I laughed so much when I read this ! I connected instantaneously to Josie’s plight. I am so much like that ! All the ‘dog-incidents’ came rushing to my mind.
I absolutely adore dogs (the four-legged variety…its best to clear that right in the beginning :) ) and they, me (but more about that later).
Right since I was in school, almost every week I used to find a puppy on the road or a nearby construction site or near a waste-bin, feel bad for it and bring it home…only to be forced to take it right back to where I found it, after giving it some warm milk, since we already had a dog. And so it continued till I was in college. Thus, in college, finally I was able to persuade my mother to let me keep the puppy I had brought home this time even though we still had our old dog. A couple of years our old dog died, who was, incidentally, brought home from a farm outside our city and was half-dog, half-wolf. I think that was when I stopped bringing home random doggies, but my love for them didn’t diminish. The puppy that I had brought home lived to a ripe old age of 15 and died leaving us all heartbroken. I do, still, of course, adore dogs. Except that my lifestyle and living space is absolutely not suitable for having a pet.
If you live in or have visited India, you’ll understand that it is quite common to see stray dogs on the streets. Some even manage to befriend local shopkeepers or restaurant owners and regular customers :)
I am quite friendly with the street dogs, much to the dismay of some friends who are mortally scared of dogs generally and stray dogs particularly. Even those of my friends who aren’t scared of dogs advise me that unknown dogs can be unpredictable and if a stray attacks me, it would be terrible. But somehow, I never feel that a stray will attack me. So I continue calling out to them, petting them when they come near.
But this is nothing compared to how dogs react to me. I am sure that you will disbelieve what I am now about to share, but it is true, nonetheless. Luckily there are friends who have seen it happen and will vouch for the veracity of these incidents.
On most occasions, if I am walking down a road and a stray dog happens to be nearby, s/he will come close to me and look at me and expect to be petted, even if I don’t make eye contact. If I do make eye contact, they’ll come rushing as if they know me from before.
Once, late at night after rehearsal, I was standing on the footpath talking with a couple of friends when a dog came running by, barking loudly at something in the opposite direction. Suddenly I said to the dog, “Shh…be quiet, it is late and people are sleeping…let it go”. To the absolute amazement of my friends (and me too, actually), the dog immediately stopped barking and stood still. I turned away and continued the conversation with my friends. Slowly the dog came near me. Then he sat down next to me. Then he inched closer till he was practically stuck to my leg. Finally he lay down with his head on my foot and fell fast asleep !
On so many occasions, if I am standing on some road, dogs will come close to me and simply sit or stand next to me till I leave.
My friends tease me that I’m a reincarnation of the Hindu God ‘Dattatreya’ since he too used to be surrounded by dogs…and TH teases me that I am a dog disguised as a girl or at least I must have been a dog in my previous birth :))))
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