Whoever generalized "A dog is a man's best friend " is wrong. If you ask me to list my enemies, probably the second name in my list would be dogs ( first being spiders). I hate them that much. Both domesticated and street dogs. I find it cute when a pet dog calmly walks beside the owner like a Royal but it is irritating when it scares others walking on the same road. I also like it when the dog in Vodafone ad gets the girl's scarf for the boy but I'll probably jump out of my skin if see a dog running towards me like that. I'll explain why.
The first problem with a pet dog is that it is used to cuddling and pampering and expects the same when it sees other familiar faces. All I know is to smile at/shake hands with
known people. I cannot ever imagine hugging a dog. Secondly, some dogs bark at the top of their voice for the guests to acknowledge their presence. I don't need that because I wont bat my eyelid once I see a dog around. And third, some sit beside the guest and expect a share from his/her plate. No way, I am not going to do that even for gazillion dollars. It is even more irritating when the owner sits grinning and doesn’t take the poor fellow's fears seriously. Some even laugh it off saying "Chill! My kanna doesn’t harm anyone. He just wants to be friends." Don't you just hate it when that brat who scared you is called cute names?
Tyson, a German Shepherd that used to live in our opposite house in VKSP was one such monster. He was as tall as me. When he generally opened his mouth to show his tongue, the sight was so horrifying that it could be patented for horror movies. Every time our cricket ball/bird fell inside their compound walls, we used to shiver to go and ask for it.Tyson always had this "come-inside-I'll-get-you" expression on his face. But the uncle who owned him used to say "come inside beta. He is a very nice dog. He won't bite you." Tyson's fierce looks used to rule out any whit of truth in his statement. One day when one of us actually dared to open the gate despite other kids' warnings, Tyson barked so loudly that all his ancestors resting in Heavens above must have definitely heard his voice. We then decided from next time we would rather buy a new bird than fall prey for a dog.
If pet dogs are like sterilized needles, street dogs are like sharp uncalled piercings. I mean ultimately both of them will pain you. I could clearly hear my heart pound when I saw 10-15 street dogs in a single sight when I was on my way to a friend's house. It was as if they were having some caste meet. I pledged to go around a temple for 108 times if I escaped unnoticed. And the plight of carrying some eatable in hand and walking past a street dog needn't be explained. I once saw a black dog stand on its hind legs in front of a small girl who was eating an ice-cream. One sight which made me nearly faint.
So on the whole, I cannot walk a road 'undisturbed' with a pav bhaji packet in hand if there is any street dog in vicinity. I cannot go to any house which has this "beware of dogs" plate on the gate and come out without embarrassment. I cannot even call a dog a dog. When I try to shout for my rights, someone from Blue Cross will come over and say have some pity for the animals. Why this kolaveri di?
