I have always been an animal lover. In fact, I feel they are more understanding than humans. They love you unconditionally. On March 24, 2020, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a nationwide lockdown to control the spread of COVID, my immediate thought turned towards the stray animals that I used to occasionally feed from the leftover food in my cafe that is situated in a small town called Kurseong in Darjeeling district.

With hotels, eateries and restaurants shut completely, there would be no one to feed these voiceless souls, who most consider to be a nuisance. 

Being a pet parent to three dogs and a cat, the thought of these animals, especially the dogs, going hungry worried me and I decided to do something about it since I was brought up with the idea that one should always give back. It was precisely this thought that led me to quit my corporate job in Delhi in 2012 and move back home and do something for the people back in my hometown. 

This feeling again came back to me on the day the lockdown was announced.  With no proper solution in sight and no certainty over when the lockdown would end, I decided to start feeding the strays myself daily, in spite of apprehensions by some that they may be the carriers of the virus. 

I started cooking food for these strays (mostly rice and meat) and used to go out in the evenings to the railway station (which is right opposite my cafe) to feed them since a pack of them used to gather there.

Come rain or shine, I always made it a point to make sure that these poor souls never went hungry. And have been continuing to do so till date, despite my business taking a hit because of back-to-back lockdowns. Even after cases started dipping gradually and the unlock process began, hotels and eateries started opening their doors again but it never occurred to me to stop feeding them.

I felt that doing so would be akin to abandoning them.  I spend around ₹ 9,000  to feed and look after them. 

However, after some time Railway officials started opposing it as they said we were littering their premises. I, then, started feeding them outside my cafe. My cafe is a pet-friendly space.

While feeding, I also observed that a lot of dogs had also been abandoned by owners. Mostly they want fancy breeds and end up buying them for the status symbol. However, once these dogs become old and are not so fun anymore, the owners resort to extreme measures like abandoning them. My hometown lacks even a  proper veterinary hospital and many animals are therefore not provided adequate care and attention. 

I believe that one drop can make an ocean. One small act of kindness can make a huge difference. And I saw it first-hand last year when the migrant crisis hit the country last year. Since my hometown has a lot of people working in major cities like Bengaluru, Delhi, when the migrant crisis was unfolding all across the country,  it was a nightmare for us.

I decided to help out the local authorities in dealing with the inflow and there was one story that especially moved me. A pregnant woman who had traveled from Bengaluru was denied entry to her village as the villagers had apprehensions that she was carrying the virus. She just wished for her villagers to show some mercy and kindness.

If nothing, the COVID pandemic has taught me about the importance of kindness to all living beings.

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