The first thing I do on reaching home is shout. I shout out my bunnies’ names- Raja and Raju. Though they seldom respond to their names, but I just do that on impulse. Raja and Raju, my three-year-old bunnies are the love of my life and the babies of my family.
They have been with us since February 2, 2007, and that’s when we celebrate their birthdays. It’s sheer joy to see these balls of cotton, with eyes like garnet, hop all over the house. And how I love to cuddle them and pat their soft fur!
Raja and Raju eat just about anything. It goes without saying that they are fond of carrots and nuts, but they also eat a lot of other things like coriander leaves, peanuts, boiled potatoes, bread, biscuits, dal-rice, khichdi and even drink tea! They have a routine of having tea and biscuits in the morning.
Dressing them up is fun. They have many tees and caps for them and we usually color co-ordinate them when dressing them. They are very popular among kids and we always have children coming to our house to see the bunnies and some are brave enough to even go ahead and touch them! Though how can Raja and Raju intimidate anyone is beyond my understanding, as both of them are so docile and people shy. Most of the time you can see them snoozing, mostly on top of each other. And the time they are awake, they are munching on something or the other. We keep Raja and Raju in a ‘home’, fashioned out of a cage. We have put soft towels for bed and keep it covered with a little pink curtain when they are sleeping. It’s a lovely sight to watch them sleep- they look so peaceful and serene.
Though rabbits are not very interactive pets, they do respond to us. They even communicate in their own ways, and over a period of time we have learned to decode their emotions. Now we know when they are happy or sad. When they want food or when they are sleepy…we know them so well, as they are more than pets to us, they are a part of our family. They come hopping to us when they are scared and recognise each one of us in the family. Raja is very close to my mother. He holds on to her when there are many people in the house and he feels ‘threatened’. Raju on the other hand is more ‘brave’ and outgoing. He is the one who will go up to guests/ strangers and sniff about them, probably trying to recognise them…while Raja will stay put where he is and search for my mother.
All in all, Raja and Raju are inseparable members of our. They are part of our joys and sorrows…and some days, we even forget they are actually rabbits!