CUPA

At morning 7 am on Saturday of 19^th Feb, the question that was refusing to go off my mind was “Am I really serious about going to this NGO?” But there was not much I could do now to think more and take some turning decision, after getting up at unusually early hours on weekend. Having finished the breakfast with the mind in confused (or rather surprised) state, I found myself in the BMTC bus, traveling the next 1 and half hours to reach the destination – Bang3. I was pleasantly surprised at the arrangements there and the bus from there left to CUPA sharp at 9.15 am.

Since this is not some picnic/outing, I had this apprehension in my mind that how I can make this article more interesting to read? There are no exciting games we played, no trekking, no muoth watering buffets….. How am I going to add spice to this piece of article? But the same questions were popping up in my mind as soon as the bus entered the CUPA campus, off Airport Road, Bangalore. This was not a team outing, so how am I going to keep myself interested for next 3 to 4 hours? But the wonderful NGO didn’t really disappoint me.

To tell more about this NGO, CUPA – Compassion unlimited plus Action was started in October 1991 in Bangalore by Ms Rogers at the age of 85. From two tiny rooms in her house, CUPA today operates from three centers and occupies a total land area of ten and a half acres. More than 10,000 wild and domestic animals pass through its portals, and activities range from urban stray dog control to load bearing animal relief centers; from a veterinary hospital, emergency care centre, and 24/7 animal shelter operation to rehabilitation of wildlife in their indigenous forest zones.

The interesting thing about this place is, if you are good at assessing analogy, it will strike you that whether you have visited some home where the animals are treated on par with their counter parts – the Homo sapiens. You can find friendly dogs roaming anywhere anytime, be it the office room, kitchen, pantry etc. workers and staff talk to them same like how they talk to each other and ironically they seem to understand the reply coming in forms or barks or meows. Go around visiting the different rooms – ICU, inpatient ward, general ward, kitchen etc. and you will see dogs which have tragic tales to tell, Dogs with one leg severed, dog which was nearly butchered for just giving an unexpected–low volume–bark at the daughter of its owner, cows rescued from slaughter house, parrots rescued from astrologers, eagle treated for some unknown fatal disease which has rendered it motionless, the list goes on. What is more surprising is that the place has got so many regular guests that even the animals seem to recognize them so instantly. As I was listening to a volunteer narrating some story about an animal, a family with cute little daughter walked in. The kid immediately shouted “Charlie”, and a small dog which has lost both its back legs and now walking around with the help of two wheels tied mechanically around its back side, came running to that kid. It was so heart touching to see them play like as if they were friends of same species.

I would have hardly got a chance to witness and know about the care shown towards these lesser-privileged animals had I not visited the NGO. But the more useful lesson that I learnt was that there is a special God to take care of these special animals which are abandoned/tortured by their more privileged owners. I got answers to many questions on that day. And more importantly, my ways of assessing the successful weekends got changed totally.

[Title courtesy: Children of Better god, a book by Susmita Bagachi]