Two Puppies

Last Saturday morning, two obviously boisterous puppies played on the road. They epitomized the playful part of their lives, but seemed to be engaged in a ritualised dancing sequence. I stopped my Forrester just in time in front of them, as they gleefully enjoyed each other's company so much so that they totally forgot that they were right in the middle of a man made road.

I caught the glint in their eyes - they could not have been more than 3 months, with a rich brown coat of fur and handsomely marked faces. I wondered, in a year's time, would they still retain their youthful lack of care and intense enjoyment of life? Maybe they had amazingly escaped from under the house fence and had been wanting for all these rainy days to just release their bountiful, but pent-up, energy and just savouring the freedom of running outdoors. Maybe they were just being themselves, without any inkling of what they should be, and had the freedom to do so. What is sure was that they were having the best time of their lives.

Each of us had once been fully like that. Like the two puppies, we had at least once soaked in the wonder of the boundless possibilities of a rejuvenated day and a refreshed world. Some of us are fortunate to feel like that every day, or have found the formula to do so. Was it because the two puppies had not yet been subject to a structured regime, or maybe they chose to ignore the rigid routine offered to them? I suspect the answer lies more in the attitude of the two lovely darlings at that stage of life.

Even if we did not want to, we are eventually shown and taught constraints, responsibilities and commitments. At times, some of us revel in such overlaid requirements that we find ourselves trapped by them, willingly or not. The liberty of a life is only appreciated by acknowledging the imprisonments of what we had to undergo to get and enjoy spontaneous freedom. These imprisonments may be in the form of education, societal expectations and economic requirements. An ideal life is exemplified by the joy of two puppies prancing on a street, but there is also a cost - hidden and obvious - of getting them there. Just ask their owners for a start.

Nevertheless, it does not stop me from relishing or anticipating opportunities to enjoy such moments. Once in a while, I want to immerse in the glory of life - pure, unfettered and intense.