Outreach

Staying back after school to visit an animal shelter seemed exciting, but I had no idea of the surprises that were in store for me. After a short drive, we reached Jeevashram. As the large green gate opened, a few dogs leapt at us with their tails wagging. One of them jumped on me with his soft paws on my chest, and then another did the same. Soon this turned into a ply fight (or something of the sort) of getting petted. I nearly fell over!!!!

They have a section where there were about 30 dogs, all in harmony. There also was a Cattery for approximately 15 cats. The one striking feature about one cat was that he looked like a Charlie Chaplin twin!!!! We were amazed at the uncanny resemblance between the two. At Jeevashram they also have cattle, horses and donkeys. There is a combined section for rabbits and birds - peacock, peahen, rooster and pigeons. It was fabulous to see the rabbits nibbling at the roosters feet, ready to get pecked. Soon we got to work, brushing and pulling off ticks and fleas off the dogs and feeding the pigeon, Bajra. We even named a pup Champagne as its colour was perfectly similar to that of the drink. Time flew by like lovely breeze of Spring. We returned to school and I promised myself that I would stay back each time to help the animals.

This was a truly wonderful experience!!!

By Tenzin Verma, VII C
25th July, 2007