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
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
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?
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
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
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 :)
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."
my chew stick, not rawhide- so what!
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
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
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
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...
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