I just cant believe I did such a thing!

I feel nice, very nice indeed, when someone says things like
‘This is a unique dog. He does not live by tooth or fang. He respects the right of cats to be cats although he doesn't admire them. He turns his steps rather than disturb an earnest caterpillar. His greatest fear is that someone will point out a rabbit and suggest that he chase it. This is a dog of peace and tranquility’.
Only good blokes like John Steinbeck can say such lovely things.

Or Milan Kundera who voices similar sentiments like when he says ‘To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring -- it was peace’.


I somehow never liked the look of this guy. God knows why Vinay should keep friends like him. To tell you the truth, I find it difficult to warm up to anyone who hates dogs or fears them. The first time, this chap set foot in our house, I heard him telling Vinay ‘Don't make the mistake of treating your dogs like humans, or they'll treat you like dogs’. What irritated me a lot more was his guffaw that followed his own wisecrack while both Vinay and I sat with a deadpan expression. My hatred of him started instantly.
He even used to have an occasional dig at Vinay. Oneday when Vinay was going gaga over his canines saying how they adored him and all that sort of rot, this man cut him short saying that to every dog, its man was a Napolean.

What makes me feel sick is that everytime he comes here, he is sure to bring a joke or two about dogs, which I think he googles for. You know what I mean! Things like calling parking meters as dogs’ pay toilets! He kind of peaked the other day when he said he knew why dogs did not use computers. When Vinay looked askance at him, he grinned and said ‘Sniffing around is more direct and less deceiving than online chat rooms’ My stomach turned hearing such bawdy jokes.

To cut the long story short, this man became a persona-non-grata as far as I was concerned. If Vinay found him agreeable, it just showed him in poor light as a judge of men. Vinay occasionally tried to reason out with me about my bias against his friend but it was all just in vain. One day I was brooding over it all and the unfairness of Vinay’s friend entertaining such animosity towards dogs made me feel really low. It was then he walked in. Vinay was really happy to see him and that made me feel absolutely sick. With the initial greetings completed, the man took one look at me and asked Vinay, ‘Did you ever notice when you blow in a dog's face he gets mad at you? But when you take him in a car he sticks his head out of the window!’ I knew he was provoking me. But I was provoked not by his silly observation but by the way Vinay joined his friend in his hearty guffaw.
I was furious about Vinay’s insensitivity to my feelings and felt very hostile towards his friend. Just then Vinay went inside to make a cup of tea for his friend. I was trying hard to control my rising anger but the man selected that very moment to put his recent theory to test by blowing at my face. It would be difficult for me to recount at this stage what really happened. All I heard was a big scream from this man and I felt in my mouth about half a kg of the man’s juicy leg. Vinay was aghast at the incident but I knew he would understand what really made me give such an expression to my anger. Vinay knew more about canine behaviour than we ever did.

I cant say that I was happy about what I did. I felt even a bit ashamed but then I felt peace at the thought that every dog had his day!

 

Hi vivbass
Welcome aboard Dog Lovers' Club!
Sri

 

Dear Satya
I was deeply moved by the incident of Bowsy not eating anything for ten days after your father's demise. Dogs' sensitivity amazes me and if I tell you some of the stories (real ones) of dogs, you will cry.
I am trying to get a piece of land in Chennai to set up a burial ground for pet dogs. When mine died, I had no place to bury it and had to contend myself burying it on a roadside!
In this blog of mine, I have just tried to rationalise the much maligned canine behaviour in my own way!
Sri

 

Dear Vidya
Vinay is myself and the bitten one is an old friend, a former colleague of mine from State Bank of India. He is particularly averse to dogs and one fine day, he was bitten by Bujjy, my precious dog. In a fit of temper, I thrashed Bujjy who took it all with a Saint-like composure.
But she gave me such a sad look that kept haunting me for days. Through that look she told me the entire story. The mental anguish that she had to undergo whenever my friend was around slowly dawned on me and I reached a stage when I could fully understand Bujjy's point of view. I felt ashamed to have thrashed her.
This was the story as conveyed to me by Bujjy through her soulful eyes!
Sri
PS: If I had used my own name, the suspense would have been lost in the very first line!

 

Dear Lavanya
I am touched by those two lines. I am very keen to start this venture and complete it before Time claims me. I have a great passion for trees and animals and I want to leave at least one land mark by which people will remember me
Sri