This is in memory of my two demised pets – Goldy and Flounder.
It was a warm summer afternoon when I was first introduced to the two puny creatures playfully swimming in the meager water held in a transparent packet. Trepidations ran through me as I held the bag and rested it on my lap.I was sanguine and happiness radiated from me like radiations from a radium. But soon apprehension and worry replaced them. My face contoured as scad of doubts flooded my mind.. I knew it wasn’t really a walk in the park to have a pet and to add fuel to the fire I had two!!! Having two pets in a room where there were three people already....I started doubting my decision. But thanks to my roommates they welcomed goldy and flounder with open arms.
I never had any water creatures as my pet and I didn’t have a scintilla of idea how to look after them. But I was assured that fishes were the most non-demanding pets of all who simply required one time feeding and once in a week cleansing.( changing the water). How difficult can it be.....I thought to myself...and it didn’t take me long to find out.
Feeding them once a day was an easy task. But cleaning what they excreted after being fed....that was a noisome task. In the beginning I hesitated a little to clean their shit but I knew I had to stop fretting about it sooner or later......so why not sooner. The bowl where I kept them was a small one...I wasn’t sure if it was spacious enough for the two of them. But they seemed fine with it....got a small pump to circulate oxygen in the water....
So goldy and flounder soon became a part of our lives......Abhi’s,Mani’s n my life....We used to feed them after coming back from our classes and they used to help me clean the water. Leaving a note if one of us had fed them already so that they don’t get overfed.(because I read in the net that it was detrimental for their health).
It was a late Sunday morning when I got up and as a daily ritual I peeked into the bowl to see if my gold fishes were ok. I was petrified to see that goldy and flounder had red patches all over their bodies, goldy being the more severely hit. I shrieked and woke Abhi and Mani up....The three of us poundered over what could have happened coming up with implausible theories. Without further dawdling the matter I started to search for vetenary doctors in the net....called friends if they knew of any doctor for animals themselves. Finally a friend called back and gave me the address and phone number of a doctor. I gave the doctor a call and arranged for an appointment.
The doctor after examining the two of them poured a few drops of a dark colored liquid into the water and advised me to frequently change the water in the bowl. Like the first spring sun lighting the world after a long and infernish winter,the words from the doctor lighted the somber winter in me . Somewhere in the corner of my heart I felt a taper of hope lite up.But as I entered the college premises I felt a jolt taking my breath away.....Goldy was listlessly floating on top of the water.
I guess I didn’t want to accept the fact that it was too late as i scurried and placed it in a huge bucket of water . With trembling hands as I poured the rest of the medicine into the water I knew it was of no avail. With tears streaming down my cheeks I collapsed by the side of the bucket. After what seemed like eternity I felt warm and comforting arms around me.
It was twilight when the three of us carried goldy and buried it under a tree. Lachrymosed I said my parting words to goldy asking it to forgive me. The pain of losing goldy was palpable.....
Consoling myself that I atleast had flounder with me I started off again. This time more chary and vigilent. It was 31th of May ’10 when I took flounder back to my sister’s place....my vacations had just started and I was looking forward to it. Summer went well. Flounder got a little darker. I was told that goldfishes need to be kept in sunlight to have that shimmering golden coat. So I shifted its bowl to the living room....It seemed happy there....Its fins and scales started changing color....It started getting bright. But a few days before my vacations were over one fine morning I found flounder floating limplessly in the water. All my attempts to resusciate it went in vain. Flounder was dead.
It was then, I decided not to have any pets of my own any time soon. The pain of losing a pet( in my case two) was rueful enough to even bother of thinking of having one in the near future. All the consolations and sympathy seem hollow when you lose something or someone you love to death....It still sends a shiver down my spine....the woeful memories when I lost them.
