Breathing a heavy sigh, Deepak stood in front of his new class of feline pupils in Constantin's back yard, "I know a big change is on the horizon for all of you, my fellow Guru Miaow worshippers. As you can see, Constantin has tragically passed away from old age so I shall stand in his place as your new mentor and teacher."

There was a long silence before the entire class of cats erupted into fits of loud, hysterical laughter. Deepak's ears wilted, "What's so funny?"

"YOU ARE, you BIG DUMB DOG!" An orange cat called out, "Do you seriously believe that YOU'RE good enough to spread the teachings of Guru Miaow looking like THAT?"

"A dog teaching the ways of Guru Miaow?" A calico screeched with laughter, "That's the funniest thing I've ever heard! If you seriously think you can do this then you must be the dumbest dog on the face of the Earth!"

"Yeah!" A tabby chimed in, "Go crawl back to your own kind, chase a few cars and mailmen like nature intended, you delusional freak!"

"Constantin must've been a senile old fool if he made YOU his protege." A black cat added, "Dogs have no place in the house of Guru Miaow. Get lost, you sorry waste of space!"

Every single word pierced at Deepak's soft heart like a dagger and to add injury to insult, the cats all began coughing up hairballs and chucking them at him. Whimpering, Deepak curled into a fetal position to shield himself from the oncoming hairballs before getting up and making a run for it. He dashed through the hole in the fence, somehow managing to squeeze his whole body through and rushed into the backyard of his former home. Once again curling into a ball, Deepak let the river of warm tears stream down his muzzle and sobs shook his massive frame. Immediately, Dolly noticed her trembling brother and rushed to his side, "Bro? What happened?"

"T...they...r-r-r-rejected m-me..." Deepak sobbed into his paws, "I...I'm just...a big...dumb...slobbery...MONGREL!"

Deepak then burst into loud and uncontrollable wailing while Dolly fumed with pure, vitriolic anger, "Oh, THAT'S IT. I'm gonna teach those mangy furballs a lesson if it's the last thing they do!"

"Please don't hurt them!" Deepak whimpered, tears flowing like Niagara Falls, "Violence doesn't solve anything!

"Oh, I'm not gonna hurt them, Deepak." Dolly replied with a wicked grin, "I'm going to MURDER them!"

Deepak tried his best to restrain his sister but Dolly was too quick, parkouring over a trash can and leaping over the fence into Constantin's backyard where the cats were in a hysterical uproar, laughing uncontrollably over Deepak's tears, "OKAY, LISTEN UP YOU DISGUSTING PIECES OF KITTY LITTER!"

The cats stopped laughing and all eyes were now on Dolly as she glared daggers at them, "Do you have ANY idea just how BADLY poor Deepak has SUFFERED? EVERY NIGHT. EVERY. SINGLE. NIGHT. He's cried himself to sleep because YOUR teacher was DYING. And now that he's finally DEAD, all of you have the NERVE to defy your OLD TEACHER'S WISHES and treat his most beloved pupil like GARBAGE just because of that fact that he's a DOG? EVERY LAST ONE of you is a HEARTLESS MONSTER. Deepak has been nothing but KIND and CIVIL to ALL of you. Yet YOU all choose to DRAG HIM THROUGH THE MUD because you're all TOO JEALOUS of the fact that he's CONSTANTIN'S FAVORITE! One more insult. Just ONE MORE insult and I WILL DRIVE my dad's firetruck all the way here and BLAST EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU YARN-CHASING SCUMBAGS TO KINGDOM COME ON THE HOSE'S HIGHEST PRESSURE SETTING IF YOU DO NOT ACCEPT DEEPAK AS YOUR NEW MENTOR. DO I MAKE MYSELF PERFECTLY CLEAR?!"

There was a dead silence before the calico spoke up, "But, he's-"

"HIGHEST. PRESSURE. SETTING." Dolly threatened, flames blazing in her eyes.

The cats all gathered whispering to themselves before coming to an agreement. The tabby stepped forward, "All right, we accept but only out of fear."

"Good!" Dolly replied angrily before turning and smiling over at Deepak who was peeking through the hole in the fence, "You can come out now, bro."

Timidly, Deepak crawled his way into the backyard with his ears wilted and his tail tucked between his legs. Whimpering, he made his way to the front of the class before hanging his head and breathing a sigh, "Look, I know we all got off on the wrong paw. I know every last one of you hates my guts because of the way I was born but you know what? Guru Miaow loves all regardless of species. It doesn't matter if it lives on land, sky or sea, all animals on this beautiful planet are created equal. I know I'm just a big, stupid dog but deep down, I've always felt like a cat at heart. Laugh if you want, but that's the way I've always been. Countless times, the Dimitris have bullied me for being different but you know what? I've forgiven them every time. When our family adopted them, they came from an abusive household..." At this point, tears started forming in Deepak's eyes yet again, "I...I still remember them c-crying with j-j-joy when we r-rescued them...they...they had been through so much pain, so much suffering so so so much...t-turmoil...E-excuse me..."

There was a long, awkward pause as Deepak struggled to get his emotions under control and in about 5 minutes, his breathing returned to normal, "I'm so sorry...I just cry every time I think about that story. So as I was saying, every last one of us has experienced pain at some point in our life. I'm willing to bet that we've all been discriminated against in some way, shape or form. Please, stop spreading the hatred. Where is the love? Spread the love for once. Even if you all hate me with ever fiber of your being, I'll gladly help ease your pain if you're hurting. If there's anything you need to say, let your voice be heard for now is the time to say it."

As cheesy as Dolly found Deepak's speech, she could feel tears streaming down her face by the end of it.

There was a silence among the cats before the tabby raised his paw and spoke, "I...I saw my mother get hit by a c-car..."

The orange cat looked down, tears welling up, "When I was a kitten, I almost died in a house fire..."

The calico sighed, "I...escaped from an animal testing lab."

The black cat squeezed his eyes shut as tears rolled down his face, "The...the other cats in my neighborhood b-bullied me for being g-gay..."

"So you see." Deepak sniffed lightly, "Every last one of us is hurting. But you know what? This is going to be a class of healing, a class of love, a class of kindness. We're all here to relax and let all our worries and pain wash away. We're here to find our happy places, not tear each other down. So please, check your discrimination at the door or get out. It's really that simple."

The tabby opened his mouth stammered a bit, "B-but dogs don't teach Guru Miaow cl-"

"Dolly, would you be so kind as to hand me that fallen branch over there?" Deepak asked his big sister politely.

"Sure thing, big little bro." Dolly did as Deepak instructed and handed him the branch. It was a particularly thick one. The cats watched in horror as Deepak snapped the branch clean in two.

There was a silence before Deepak glared at his class, "I am a pacifist by nature but I will not hesitate to defend myself or my loved ones if necessary. I am just as capable of hurting as I am of healing. I am also capable of doing that to bones so you may want to hold your tongue if you are wise. It seriously pains my heart to resort to threats but it seems some animals in this world are a little too thick-skulled to get the message. By rejecting me, you are also rejecting and spitting on the great image of Guru Miaow. He teaches that all animals should be treated equally. By ousting me, you're disrespecting his philosophy."

After an awkward ten seconds, all the cats bowed before their new canine mentor, "Namaste."

Deepak smiled at the way he turned his class around. Dolly patted him on the shoulder, "You're awesome, little bro."

"Thank you for being there for me, Dolly." Deepak said warmly, smiling happily at his sister, "And so, let the class begin!"

And so, the class went on as normal and all the cats apologized over the awful way they treated Deepak. Later that evening, Deepak stood in front of the Wow Of Miaow, cradling Constantin's hairball in his paws. A single, happy tear slid down his nose and fell, absorbing into the hairball of his fallen mentor, "Master, you'll always have a special place in my heart. Namaste." And with that, the ying-yang faced dog hugged the hairball close the his chest for he knew Constantin would always be there to watch over him. The end.