Cogitation

 I had a cup of tea with a friend of mine. During the course of our chat over tea he said some things which, given my persecution complex & sense of inferiority, made me mull over what he had said. Not wanting to come to a rash conclusion I decided to probe but without being confrontational. One of the things he had mentioned was the staggering amount he has to pay as fees towards his children's education. So I thought I'd start there.  "How much fees do you have to pay?, I asked him through a message. The figure he mentioned sobered me! "How do you manage?", I followed up, knowing his financial muscle, which wasn't really any muscle.  His reply was laced with a certain pride. "Born to manage", he wrote.  Naturally, here was a man, courteous, helpful, always in good cheer. Not once would you suspect that he had the usual problems of children's education, running a home, taking care of his old mother...  I felt great respect for my friend. I ...

 Just saw a video of a dog and remembered cruelty man metes out to trusting animals. Another video from some years back, of two doctor interns throwing a dog down from a building top. The one I just saw was of a black dog with her mouth duct taped...cruel!  Why do people commit such heartless acts? What delight can there be in that?  We have dogs. Having them for fifteen years has brought me closer to them and I realise how noble they are. An animal is noble. Personally, my dogs have helped me become slightly more accepting, a tad kinder and sympathetic to other life-forms. I have come to realise that we are all one family. My dogs taught me that. And they respond to kindness with all their liveliness. They dance the joie de vivre! Perhaps they are here only to speak the language of kindness, but we don't always understand that language.  Sometimes kindness and mercy have shape and form that are difficult to fit into our notions about those noble sentiments. If the...