India Finds a River of Kindness
With her little eyes glowing white through septic uveitis, India was surrendered into our care. And although this had caused her blindness, she could most certainly feel our kindness.
From Mark Twain comes a message that transcends species: “Kindness is the language the deaf can hear, and the blind can see.”
Although India readily took to a bottle of sweet-tasting formula and had a jacket to keep her warm, she took the greatest comfort in the arms of her new human carers. The euphoria was palpable with that love hormone, oxytocin, swirling around through both. And because of that, combined with daily medications, we look forward to a full recovery of sight for India.
It is indeed through seeing animals in such vulnerable states that we not only have a glimpse into their inner lives but ours as well. Recognising that what fuels their hearts is the very thing that fuels our own – a desire for a life free from suffering and the ability to fulfil one’s full potential, whatever that may be and wherever that may lead.
And if it was love that first found the new-born and amniotic-covered India – shivering on the ground that cold winter’s day, the only hint of life running through her near-frozen body, the ever-so-slight rise and fall of her chest – it is that same human love that will forever more guide her life, ensuring it is always flooded with a river of human kindness.