To God...er...r.r...Dog with love

Musical doggy encounters

2011-05-23T04:18:00.000-07:00

Some close discussion for which Ginger has turned her head away and Dash is uttering to me confidentially.

Nikki and Ginger peacefully listening to the tabla.

This brat is difficult to catch hold of...but this is a rare picture with him, as he must be moving away after that close confession to me whose picture I have posted here.

These are pictures taken on 21st May 2011.

Mishraji had come over for my riyaaz...and such scenes are very visible whenever I sit down to do my singing practice at home- which is a fairly regular part of my life anyways. So once more I have tried to capture them with the camera...all the dogs around me in the basement. Most of these pictures happen between ragas for me, when I need a little break and exercise my mind in a new dimension...with my pack this time around.

In the last picture here, one sees my sister having descended from the kitchen listening to Ginger while Mishraji runs his paws over Dash!

get the monkey

2010-08-15T07:44:00.000-07:00

thanks to the presense of monkeys in our lives , we have to make periodic dashes to the back lawn and of course we have no mercy on the grass, the plants and the flower beds our mother has planted. As you may see here, the monkeys plant themselves on all levels around our house and it is our moral responsibility to show our suitable displeasure at their arbitrary behaviour.

getting dogs at one level and the monkey up above into the same frame was a tricky thing but I have managed it. Of course, I was trying to get as many dogs as possible. Here one can see at least three of them.

Now since you have chosen to call it quits we are letting you go, but otherwise we would have trailed you as long as you hovered within our sight.
By the bye Raga and Ginger have a most curious behaviour when it comes to the simian business. If I am inside the house, they cower at the sight of a monkey and run towards me, or hide incase I am not at home. But if I am at home and even standing outside then Raga is most furious and making huge leaps in the air, as if trying to jump up to the monkey. In any case even these monkeys don't come one at a time, they come in troops of about six or seven and sometimes, they could be at least three females with babies clinging to them!

Nikki and Dash are the least afraid of monkeys in our home, Dash pursues a monkey till the last of them vanishes out of sight, irrespective of size. Raga and Ginger are occasional heroines.

newspaper loving Raga

2010-08-15T07:18:00.000-07:00

Catch me to get the paper

this german shepherd is more into the business of retrieving- or shall we say is fond of reading the newspaper?

but this is actually what happens to the newspaper after she has ran around with it, needless to say, one can only run after her incase it is the paper-reading day for it. thankfully, my paper is delivered in the letterbox outside my house and i only let a free paper come to it. But imagine what would have happened in days when I had not yet worked out the letterbox...I was quite close to this scene on a daily basis. Maybe I did not teach her the 'get it' command properly enough OR maybe maybe I just pamper them a bit and let them have a go at the newspaper, which is hardly newsworthy in any case.

sound of children at play

2010-04-17T09:51:00.000-07:00

here is my music room full of dogs and children, and of course us adults. it was fun we all had in this little room. on the floor one can see Ipsita's two sons, Payal's daughter Nikita, Basant's wife Payal with her son, Samaarth, and my own Nikki. Amartya the brat in red is playing doggy too, it seems. i am behind the harmonium whose keyboard is visible from here. wish i had a better angle.

look at Raga here posing. she never looks into the camera this way.

The Serious Benefits of Play

2010-04-09T02:48:00.000-07:00

The Serious Benefits of Play: "There’s more to playtime than just having fun—there are important health benefits, too.
LET THE FUN & GAMES BEGIN"

two pictures from march 2010

2010-04-02T05:21:00.000-07:00

i always love to introduce children with my dogs, good for both of them- in this picture my school friend, Priti's children had come home and they are all here sitting on the front lawn with my three girls: ginger, nikki, raga. Interestingly, two dogs are also looking into the camera. Raga had a bone in her forelegs and that was keeping her busy, otherwise she would have been licking these children. But I think this is a very nice picture.

In the lower picture, Rashma's daughter Isha is posing with Dash, who was a visitor in her home for that afternoon. So she is peering out of the window, as was Dash. He of course was very disconcerted being on the 3rd floor for the first time in his life and the dogs barking outside, made him quite mad and he was trying to get to them. While Isha also decided to get close to him and I took this picture!

yet another family picture

2010-03-01T06:59:00.000-08:00

with the peculiar nature of our family, it is usually difficult to get all of us in one frame. so this is really one of those rare ones, taken today, holi-1st march 2010, by saikat. the enticement is a toast! and since none of the dogs know that, they are all vying for it. ofcourse, at the end of this picture, Raga got the booty and left it, for it is beneath her to eat something with is not spread with cheese. ginger is climbing over me in her favourite posture and the rest and wondering when to make the leap. in any case, each one of them jumped-naturally cannot be covered in this picture. but this is really one of those rare ones.

bad breeding or early learner???

2010-02-23T02:50:00.000-08:00

what is your view on the matter? This btw is a little Rotteweiler puppy, who i christened Shadow and now the name has struck for want of a better idea! Shadow is held here by Dan, the nephew of Andre...whose puppy he is.

are we being served???

2010-02-23T02:04:00.001-08:00

This is a typical scene in our household, when it is time for lunch or dinner. the pack is broken according to this hierarchy- Dash always scares the girls to stay at the door, while he himself is closest to the bowls with the food served in it, whether it is cooling or I am still serving them.

According to Lucy...recorded by her mom

2009-10-29T01:31:00.000-07:00

Hunk and the real McCoy

As recorded on October 29, 2009. Event took place near Kali Puja time, 2009.

Place: Village Home, Radha Nagar, Hooghly District, West Bengal

We were in the village home the other morning when it happened. Mom was holding a camera in her hand and taking pictures of Gramps and Payal. Payal is a teacher. Anyways, more about me and Payal later; for now, getting back to the sequence of events of that morning---I was standing somewhere on the newly constructed marble porch where the blissfully unaware humans were standing and getting photographed. Suddenly in one corner (the common boundary with Sabi aunty’s house) I spotted Phoolkumari, stealthily staring at me, curling her body to sit on a heap of leafy dirt. In a millionth of a second I stiffened my body, lowered it to leap in her direction. Mom who was carelessly unaware of the impending brawl and was still finding the right angle on her camera to click Gramps and Payal, suddenly looked as I sped past her in my crouching stance. In the next millisecond, I had pushed the recalcitrant Phoolkumari out of the barbed fence around our home. Phoolkumari wailed and barked, showed her teeth and what not. I for one was enraged but kept my emotions well under control.

On the other end, more trouble was awaiting. Hearing the wails of Phoolkumari, Lalu of the neighboring house (his name is also Lalu, but he is a skinny fella) crossed the boundary and did the unthinkable. He was viciously showing his teeth to my bro Lalu. My bro is polite and not used to the rough ways of a real dog’s life. Bro wasn’t quite sure of how to react to this vicious gesture. Without loosing anymore time in understanding and strategizing, I went straight for the skinny Lalu and threw all my body weight in his direction, showed him a matching pair of teeth. He ran for his life and the ensuing pandemonium got all the spectators (father, Mukto uncle, Jethoo, Mum, Gramps and Grandma) a bit shaken up. Father grabbed the collars of me and bro and took us away from the site of the fight. The neighbors and standing folk started to shout at the erring skinny Lalu (of the neighbor’s house). Mom was still standing with her camera; didn’t know what to do with it. She thought she could have taken good pictures of me getting the intruders, but she couldn’t. It all happened too quickly and it was all so unexpected that Mum couldn’t plan any frame or angle. Had she been less petrified, she could have caught my bravado on reel, especially to show to humans who think looks is all what counts. I know my bro is a hunk but in some situations looks alone cannot deliver. But alas, I have no regrets, just better hopes for the future.

Lesson: Stay focused and calm. Issues related to the line of control of the house cannot be negotiated upon with sadak chaap kuttas (street dwelling dogs), whatever the humans may feel.

guard-dog-guard

2009-08-15T07:50:00.000-07:00

Look at this little brat...guarding his roti. Once in awhile I give dry, plain rotis to three of my dogs- GND. All three behave differently with their prize.

Nikki, needless to guess, wastes no time in taking the roti to its natural destination: her stomach. Ginger goes berserk and takes the roti in the true playful retriever fashion all over the house like a crown and when she is tired enough or sufficiently hungry eats it slowly- with no hurry and sometimes Dash shoo-es her away and impounds the roti instead.

But in this picture it is the little hero himself and NO this is not a grabbed roti but his original roti; given to him and him alone only. And mind you, he is not hungry either ...so he is giving mean glances at everyone to scare the hell out of them. As if they are not afraid of him already. I think this glance is particularly directed at Raga- who incidentally would never, never eat a dry roti. But Mr.Dash does not understand that and he really has to scare her with the meanest looks that he can cast in her direction- the little guard-dog, guarding his roti.

Oh btw, these days Dash-aa (as I sometimes refer to him with love) is concerned, he is not wearing his harness as the former one is already used beyond further use and we are awaiting the new ones that are coming from Kolkatta.

posing with my girls this once-

2009-08-15T05:52:00.000-07:00

Here I am posing with Raga and Nikki in two separate pictures. Raga the german shepherd and Nikki the labrador and me of course the homo sapien. the other dogs are also around on the front lawn

Nikki, mind you, is quite a handful and a real pleasure to hug. I call her my blood-pressure dog because when you hug her she gives herself so fully into the hug that you really feel the hug-warm, present in the moment and loving.

on the lawn with my girls...and the little boy too-

2009-08-15T05:46:00.000-07:00

this is ginger, always demanding her fair share of your love.

effusiveness

2009-08-14T22:18:00.000-07:00

Raga is known to be very loving and for showing her love too-in a very mouth-oriented way...without regard for the size of the person to whom the love is directed, or the comfort with which the recipient receives her love. See how it looks in this picture here as my closest friend and her child are subjected to her canine kiss.

patience personified or greed unlimited?!

2009-08-14T22:14:00.000-07:00

Much as they are known for their gargantuan appetites, Labradors are also touted to be lazy. At least for various reasons my Nikki has become lazy- partially due to the leg pain and partially coz i got her spayed in an improper manner.

Anyhow, i took this picture yesterday as she lay in the kitchen- a picture of peace, patience and love for food all in one!

nocturnal activity

2009-08-04T17:02:00.000-07:00

activity nay action never stops in our canine household. can you imagine what time this must be happening? well the time is well past ten in the evening, we are typically faced with a powercut situation and since sleeping is really tricky in the summer heat inside for us...we are all out in the back lawn- me with the camera and the dogs with a lizard, garden lizard or some such reptile to catch their fancy.

As you can see in this picture here (picture is disturbed due to the artificial lighting from CFL bulbs and the movement of the dogs) they are looking very eagerly in this brick-heap to trace any sort of motion of those reptilian adversaries. In view of the night, Dash is taking the liberty to use his size to the best of his advantage leaving Raga a bit confused!

pea hen

2009-06-17T04:26:00.000-07:00

the pea hen here landed on our wall and is looking with curiosity at the three dogs here and the dogs too are frozen in surprise...you can see raga's head, ginger and dash, right behind ginger as a speck of black.

this pea-hen was kind enough to let me get my camera from inside my table and let me click her from various angles in the garden. the dogs were also aghast to see her non-plussed by their noisy barking and excitement.

drain pipe devil

2009-04-26T05:19:00.000-07:00

Dash, the dachshund has more stories to report for than all the other dogs for the time being. there is too much of action for me, maybe coz so much is for the first time and then for the small dog that he is...keeping busy is important for himself. there is certainly no question of lazing around like the bigger sized women of his species. moreover, being the only male presence he sure has to keep his eyes on all sides of the house...!!!

you must be told about all the enemies that he has to contend with on a daily basis. on the front side of the house, he has to deal with squirrels and birds who feed at the bowls meant for them. in the garden there are plenty of garden lizards- everyday i am losing some or the other plant or pot! in the back-lawn again he has to keep the birds and more squirrels at bay. lately, there are monkeys straying into the house-mostly on the terraces. he has to object about that quite a bit. inside the house too...lizards keep him on his toes, especially in the guest room and the kitchen.

most of our afternoons we are in and around the lobby and periodically he jumps and barks at the lizards around. yesterday, between him and nikki they got one and killed it. then i shooed them away and had to send the poor dead thing on its last journey.

now the story for which this entry. on the terrace too, Dash has discovered a hidden presence in the drain pipe!!! and when i took pictures of it yesterday, for i found the whole thing so funny, i decided to name it the drain-pipe devil! the pictures have titles here and they are like this:

ok drain pipe devil i know you are there;
oh you dare to call out to me;
i know you are there...i can see you:)

are u giving it to me or whatttt???

2009-04-03T01:44:00.000-07:00

as long as you let me look into the bag...!!!

2009-03-05T03:33:00.000-08:00

the unusual couple

2009-02-17T07:45:00.000-08:00

this foto speaks for itself. thanks to the unfoldment of this sort of a tale, i was to learn a new lesson in my life-baptism by bite. err.r.r..r...Dasch the Dachshund bit me, and it bled quite seriously, in my ignorant attempt to keep him away by using my freshly bathed foot as a deterrent. A lesson well learnt! Raga was in heat, at the time of both this foto and the bite:)

Dash's former family

2009-02-04T04:48:00.000-08:00

this is a picture i took yesterday on the front lawn, when Dash's former family came a-visiting. They were kind enough to not call him Junior, much as they would have felt like, i am certain. But i had some very curious observations to make about this young-little-man of my house. He just ignored them or pretended to say, "I am too busy to pay any heed to you right now." He had spent the better part of his life at home with the lady in blue...but he was utterly busy chasing squirrels when she tried to coax him and call him closer to her.

That made me think of two things- either the presence of a bitch in heat (raga is in heat these days) has made him act like a peacock OR he has really adjusted so much in our home that he doesn't bother about the past any longer.

I am quite certain he recognised them. For not only did he bark at the main gate to welcome them but also did not play with their trousers, which he usually tries with every newcomer. On the whole there was an element of continuity in his mind and yet a supreme indifference too. At least bitches are not this way. I hope not. They were not excitable too much and were very welcoming and well-behaved with everyone.

In this picture you see the lady and her husband and her daughter...one who is always worried about the dogs they have had to give up for adoption and a young friend of the girl, who happens to be a musician:) My Nikki always steals the show with her affable temperament and here she is in this frame too.

musical dogs

2009-01-27T07:24:00.000-08:00

my dogs love music, or at least they are very tolerant of mine. i am utterly grateful that whatever i sing and wherever inside my home, i have some very honest audiences. They also keep changing their positions depending upon the venue i chose to sing in. They never object when i sing a raga inappropriate to the hour of the day or the season or even if my swaras sometimes go haywire (if at all). They are immediately mesmerized when i play my tanpura, they just know it is time to relax and take it easy...as long as their packleader is singing. i am utterly grateful for their patience and learning and i sometimes think maybe it is their destiny too that they had to come into the home of a person like me- to be such discerning audiences afterall:). past life karma eh!

though the newest dog dash comes from a different setting, the interesting thing about him is that he comes from a family of another artist- a painter. so i clearly know that dogs have their destinies and if it is art and literature, some dogs have it in them!

ten commandments of pets

2009-01-20T00:01:00.000-08:00

1. My life is likely to last 10-15 years. Any separation
from you is likely to be painful.

2. Give me time to understand what you want of me.

3 . Place your trust in me. It is crucial for my well-being.

4. Don't be angry with me for long and don't lock me up as
punishment. You have your work, your friends, your
entertainment, but I have only you.

5. Talk to me. Even if I don't understand your words, I
do understand your voice when speaking to me.

6. Be aware that however you treat me, I will never forget
it.

7. Before you hit me, before you strike me, remember that
I could hurt you, and yet, I choose not to bite you.

8. Before you scold me for being lazy or uncooperative, ask yourself if something might be bothering me. Perhaps I'm not getting the right food, I have been in the sun too long, or my heart might be getting old or weak.

9. Please take care of me when I grow old. You too, will
grow old.

10. On the ultimate difficult journey, go with me please.
Never say you can't bear to watch. Don't make me face this alone. Everything is easier for me if you are there, because I love you so.

1st january...new year come

2009-01-01T07:25:00.000-08:00

here are the foursome now...the newcomer is being slowly integrated into the pack. i am still uncertain what to call him, for now it is Dasch!

what you do see here is that how miraculously he is sharing space with the retrievers and not chasing after them, the manner he has been till today (he came on the 30th of Dec only) and now perhaps understanding who the 'worst dog' is (me obviously)

my dogs and my chrysanthemums

2008-12-27T19:37:00.000-08:00

write later

nylabone

2008-12-27T19:35:00.000-08:00

write here later....

the dog whisperer whispers

2008-10-17T08:59:00.000-07:00

this pal of mine is the dog whisperer by his own admission. do you suppose he is whispering something to the dog in question or listening to her whisper? i am still wondering after all these days! i ofcourse believe in the miraculous abilities of my own canines and i call this picture 'dogs that heal'

my cup of tea

2008-09-18T06:29:00.000-07:00

i have tried my best not to make my dogs into beggars. but they have their discretion about who to expect things from. you can never expect something like this when i am sitting on the table. but with

my grandmother...that alas is another story! at the time of taking this picture, my granny is taking her morning cup of tea- the time would be around 6:30 am

ok girls i will retrieve it

2008-08-19T04:00:00.000-07:00

Raga is the tallest of the three and around evening time- say 6 0' clock this lot gets restless to play. in this photo i have captured that and shared here how they are all waiting in anticipation for the ball to come down from that counter somehow.

so though the other two are retrievers technically, in this photo the retrieving operation is being performed by the shepherd girl:)

gum boots

2008-08-08T10:04:00.000-07:00

these pink colored boots came from austin last year. delivered to me in november- when my little sister got them and handed them to my father. she didnt know i would use them or how or where. but soon enough i used them for watering plants in the garden in winter and now in this monsoon season for walking the dogs:)

stretching

2008-08-08T01:43:00.000-07:00

one would think she has really had a hard day's work behind her, the manner in which she stretches here- nikki- forever langourous, forever naughty and enjoying herself the most it seems.

cool girl

2008-08-06T05:34:00.000-07:00

for raga the coolest place is the ...r.r.r....bathroom, where else. and she knows all three of them- for easing herself as also for settling down when tis too hot outside. here she is, while i must have been around, otherwise she would never linger on for long.

यह पोस्ट हिन्दी में hai

2008-05-20T22:12:00.000-07:00

मुझे पता चला की मैं हिन्दी मैं भी bलोग लिख सकती हूँ. तो मैंने सोचा क्यों ना एक बार कोशिश की जाए। लगता है कोशिश सफल हो रही है। वोंव। तो यह पोस्ट है इस गुलमोहर के पेड़ के बारे मैं तो मुझे रोज़ मिलता है। दरअसल इस में एक उल्लू बैठा मैंने कभी कभी देखा है। कल मेरे हाथ मैं कैमरा था, सोचा उल्लू दिखेगा तो फोटो खींच लूंगी, लेकिन उल्लू भाईसाब भी तो अपनी मरजी से मिलते हैं, मेरी नही! देखिये इस खूबसूरत पेड़ को। इसके ताने में जो इतना बड़ा छेड़ है उसमें छोटे उल्लू को मैंने देखा है.

the road we walk- woman and dog

2008-05-20T22:02:00.001-07:00

this road is right outside our colony gate no.9. several times a day i come here with this dog or that one to walk them a little outside the house and keep them informed about the world. up and down this road we meet all sorts of things- dogs, dog-owners, sheep,crows,squirrels, cows, stray dogs, an occasional buffalo or a horse, a pushcart or a tractor trolley. so this is our road of ideas and experiences and even as we walk along this road we muse, we ponder, we stop by and think and communicate in our human and canine languages and we bond with each other with greater cognisance of our respective limitations.
this- our road of experiences.
what you see in the picture is me standing right at the colony gate and taking this shot. this cyclist is pointing towards the direction i take to walk here. i mostly walk on this service road. if you look the left is where the main road is where all the vehicular traffic moves.

bathing nikki

2008-05-10T04:44:00.000-07:00

some dogs have all the shutter luck. in my case tis nikki. when i was bathing her this morning i told mom to click all the dogs as they bathed. but midway through nikki's bath the battery was over! so well i only have nikki captured as she placidly enjoys her summer bath this may morning. the time was before 7:30 am.

i may post a couple of other pictures to share the reaction of her siblings. the activity captured here is happening in our backyard and the bath-station is a newly built space where the washerman washes our clothes actually! and i my dogs:)

What am i going to do about you?

2008-04-20T22:05:00.000-07:00

Lalu and lucy enjoying the sofa in our Austin flat. Lucy looked like such a darling...she is sitting like a princess as Lalu looks over to her side.

2008-04-20T21:56:00.000-07:00

This is the Classic Lucy Look!! She always stares into the camera. In this one she's wearing one of my dupattas and she has a scheming look about her.

DNA testing ...for dogs!

2008-03-22T01:09:00.000-07:00

Get this widget!

murderous aunt

2008-02-12T19:06:00.000-08:00

aunt tony has desigs on these dogs and they are wondering what to make of it!!!
with a cake in one hand
and a knife in one hand
what does my aunt want me to understand?
tis my gran's birthday i am told
she goes on to become so much and so old
but why do these cakes etc leave me by
oh i sadly sigh and how much i want to cry...

another one bites the dust!

2008-02-03T07:06:00.000-08:00

nishi as i lovingly call my nikki chose the dahlias this year to vent her emotions. though these plants were suitably placed in a manner which would have ordinarily deterred another dog from reaching for them, such issues are of no consequence for my nikki. she spotted all my dahlias with their buds, without their buds and even this one with the full bloom being there. and when all had been sent to their premature end...she got this one and i could not but take a picture as a sad reminder to its fading delicate beauty...and nikki carries on

shepherd meets sheep

2008-01-19T18:21:00.001-08:00

yesterday (19th Jan 2008) Raga and me had a very curious adventure...not a very long one though. how i wish i could take the camera with me when i go out. i usually dont and this was one occasion i really regret it.

i was out with raga on a stroll. as i turned one corner i saw a flock of sheep coming towards us. now a flock of sheep with a hundred odd sheep is an unlikely thing in urban india with at least three or four shepherd shepherding them. but then i had the real german shepherd by the leash.

my little girl just saw the sheep (it was her first chance of seeing them. and that too all in such a big flock)she froze. i looked at her. she just crouched on the metalled road. and she sat her all animated, all bated breath wondering what sight she beheld. but not even for a second she took a step backwards. wow! i also got excited. i could easily have gone back but decided against it. i waited to see how it would be.

the sheep were proceeding towards us. suddenly they sensed the dog. raga also stood up. they simply changed their course and took an angle and moved on a tangent. but raga my brave little shepherd just lunged at them. i was really surprised at her instinct. i absolutely fell in love with her spirit a second time around. she did not cower for a second even and all the sheep turned their course becuase of one german shepherd girl. imagine. if she were to be seriously employed in this business so many of these men would have nothing to do!

my shepherd girl is worth so many of them men...ha ha ha!

15 laid to rest...

2008-01-19T18:18:00.000-08:00

this is a blog entry about nikki's unstoppable chewing practices.

the intention is to write in detail a little later

31st dec on the front lawn

2007-12-31T10:17:00.001-08:00

today tis 31st dec and soon 2007 would have receded into the annals of history. another year turns and soon we would all have a little more great hair and soon laugh lines too:)

some of my laugh lines will come from watching the antics of my girls as i also record for this moment to share it with you. have a look for yourself.

another video clip

2007-12-30T10:32:00.000-08:00

well this video is shot in my kitchen. across the telephone the empty space you see is my empty living room, and what you see out of is a huge open window. the design is interesting actually. inside the kitchen you will see at least three women- my younger sister, my mother and grandmother. i appear in this clip as a voice only. ofcourse the three dogs are very much there and the whole thing is to capture them in another mode. take a look. this is a live film. please click on the arrow to animate it.

what are these folks upto?

2007-12-30T09:46:00.000-08:00

though i took the picture myself...i am not certain upon looking at it a few days later, what could be happening. what do you reckon they are upto?

a friend and his pal

2007-12-30T08:56:00.000-08:00

here is a picture of a friend of mine...and his 'senior'dog who is called elsa. out here she has taken off his glasses in the course of hugging him. just see what a beautiful shot it is.
btw these two live in goa:)

black dogs -above and below

2007-12-11T08:21:00.001-08:00

black dogs -above and below
Originally uploaded by poet soulfree

a few months ago, we all lived together in one house. this is a view from those times when both the black dogs were around one another, and we around them as well. how they both look in the same direction from two different levels.

porridge for the first time

2007-12-11T08:17:00.001-08:00

porridge for the first time
Originally uploaded by poet soulfree

usually this lot doesnt get porridge to eat. but this was one of those days...and they were not sure they wanted to have it in the begnning. took a long time to take to the idea. here ginger is having her portion.

how quickly they grow

2007-12-11T08:01:00.001-08:00

walking
Originally uploaded by poet soulfree

just a few months ago, this was the size of raga viz.a viz nikki and now if you scroll down, just see the sizes!:)

irresponsible neighbours

2007-12-03T07:09:00.000-08:00

outside the house of this woman in the picture there is a pack of dogs, who are supported/fed/nurtured by those inside. these dogs have become rather fearless. they all look alike and are at least three of them. but the worst part is that they attack unsuspecting passers-by without a reason. so when one passes by this house and is suddenly attacked by this horde it becomes quite a shock.
right in front of my eyes these dogs attacked the ironing-woman (dhoban)Though she managed to shoo them away with the bundle in her hands and her own presence of mind- she was too shocked. it could even have caused a bigger accident in a lesser person; including possibly a heart attack!
i too have been attacked by this lot because they see in me the leader of another pack. i have taken it in a stride as i pride myself in handling dogs of all sorts, but even i am on my guard when i pass their way lest they wake up and go after me all together. i usually carry a stick with me when i go that way, something i dont carry ordinarily even when i walk my own dogs. i think these dogs should be immediately neutered. let me see how to work that out now.

salamander

2007-11-26T07:30:00.003-08:00

In the picture you see this salamander on the dog bed! ( not her idea as the story below will tell you)

the day this picture was taken...i was standing in the doorway, shutting the doors early for the evening. suddenly i saw something run past me on the floor. in this house there are a lot of lizards there. so i thought one had fallen from the ceiling. but nikki went running after it. nikki i notice is very sharp in running after moving things- more than all of them. may be her instincts of a retriever. since i had shut all the exit points the poor lizard could not get out. meanwhile all the other dogs had joined this hunt. i shooed them away from the door to allow the poor thing to escape. i did not realise then that it was unable to do so. then next thing was that i saw the dogs climb down the stairs towards the basement. they never do that ever.

then i understood that the animal was going down and they were after it-all three. they went down all the way, the door of the basement was open that day. i let them be, thinking that the lizard would figure her way out on her own. how can dogs catch a lizard, though in my heart of hearts i was apprehensive. as i was standing upstairs and either doing something or reading...ginger came upstairs after my persistent calling...and lo and behold! to my utter horror- dropped this poor little salamander on the dog bed lying there. that was too much of a shock for me. the salamander too was bloodied or seemed red (are they warm blooded?) too dazed to move and on closer examination i felt perhaps one of her legs too was broken.

i shooed all the dogs away finally. raga went and hid under the diwan in my music room, i tied up nikki as she was seeming very interested in the matter and ginger i put behind the baby gate outside the kitchen. with a bit of fear and uncertainty i managed to take the salamander out (while still on the dog mattress) and opened the mattress out dropping it near my pots in the driveway. what a relief to see it crawl away under my car! oh dear...i wonder what all i am going to see in this house...what with nikki pulling down the tassles of my curtains in the guest room. more about that later.

this is what happens when they are on the terrace...at least a synopsis of it:)

2007-11-25T07:29:00.000-08:00

ok so now what you gotta do is to click your mouse button on the arrow of the movie clip and you see a video i made - a very lousy one with no script really, but the idea was that i could show the actions of my dogs like live. you hear my voice too...making a fool of myself, trying to say something impromptu.

I like my party hat

2007-11-24T07:32:00.000-08:00

Lalu can never have enough trouble. Here he is recovering from a dog bite he sustained while playing with a not so friendly dog. He was bitten in his butt so we needed a dress sort of thing for him so that he wouldn't lick the wound...which he was quite capable of doing with his extremely flexible and stretchable neck. He had a peaceful recovery and in this picture seems quite happy in his party dress.

slideshow of november 2007

2007-11-23T09:39:00.000-08:00

please have a look at this to see the latest pictures of this lot

encounters of a different sort

2007-11-20T09:38:00.000-08:00

one of those when canine meets bovine...one is curious, one is apprehensive! with nikki one knows the levels of curiosity or animosity will have their limits. but not so with the other two.

i call this picture is it okay to sniff you mam?!

devils revealed!!!

2007-11-12T10:01:00.000-08:00

received through email

2007-11-12T09:57:00.000-08:00

i got this image in my email. thought immediately to put it up here. have no clue of the source. but loved the expression on the face of the duo. have a closer look and notice how they are nearly having the same look!

new kid on the block...my new kids i meant

2007-11-12T08:59:00.000-08:00

i shot this video accidentally. i hope to upload it more mindfully though. not sure i did a good job but at least its a first for me. others will follow soon. please click to see the picture. as you see, the dogs were in the lawn of the house. this is the front lawn that overlooks the street. all the girls are running around objecting to the presence of certain other street cousins of theirs. all their aggression is towards dogs, mind you. if anyone would believe any of these is a guard dog...err... no comments on that one. why should i say anything about my own pack? now for a few days the pack is not allowed on this lawn or the other one either - simply because they are quite a handful when they start digging the nascent grass and merrily stomp in with their muddy feet. as you can well imagine, for a single hand to manage those 12 little feet, by either washing them or dusting them is another chore added...i decided the best way is to let them run around in the driveway till the grass grew properly. i do ofcourse allow them on their own lawn (the back lawn) under 'supervision'!!!- obviously my own only. i love them running there. hopefully if all goes well with this video excercise, will make another video of that too and share with you. now over to the front lawn again where you see them now. for now they cannot even enter the lawn AT ALL for i have planted my own flowering plants there. i decided i want to keep this lawn for me and the other one for them. but on second thoughts, even within this lawn only certain areas need to be demarcated as those where dogs need not go and i think those are the two corners of the lawn where you see these people right now. what i am going to do is have a wooden/bamboo 'jafri' done over there and the rest of the lawn is open to them. i think that would be ok. why should i forbid them from any part of the house completely and what fun is it for me to sit alone on my lawn, without my family being there with me?!

just a few images from round the house

2007-11-10T09:17:00.000-08:00

explorers

2007-11-10T09:14:00.000-08:00

this pack is looking around in the backyard. in fact this is the garden which is being planned for them with a sandpit and grass on run on and play on. but for now they are not allowed in!

tantrums!

2007-11-10T09:12:00.000-08:00

sob sob...she has taken my toy away...

2007-10-22T05:32:00.000-07:00

Miss Lucy occupies the driver's seat when she has to wait in the car. She insists that humans and the family dog (our other dog) can arrange themselves in whatever suitable place they can find; the driver's seat she must occupy. When the human driver enters the car, she moves to the front passenger seat. In this picture, we are at a gas station and Lucy seems poised to drive the next 100 miles!!

2007-10-22T05:11:00.000-07:00

Training Time By the Beach

We had gone with our mutts to South Padre Island National Seashore, some 30 miles east of Corpus Christi, TX, USA. It turned out to be a very windy day. Like most places, you cannot let the dogs run into the waves; they have to remain in their leashes. We let me run for a few minutes with their leashes, till a park ranger caught sight of us.

times they are a-changing

2007-10-12T10:56:00.000-07:00

soon this empty house, this silent weeping lawn, this morose driveway will be abuzz with the sounds of dogs all over-running around, playing, fighting, jostling, chasing each other and what not.
raga was born in a house numbered 367. is it her strong fate-line that is getting us back to a house of the same number? is it the combined destiny of all the dogs? or is it my fate-line that i could choose to come away here, with my dogs and i did?

grass for the lawn

2007-10-11T09:36:00.000-07:00

this man here dug out the grass, about 200 feet of it, at the sundar nursery when i went there for the grass. preparing a lawn for the dogs is not all that easy after all. it was october, nearly 12:30 or more in the afternoon, and if you can see the sun was very bright indeed. anyhow today the grass has been watered for the first time and the rest i can do is to pray!...

some dogs have all the fun

2007-10-03T08:10:00.000-07:00

nikki is one of them. the day i went to faridabad last, i took her. for two reasons- first i wanted to make her have a run around the house there, a feel of the earth and the grass which they don't get otherwise. then i couldnt take raga because she gets travel sickness and starts throwing up and then ginger and om prakash(who was going there with me) are not good travel companions.so that leaves out nikki- who manages to go everywhere thanks to her temperament! the lucky brat.
and see what she is doing in these pictures- looking out of the boundary wall of the house in one to see the road outside- in fact the construction activity that is going on in the vicinity; and then sitting among the flowers of harsingar that have fallen in the morning from the tree. this tree was planted by me here, outside the bedroom nearly ten years ago or longer back. i am using two images of the same thing- one a closer shot and one from a distance. you cannot imagine my happiness to see her here among plants that are not growing out of pots, what to mention the fact that she can run around so much. had the other sisters been around, they would really have enjoyed themselves.

canine welcome

2007-10-03T06:56:00.000-07:00

if you dare to come into our home and profess your love for the pack and are not exactly afraid incase they did the same, well...er..r...r.r..
this could be you!

ofcourse milder variants are possible too...the young man and the dogs are all at their extreme and extremely flexible behaviour. it needn't get that ...much/bad/expressive!:)

friend from next door

2007-09-30T00:46:00.001-07:00

this is the gate of our house
Originally uploaded by poet soulfree

this little friend, whose name is not yet clear to me, a black labrador, comes visiting once everyday. in fact the boy who handles him tells me that he pulls the boy towards our house-naturally he has so many siblings and friends here. so when he comes, he stands his ground and refuses to budge, while the dogs indoors go berserk and its all a woofy affair for the humans, unless i stand with them and make them shut their mouth.

the first picture is the little fella from the lane behind the second is my girls, who react in this manner usually. they assume this posture to either bark at him, greet him or greet me when i come home from outside anywhere.

dog for adoption ?!

2007-09-29T23:08:00.000-07:00

beware of those who have dogs to put up for adoption. so my experience goes, unless it is a shelter...even then be careful. my experience of dealing with some of these people is bad. let me tell you what happened yesterday. i got an sms- about a dalmation up for adotion. the manner in which the sms was written i couldnt discern the age of the animal. so i called the number forwarded. first the phone rang and nobody picked up. then someone called me back from the same number within 45 seconds.

i said i had called for the dog. "oh it is a dalmation which is about a year and a little older". knowing how many girls i have on my hands, when i heard his age i backed out. but the lady at the other end was very patronising. when i uttered,rather unthinking of me too, that i was not sure how old the dog was and had called for a smaller one...she told me(very uppity now) that i should go and buy one if i want it, because when you go out to adopt dogs they dont come that young. i think our whole family is having by now a tradition of adopting dogs. me having done the dog up there on the blog title and her companion and my sister getting her's.(i am waiting for her to tell her own story, in her own time- while she finds her feet in the new city she just moved into from Austin)

In that case i was obliged to tell the woman, that i had a pack of three girls of my own. Upon which in a continuation of her patronising tone and as though educating me she said, "oh well! the three would simply kill one male" Now it was my turn to be amused and I told her, "usually that is determined by who the alpha is in the group- whether it is a human or a canine" Then i think she understood i knew a little about dogs too, climbed down a bit from her mighty position and enquired whether i wanted to know anything else. i was not even interested in hearing her voice by then.

But what i am driving at is this: usually when someone has an interest in putting up a dog for adoption and another one has an interest in calling or finding out...i think dogs should go to the people who have a genuine interest. i remember this other dog outside friendicoes- a yellow labrador who is now tied up over there-and getting more and more emaciated by the day, losing his spirit being tethered and losing his general joie de vivre. he was found stray somewhere and apparently went out biting too!( just imagine what he must have gone through to undergo such a change from his breed temperament) Now there is this very uncouth woman out there, who watches over the dogs, the pet store there and does some other myriad activities. it is not my nature to call anyone names, but when i see people who are loud on more than one occasion and whose only method of handling their stress or pressure at work or decision-making is shouting...i really am very upset inwardly, and turned off outwardly. I know these are the people I do not want to communicate with. Due to my taking things in a lighter way or talking politely if they mistake me to be a person with no mind or ideas- they are to be pitied. So this lady is one of those. I had also expressed a desire to take that cur home coz he was so pitiable there and deserved careful, compassionate, purposeful handling...and she again was one of those imbeciles who wanted to 'educate me'. Certainly i am open to education,but by now into the fourth decade of life- i know who i want my teachers to be. Dogs? Yes, Humans?- NO NO NO. Besides if you look at the catalogue here- they are my all in my personal collection, not a desiretta.

That also brings me to the story of how we got Caesar home. I think Tony had called up a European lady who had a dog up for adoption, and this was barely a couple of days after Rocky had passed away. But that lady had appeared to be so fussy about who she wanted to give her dog to...they must have a garden in the house, servants and whatnot. I wonder who the dog went to...but i am really amused, and rather pity those owners who have dogs up for adoption. i know from the stories of the four dogs i saw very closely- Goli, Junior, Lalu and Lucy- we were one of the best people to give the dogs to. Our dogs will tell you that story - not our tongues. (Though Caesar is another story- something that makes my heart ache all the time)

Last of all...a few months ago a friend was wanting a german shepherd- grown up. Saw an ad for adoption and called. The man who put up the ad, was going overseas, wanted to actually sell his dogs for Rs.15000/ each mind you. He simply didnt seem interested in who took the dogs (had two) but who could pay!...the adoption word was a hoax!

learning hands on

2007-09-28T07:54:00.000-07:00

this vet's surgery is a interesting place and occasionally i see a somewhat independent individual moving around the place. i mean of course of the canine species. so here is one who is captured by me...a young, playful doberman who in this shot is grappling with ball of gauze, and serious about it. the vet, being the affable chap that he is doesn't mind having an additional apprentice of another species:). Another shot of the same is there on my photo-blog. have a look incase...

i dare you untie my mouth

2007-09-28T07:50:00.000-07:00

this can also happen to a retriever! especially if she happens to behave unpredictable, untrustworthy and hyper-sensitive to any touch. yesterday after being spayed this girl needs her antibiotic-shots today. this is the only way the doc feels safe with her!

Did you take an appointment?

2007-09-27T09:22:00.000-07:00

look i am a busy individual. you cannot just walk upto me and expect me to give you my time. you better call up my secretary and fix an appointment. meanwhile, i am okay if you take a quick shot- in a passing sort of a way.

this is one of those lanes where the animal meets the human in a civilized manner

2007-09-27T09:14:00.000-07:00

on two sides of this empty space are areas where dogs come and go in/out; where they meet with their human friends, wellwishers and lovers. some also live in a shelter here. a lot of interesting sights meet the eye if you visit this place.

this retriever being retrieved by saline

2007-09-27T09:11:00.000-07:00

as the image is taken behind the glass, from outside, it maybe a bit blurred. i am still learning photography, please bear with me.

You- dog lover?............... Me... dog :)

2007-09-27T08:01:00.000-07:00

As I wait outside the surgery and invest my time in shooting...here comes this one and looks at me- somewhat persistently as though saying "Can I be a part of your operations too?"
If i could tell him, i would, "But ofcourse my dear. Where were you all this time.If only I could hear your story."

god, do i have to drive all the way myself?

2007-09-27T07:42:00.000-07:00

my chew stick, not rawhide- so what!

2007-09-27T07:19:00.000-07:00

just a picture, nothing else. these two were there outside the surgery where my girl was in for her spaying. while waiting for her all this passed by in front of my eyes.

view from above

2007-09-27T04:19:00.001-07:00

view from above
Originally uploaded by poet soulfree

Tis not only me but my dogs too that live on the first floor of the house. so one should not be surprised if they want to view life more vertically than the horizontal way:)

the next day after the chappal/footwear story

2007-09-26T09:42:00.000-07:00

since i am writing a few days later than i wanted to, i have lost the exact sense of dates in my head. but i know for sure this was the next to the chappal episode day. nikki looked up at the boundary wall of the house and leaped and guess what? well...no need to guess, the result is for you to see for yourself. sometimes i wonder, why does it always have to be nikki only?!

Tyranny of the Majority

2007-09-24T22:09:00.000-07:00

This happened in april...even the date comes to mind-19th april 2007, because the next day was my birthday! Some people came to my mother in this park who foto you see up here. This park is right outside my house. Ahe was exercising there and they complained to her about me- about the fact that my dogs came and ran around in the park and the dogs pooped there(made the park dirty)

Thanks to the fact that I had dogs that i wanted to run in the park...I had started waking up at 4:30 in the morning- to give them their due of running and exercise. Not a single light in the neighbourhood would be on then- we would run and play fetch, chase one another and so forth. That was the sole moment of their joy in the day I thought and their joy was mine. Our timetable was that i would wake up anytime after four, depending upon the alarm or my wakefulness before or after the alarm went off. I would first walk them around so that they would ease themselves- not a single day did I take them inside with either of them having a full bladdar or bowels.

Ginger is the primary dog that ran. Being a retriever she loves to fetch or even run. Raga was too small and Nikki just injured her leg, so i did not want her to hurt herself further. We had not even made Raga step out of the house till then (as she was not yet three months) So all this ire was probably directed towards Ginger or towards me for my aloofness. But why deprive me of my few moments of happiness...with my dogs...I really wanted to ask these people.

After a 'delegation' of responsible people met my mother- and mom never really told me who all came to her- my parents told me to not take the dogs to the park. They also said that they had lived in that neighbourhood all their lives (from 1950 onwards) with great dignity and regard and now i should not 'imperil' it (my words) In the light of the defenceless-ness of my parents and for the continuity of their 'dignity' I withdrew...once again into the garden of the soul where i dwell, as opposed to the garden of men- where cacaphony abounds.

Someday if i have the heart i will write down how we (my family) had 'built'(if one can build a park) this park who foto you see up here. If you were to touch my hands just now, it still bears testimony. My hands are so hard, tis difficult to believe that i am not a woman who works with her hands to earn a livelihood, purely because i am a gardener.

At that point in April, only my family in the entire neighbourhood had dogs. Four of them. Now seeing us or due to the coaxing of their children or for reasons of superstition some neighbours too have got dogs for themselves. And I see them violating the very park they took away from me and my dogs. I do not have a voice, neither my dogs. I wept a lot. Believe me. Not because of my inability but because i knew the time had come for me to leave this neighbourhood. And soon someday I might be making another blog entry from another city, another neighbourhood. Till I do I will keep noting down all that i have to, here.

The picture you see here is that of two of my girls running on a stray day (in july 2007) when I took them to the park around ten in the morning...to shoot pictures! Just see their happiness, their sense of freedom and fun. The picture you see at the head of this entry is dated 24th september 2007. An evening when all the men in the locality got together to sit in the park to watch the cricket match (2020 final between India-Pak) Imagine the tyranny of the majority when so many weighty people can sit into chairs that sink into the grass and keep sitting there for hours and create loud cheering sounds, in unison with the loud sounds blaring out of massive electronic speakers...in a supposedly decent neighbourhood. So just because a majority of them are together, they can do anything-including descrating public resources, abusing them and causing a sonic hazard to those in the neighbourhood. What if we had elderly people who couldnt tolerate the noise? We just might be having them. I know I have my elderly granny at home. Who knows their neighbours any longer?

We are a neighbourhood, dare I say nation of worthless people. Please see the foto. This is Monday evening- not the weekend. The ones who are playing the game are getting paid...But look at this lot of idlers and worthless men, still in their primitive tribal games- they have been this way for centuries now- cheering gladiators to cock fights and then modern cricket, baseball or football- not only live in stadia but also the televisions and giant screens. And then the ones who tend to lose are the voiceless people like me...with our sense of quiet and peace that is constantly plundered by living in urban, uncivilized (the polite may call them 'civilizing' ) neighbourhoods. onwards ho!

In the last picture here you can see both the retrievers on a heap of freshly mowed grass. Don't they love it? And why would they want to desecrate it like the humans...they belong to the earth more than the humans do; who are constantly surrounding themselves with electromagnetic chaos. It is the same day as the one above in which you see them running free. When we curb the freedom of a species what are we doing to ourselves and them? I think it is worth a few minutes of your time...

dog passes by-

2007-09-22T21:51:00.000-07:00

cast a cold eye upon gate,
upon main-hole
street dog passes by-

this is how the dogs go berserk at the sight of their 'country cousin'

whenever a dog such this...passes by my door

can u imagine the (shor) hell my dogs would be raising

for all of us?
look the two of them retrievers keeping a vigil at the gate..."hark who goes there?"

so now they have to come to that point of education in their lives

that they see that they dont own everything they lay their eyes on

and peace to me...

cast a cold eye upon the gate

upon the dog that barks

street dog pass by...

i am not sure that golden retrievers could be such guard dogs. but this one here is quite a one- in fact she instigates everyone else too. have a look in the other posts too.

waking up angry

2007-09-22T20:57:00.000-07:00

i am not sure anger is a good emotion to begin the day with. but i am begining it that way today. i am angry at nikki. last night i stood outside the house talking with a childhood friend who was visiting her natal home in the neighbourhood, after long years.

as i had just returned from walking the dogs i was in a pair of walking shoes and i had left this chappal at the base of the staircase (that takes me upstairs to my floor of the house) in the course of that approx. one hour that i stood there...nikki cleaned her dentures on my footwear. i was so angry that i hit her! i hate it but could not contain myself. it was less than a month ago that i had bought the pair. this was the 11th pair she 'retired' from my use.

i think one would understand when i feel like tying up this brat of a dog now and then. and just see what kind of a thing she has to be tethered with. everything else she chews off in no time.but just look at her face...how long do you suppose i can leave her this way? (usually it doenst last more than 15 minutes!)

why only chappals and footwear, everyday this gardener of a dog is upto pruning my plants and digging up the soil to either roll in it (which dogs do to change their smells, a sort of natural mechanism for deo-sprays. btw all the man-made deo sprays i got for the dogs have been unanimously vetoed by all of them. waste of my money) what do i do with this dog?

the flower bed that i had readied here a few days ago is the chosen one nowadays. everyday when she can, she goes to it and digs. once upon a tiem i wanted to give them a sand pit to play in. but then, for some reasons could not move to the hosue where i wanted to. i could not arrange for that here. so nikki is doing her own thing i suppose.

Dogs and cats are better than kids

2007-09-20T08:28:00.001-07:00

Dog and Cat 2 [ Zopidis Lefteris ], originally uploaded by Zopidis Lefteris.

Remember: because they
1. Eat less
2. Don't ask for money all the time
3. Are easier to train
4. Normally come when called
5. Never ask to drive the car
6. Don't hang out with drug-using friends
7. Don't smoke or drink
8. Don't have to buy the latest fashions
9. Don't want to wear your clothes
10. Don't need a gazillion dollars fo r college, and...
11. If they get pregnant, you can sell their children.

To All Non-Pet Owners Who Visit &Like to Complain About Our Pets:

2007-09-20T08:25:00.001-07:00

glaring, originally uploaded by soulfree me.

To pacify you, my dear pets, I have posted the following message on our front door:

1. They live here. You don't.
2. If you don't want their hair on your clothes, stay off the furniture. (That's why they call it "fur"niture.)
3. I like my pets a lot better than I like most people.
4. To you, it's an animal. To me, he/she is an adopted son/daughter who is short, hairy, walks on all fours and doesn't speak clearly.

pet rules...a brilliant and funny thing

2007-09-20T07:59:00.001-07:00

La curiosidad mató al gato, originally uploaded by perolo.

To be posted VERY LOW on the refrigerator door - preferably nose height.

Dear Dogs and Cats,

The dishes with the paw print are yours and contain your food. The other dishes are mine and contain my food. Please note, placing a paw print in the middle of my plate and food does not stake a claim for it becoming your food and dish, nor do I find that aesthetically pleasing in the slightest.

The stairway was not designed by NASCAR and is not a racetrack.
Beating me to the bottom is not the object. Tripping me doesn't help because I fall faster than you can run.

I cannot buy anything bigger than a king sized bed. I am very sorry about this. Do not think I will continue sleeping on the couch to ensure your comfort. Dogs and cats can actually curl up in a ball when they sleep. It is not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other stretched out to the fullest extent possible. I also know that sticking tails straight out and having tongues hanging out the other end to maximize space is nothing but sarcasm.

For the last time, there is not a secret exit from the bathroom. If by some miracle I beat you there and manage to get the door shut, it is not necessary to claw, whine, meow, try to turn the knob or get your paw under the edge and try to pull the door open. I must exit through the same door I entered. Also, I have been using the bathroom for years --canine or feline attendance is not required.

The proper order is kiss me, THEN go smell the other dog or cat's butt. I cannot stress this enough!!!

raga and the sisters

2007-09-19T22:36:00.000-07:00

Nothing but pictures to start with...

let me call them

Raga- then and now

a little puppy and a grown up puppy

with both her retriever sisters- ginger and nikki respectively

and how the tribe thrives.