A sacrifice that paid

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We were returning from work as usual in the evening.

Shruthi stopped by a roadside vendor and bought a pair of  small fresh looking  banana plants.To celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi the next day. The sight and smell of it brought back different memories.
Of people hurrying home, bags full of goodies for wife and children.Coconuts, plantains, jaggery and pulses that would turn out into mouth watering dishes. Idols of Ganesha (Vinayakar to some and Pillayar to others) that would be pampered happily for a day and then immersed into some water body. Sometimes dead fish would be found floating the next day if the paint used on the idol was not eco-friendly but not everybody bothered about that.

But the lingering memory of this festival is of the year I was preparing for a
competitive exam. In my middle age, when the days of young expectation were over  and had given way to a sort of resignation of my fate.
Somehow, friends had inspired me and made me ambitious all over again.
 Foregoing ordinary get-togethers and fun. I had to travel quite a distance to attend a coaching class.
A Ganesh Chaturthi came in between and I could see people in their hustle and bustle preparing to celebrate.Dressed in bright silks and flowers, lining up before temples.Earlier, children in a holiday mood went swimming and diving.                                                               free digital photos.net

 To my then focussed mind, I almost felt jealous of them. Both adults and children. It looked as if only I wasn't free to enjoy.                                                                                                                      
Then came the exams and after writing them I knew I'd get through. It sure changed my life and  now as I look back I know that the struggle was worth it after all.  

My doggy experiences

                                                    Hi, I'm Maggie.

Sometimes I remember   my old life under different owners and I shudder to think of how my fate might have turned out had I continued there.

  


Maybe I shouldn't blame them. I was fully infected with ticks and mites and had no fur at all.

I don't have a photo of the  old me. I was of the colour  and shape of cooked prawns.

Somehow a kind soul took me to the blue cross where my present owner spotted me and took me home.Got me vaccinated and treated  me for all my ticks, mites and lice.                                                                                                                                                                  

 And treated me almost like I was human.

They already had Terry there, grandson of their favourite pet, Rosie. He welcomed me warmly and continues to be my friend, guide and mentor. He didn't laugh at me even when he found out that I just couldn't bark.


How could I, when both dog and man treated me like an outcast and I had to beg even for their left-overs?.

Only their little kitten didn't accept me. " I hate dogs and I always will. Don't expect me to change my mind.," she said angrily.  

 Unlike some pets who are tied at home all day, I am given freedom to roam about and make friends at specific times..

 This is Frisky, my first doggy girl friend. She told me about the place and introduced me to all the street dogs

."You have speed, you know,"she told me."You sure have some hound blood in you."

She gave me all the self-confidence I have today.

The brown one here is Lucky and the one with the long tail is NeelaVaal which means long tail. Lucky is very submissive even to me and is very loyal. NeelaVaal is more of the happy-go- lucky type.

                                                                     
  Then one day they were missing suddenly. I guessed that something was wrong. Ihad seen a van go after some rowdy dogs the previous day  but I didn't bother much about it then.Now I put on my thinking cap  and at last told my master about it,

                                                                                                                                                                 

    refusing to eat and biting my own paw instead.

This frightened my master and he went out.

                            He must have signed for them because they came back safe and their masters fixed collars for them after that. They thanked me and we continued having all the fun in the world.

Two months ago I met my admirer, Karuppan (black fellow). I noticed him watching me from a distance.Then he introduced himself and started telling me about his life as a vagabond. He tried serving different masters and then gave up when he saw our group. He says I am smart and active.

Last week he proposed to me and said that we should start a big family. But my master told me  firmly, "No starting a family till you celebrate your 1st birthday".

"Remember the dog-catchers?" he asked. " They caught those dogs because of all the pups they leave behind  with every litter."

In the meantime a farm -owner  said he could use me to coax some new trainee dogs to run and chase  intruders who misuse his farm.So now I'm a working dog with a purpose. My master takes me out to a ground nearby for a warm-up every morning. Then the farm owner takes me in his jeep to his farm.There I train new dogs-Shree, Hasina and Shobana to run and chase each other. Not the way we used to play at home, pretending to chase and bite. Here I nudge whoever is last or slow. I am taken home in the evenings. But I have very little time or energy left to play with my old friends. 

Perhaps this is what I was ultimately born for.