An incident occurred today that convinced me to write a few lines about God’s creatures that we call animals, but they have so far proven themselves to be wiser in recognising human beings than many humans themselves.

I am not a fan of animals, but I believe in treating them well. How do they know about it, I do not know. I find it strange that cats and dogs follow me. Dogs have never harmed me, but I am scared of dogs.

I remember when I was a kid living abroad with my parents, once my younger sister went to our neighbour’s home. Mum sent me there to bring her back. When I reached there, a big dog appeared and put its forelimbs on my shoulder to smell my clothes. Later on the dog moved aside, leaving the way open for me to go. I was so scared that I rushed back home.

Actually, next door to our neighbour’s house a newly-shifted family had brought a pet dog, since I didn’t know about it and the family was not expecting any visitors, they had left the dog unleashed and I ended up having a really scary experience.

Since then, whenever I see a dog I do my best to run away, with an expression of dislike and fear on my face, an action that is not appreciated by people when I am abroad. The obvious reason is that people abroad, particularly in the western world, love their pets like their children and expect others to greet them well.

My recent experience with cats makes me wonder if animals are wiser than human beings? Well, I leave up to you to decide.

For more than two decades, I have been teaching in a university that is surrounded by lots of greenery. It is a common practice that people, including the university staff, give food to animals.

Recently a cat delivered a few kittens in the garden near the entrance of my department. One day, I found the kittens in the premises of the department meowing probably because of hunger. I gave money to an office staff and requested him to put these kittens back in the garden so that their mother could find them, and get some milk for them to drink. I was worried for the kittens because they were so tiny and if their mother did not find them soon to feed them, they might die of hunger.

My concern was over when a few days later I again found them within the premises of the department. I again gave money and the same instruction to another junior staff member. It became my routine that whenever I found the kittens in the premises of the department, I would give someone some money with the same instructions.

Today was a very surprising day for me. While going to my department’s building, when I passed by the garden, a cat accompanied by few kittens came near me and started meowing. Other people were also passing on the same path but they didn’t pay attention to anyone else.

It made me wonder if they knew that I used to ask someone to give milk to them. Most of the time, the junior staff who followed my instructions was different than the previous one, so they probably recognised my constant presence before the incidents.

I have been more concerned and kind to many human beings all my life, but most of them never acknowledge or even realise it. Are animals wiser and more sensitive to acknowledge kindness? What do you think?

Published in Dawn, Young World, February 29th, 2020