Thread by @shahalam13

1/n I have a friend who lives alone in an apartment. Being a busy man, he use to leave his flat early and came back late in the evening. In the process of this going and coming he befriended a common lizard right next to the elevator doors.

2/n Initially the tiny creature looked at him with suspicion but soon he found her waiting as he exited the elevators on his floor. He started carrying some bread crumbs for her and it wasn’t long before she followed him inside the apartment.

3/n He called her Chippi assuming her to be a female. Chippi now started living in the apartment and according to him was saddened whenever he walked out to work every morning. In fact at one point of time she started to feign vertigo and fell from the ceiling on many occasions!

4/n When this happened perpetually, a vet was consulted who labelled it a ‘behavioural problem.’ As time passed she became quite inseparable from him. He could now whistle and call her and she started eating from his hands.

5/n Chippi was the only living creature probably who enjoyed the lockdown last year. It was amazing to see how happy she was as my friend did work from home. He once joked that she behaves like his life partner. In peak summer he avoided putting on the AC because of her.

6/n It was the most amazing animal-man relationship I ever witnessed. Our common friends thought that my friend has probably gone nuts, an allegation he smiled at but never argued against. The three and half year old relationship came to an end last weekend.

7/n He called me to inform that Chippi has stopped eating for two days and before anything could be done, she passed away. Through his gentle sobs he revealed that she died right inside his palm. I didn’t know what to say.

8/n Friends thought this was the most unique example of animal love. For me, it was human compassion at its best, something which is lost in the din of today’s life. We humans are after all a gentle, caring, loving animal. I wish we retain this animal spirit like my friend did.