now, and I have finally been able to do it. And it was almost as good as I had imagined.

A trek with a lovely dog. In the monsoon. When the sky is crying enough so you can afford a smile. It was one of those days when you feel everything around you is as it should be. Lush green mountains, huge roaring waterfalls all around. Green carpets of fresh grass submerged in water for as far as you can see. And a heavy downpour to make it perfect.

I think it is a sort of rite of passage that everyone should go through, once in their life. You learn so much about yourself and about dogs and about relationships in general. Whether it is the way the dog gets ecstatic after being let off the leash in a green, water sopped field; or the way it runs around jumping, swimming and rolling around in the knee deep water, or the way it ignores you and simply wants to soak in all the nature it can. You learn that pure affection is a vibe that never fails to come through. You learn that what really makes you happy is watching the innocent creature explore and push its realms. That one happy moment can make up for a whole weekful of sad ones.

Most people won't believe me when I tell them of an incidence that happened today. It was the most beautiful experience. She had run ahead of me, ignoring me, jumping and scampering across gushing brooks and over bushes. She kept rushing back behind, just to make sure I was on track and hadn't gotten lost. On one occasion, as I was trying to climb up a slippery slope with an unrecovered torn calf, she ran back and looked at me with innocently raised eyebrows. She sensed I was in pain. Then she did the most amazing thing. As I hung there in limbo, neither here nor there, she came and licked my face sweetly. In the rain, out of nowhere. Then, she offered me her collar...to help me climb up the slope! She actually looked over me and beckoned me with her paw, to grab her collar so I would have something to hold on to. How overwhelmed I was with that gesture is beyond words. So much for all the ignoring I thought I was getting...

It was obvious that she was having the most enjoyable afternoon ever. She felt like she could conquer the entire landscape. The way she ran around madly, trying to liberate herself to the extent possible was awfully sweet. She wanted to convince me that she was indeed establishing herself on all those overbearing trees and powerful streams and impregnable rock faces. But when the moment of truth arrived and we turned the corner to stare up at a roaring, intimidating waterfall, the girl could do nothing but stand next to me and look at it timidly. Head titled, eyes full of fear. All her energy drained itself out and the best she could do was to run away from it and hide behind an excuse of a bush. When she saw me wade through the thickets towards the waterfall, purposefully, she meekly joined me and kept herself at my feet. As if expecting me to respond to her trust, by protecting her from this disaster. She would have much rather returned to one of her ponds and swam around blissfully with me. But because I wanted to enter the waterfall, she decided to tag along, fighting her own fears! Or perhaps she wanted to come just so she could look out for me!

The world will still have its problems, and an afternoon, no matter how beautiful, won't make everything alright. But in that moment, as I sat at the edge, with her cuddled up against my chest, scared, depending on me to shield her from the monstrous waterfall, I knew I could put off worrying about everything, for another few hours.