Puppy spirit

Who doesn't love puppies? Cue: That cute aggression you feel where you're confused whether to hug them gently or squeeze their pitiful face. When they are born, they are the epitome of innocence. As days pass by, they get furrier and cuter. Their competitive nature (“I'll eat/drink more than my siblings!) helps them shed their innocent image. They grow up quite fast though. Before you know, they've learnt a thing or two about the world. When they are very young, they'd walk up to anyone who bothers to exist. They won't hesitate to go to the cruelest of men to the scariest of canine. They will greet everyone they come across. But as they get bigger in size, they take note of their territorial boundaries. Dogs they are supposed to stick with and the ones they are supposed to fight. Everyday is a battle for nutrition, if not progeny. Once they are fully grown, they become one of the many faceless street dogs. Their good ol' days of puppiness have effectively vanished by then. However, there is always this one puppy among the litter who doesn't care much for food. S/he is least bothered about competing with his brothers and sisters. All s/he wants to do is run around and play. And this little fella—if at all s/he beats the harsh street conditions—manages to keep alive the puppy spirit throughout adulthood.  

Drenched, not shaken

During my maiden summer vacation at my native-place (Manipal/Hirebettu), i was six as well as stupid. We had cats at our place back in Bombay so this marked my encounter with dogs. There were two contrasting canines at my grandma's place. One was very old and didn't care much except for food while the other was young and followed me wherever i went. Anyway, that was the closest i got to a dog as i carried an image in my head. It was of a dark brown shepherd shaking itself dry in slo-mo. So, one fine afternoon, i went to the nearby rivulet to play. As expected, the young dog of ours followed me. As soon as i reached the sandy spot, i caught hold of him and tried to immerse his body into water. The idea was to get him drenched so that i could see him dry himself like his larger counterpart did on Doordarshan. Turns out my friend had different plans. Although i got it all wet, he won't trust himself with me anymore. Because of which, he ran like possessed towards home and didn't wait to look back, forget shake himself dry. 

I wish i could do this to my Twitter followers. 

A dog nose

My real-world fame may be restricted to street dogs but it’s not restricted only to those in my neighbourhood. I’m quite popular among a few near my office as well. Like this gentleman in the picture. He knows me for almost a year now. In an ideal world, we are friends with bonefits. But being an independent person, he doesn’t expect much though except a gentle tap on his hand or a scrubbing palm around his neck. In fact, unlike his eternally hungry counterparts in Sanpada, he hates Parle-G. Anyway, the reason why he’s featured here is he is turning blind in his left eye. I noticed it today. And i’ll do something about this mutual admiration because it’d be nicer to hold on to a four-legged friend whose eyesight is at par with his sniffing skills.