“You read to the people you love.”

In our opinion, reading is the most personal and intimate activity that can be undertaken by a human being for self-betterment. I still remember starting a book late at night and reading it up until the sun’s first golden streak would permeate the skyline of the city. My eyes would be blood-shot, my back would slightly ache, but my heart would always yearn for more.

But, before I could read ‘Murakami’ to myself, my parents would tuck me in at night and read aloud ‘Cinderella’ to me. I could not understand a whole lot of it, but my mum’s soothing voice would help me calm down and get comfortable.

Our parents read to us because they wished to connect with us on a deeper level and help us become a better version of ourselves. So yes, reading to someone else is an extremely selfless task.

Reading to animals

 

The need of the hour is to help ‘man’ attain a positive, sympathetic and loving attitude towards animals.

“Dog set on fire by some ignorant villagers in Maharashtra”

“Humans attach firecrackers to dog’s tail, blazed to death”

“Humans tie up a dog to electric pole up-side down.”

These are some of the headlines which would have never appeared in the newspapers, had humanity still existed.

JWB, Help In Suffering (HIS) & Under The Bamboo Tree join hands

 

In order to foster a caring attitude towards animals, JWB collaborated with ‘Help In Suffering’ and Jaipur’s first progressive school ‘Under the Bamboo Tree’. Our aim was to help children express their love towards animals through the medium of reading while taking up the issue of animal adoption as well. All we wanted was to spread love !

Because the strays deserve your love too!

So, on a bright and sunny afternoon, the JWB team escorted Tarra, Karan, Shrimanan, Divyani, Devansh, Tamanna, Bhavishya & their teacher Pooja onto the Help In Suffering (HIS) premises. With books under their arms and love in their heart, they took a tour of HIS before settling down.

The first thing that caught the children’s attention was the monkey cage!

Adjacent to the monkey cage, the HIS authorities were tending to a sick white horse. The children stared at the entire procedure in fascination.

After that, came the falcons.

And the donkeys!

And HIS’s most friendly three-legged dog! Aw!

Oh, and did you know that in order to maintain a peaceful environment for the stray dogs, the HIS authorities play songs in their quarters?!

Yes! In our presence, the dogs were intently listening to “Kya dekhte ho? Suurat tumhaari. Kya chahte ho?..”

So freaking cool!

After a tour of the premises, the children settled down in a quiet room ready to belt out some stories to their four-legged friends.

Ms. Bhawna, a devoted HIS manager, introduced the children to one of the stray puppies.

Some of them squealed in joy while some chose to silently adore her.

Ms. Bhawna then asked the children to name her, and immediately the wheels in their heads started turning!

“Timki!”

“Red-head!”

“Golden!”

“Brownie!”

And then someone said, “Lily?”

With widened eyes and half-toothed smiles, they shouted in unison “Lily! Yay!”

And so, the puppy is now called “Lily” (and up for adoption, btw)

Once the children were done naming the puppy, they quickly opened up their story books and started reading aloud to her. While one of them held our tiny munchkin, the other one calmly read to her.

Even those who were afraid of Lily in the beginning, started getting comfortable around her.

We even noticed that Lily too wasn’t scared anymore. She was relaxed and at ease! She stopped fidgeting and wiggling, and it seemed like she was really enjoying herself!

Oh my!

While the children took turns reading to Lily, the door opened and ‘Baxy’ took a silent entry into the room. She wasn’t a tiny tot like Lily, and therefore, could not be scooped up by the children easily.

So instantly, the children became a little cautious while dealing with Baxy and helped her get comfortable by petting her on the head. There were no fast movements or noises.

They maintained their distance and started reading to her as well. Slowly and steadily, Baxy and the children began enjoying each other’s company and weren’t apprehensive anymore!

Once all of them had taken turns reading to both Baxy and Lily, it was time to play the flute!

The children played “Sa Re Ga Ma” and “Pitter-Patter Raindrops”  to the dogs. It felt like they knew each other since ages!

It was truly a surreal moment.

Once the activity was done, Ms. Bhawna explained to us how people could volunteer at HIS and help them in different avenues of the organization.

You can help them by either volunteering or by donating money. Kindly check out their website to know more.

In the end, we would just like to say that sometimes we humans tend to forget that animals require our love and care too. Yes, they cannot speak or stand up for themselves, but it doesn’t mean that they don’t yearn for your warmth and attention. All we ask is for you to be kind & sensitive towards them. They are living, breathing creatures with emotions, just like us. 

Kudos to Help In Suffering for doing such a commendable job and providing tons of unadulterated love to all animals alike.

P.S. If you think you can provide a warm, loving home to Lily, kindly drop us a message! She is completely healthy and fully vaccinated.