While proud pet owners go gaga over their ‘fur-babies’, I shriek ‘go go’ the moment their beloved four-legged creatures come closer and start sniffing me. Pets are a bundle of joy for their owners, giving them loads of unconditional love. However, I get intimidated by their presence. Their proximity gives me jitters and their touch? A creepy-crawly sensation!
The truth is that I have never been comfortable around animals. However, during my childhood, a pet did cross our threshold —not man’s most faithful friend, but a rabbit. At the insistence of my little sister, a month-old white ball of fluff with sparkling red eyes and a twitchy nose entered our home and became the darling of the family. ‘Goshi’, this is what we called him, was undeniably cute. Everyone cuddled him, but for me he remained ‘touch-me-not’. Though I loved to watch him hop around, the idea of holding, patting or cuddling him was out of the question.
Among my many memories of this hopping brat, the most striking was the telepathic camaraderie he shared with my brother. The moment Goshi spotted him, he would perform a series of enthusiastic, gravity-defying leaps, refusing to settle down until he was gently scooped up and stroked by my brother.
But here was the kicker: while Goshi nudged my brother to pick him up, he never bothered me. He showered my siblings with affection in a dozen small ways but remained totally indifferent to my presence. This little herbivore seemed to have a built-in ‘vibe-detector’. He could discern exactly whom to approach and who to ignore based on invisible signals we transmitted.
I admit I am no pet lover; and pets have no affinity for me either. This was further proven by Skipper, my brother-in-law’s gentle Labrador, who lazed around most of the times. While Skipper would shower on the rest of the clan with affection, greeting them with his wagging tail and slobbery kisses, to me he gave a complete cold shoulder. No barking, no sniffing, no reaction whatsoever. He did not see me as an enemy; but nor did he see as a friend.
It is fascinating how pets decipher my inner thoughts. They sense that I lack the warmth and love for them; also they recognize I mean no harm. They mirror my indifference with a polite, silent truce- no friendliness, no hostility.
If animals can catch these vibes, we humans, with our supposedly superior faculties, can’t possibly be oblivious to them. We may not know exactly what is in other person’s mind, but we do pick up their emotional frequency. Not only do we catch their vibes, whether positive or negative, but we are also constantly transmitting whatever is brewing in our minds to everyone around us.
Conventional wisdom tells us to ‘Think before we speak.’ However, at a deeper level, the motto should be ‘THINK before you THINK’. The truth is that vibes speak louder than words. Words can be edited, manipulated and faked, but vibrations are uncensored and honest. You can craft a glossy sentence, but energy you emit never lies. For a beautiful, loving relationship, sweet-talking is not enough . Your vibes must be genuinely positive, and that means real work has to be done at the ‘thought level’.
(Published in Woman’s era September 2026 issue)
