I have been very fond of animals. Dogs, cats, goats, cows, anyone who are mostly harmless, a little used to humans and know how to deceive us with their love and tantrums. I love be around them, especially their pups or kittens. I have a cat named Chakli, who I found when she was a kitten.
Similarly I have found many newly born pups and their dog mom nearby who I feed, pet and make friends with. There are two street dogs in my society in Ahmedabad, and they both get so excited and rush towards me whenever I go back home. One is named Poki, the other is a replacement for Haku, an orange dog who lived and died in our compound. Both orange in color.. Poki and Haku used to rule our society’s streets and kept the other dogs out. For which I felt sorry and would sometimes feed them, as they were by other kind and dedicated uncles, who before going to their shops in the morning, would feed the dogs milk, biscuits and roti. I added the occasional gravy and dry food in between. But Poki and Haku lived like royalty. Around 5-6 houses used to feed them multiple times a day. And all their compounds were free and accessible to them. They chilled inside, roamed outside when they felt like it, and I became very fond of dogs. One of my friends through her wise words and some tricks made me not afraid of them, particularly orange dogs.
However, now the times are different. I’m in Narayanpur, the friendly dogs are not here with me. They have become different. Rather indifferent to my love. I can’t ask how to be friends with these new doggos. And the doggos are naughty and wild as well. The street outside my house that leads to the bus stop has two dogs. An orange one who is usually chill and sometimes barks and chases me. The other one is a white indoor indie dog, who chases new people and scares them and I’m one of them.
There are no streetlights for a certain distance and that is where both these dogs usually are. As soon as I reach that spot, they sneakily come up from behind and start chasing me, almost having bitten me. I have ran for my life multiple times. I never thought I’d have to pick a stone, shoo them away, be angry or frustrated with them. And on the other side, the lane which connects my house to one of my community facilitator’s houses where I go to have food sometimes, when I’m sick or tired from the long field day or just for a cricket match. There are also two dogs there that trouble me and have almost bit me twice.
I bought a self defence stick from amazon and got used to carrying it around, showing it 2-3 times to save my life. But I felt this wasn’t a long term solution. I had a few packets of wet cat food which I had gotten earlier for a community kitten. I took them with me, and as soon as the dogs approached, I stood calm and still, using my hand to show them I was ready to pet with something extra to give them. I had two plates on which I emptied the food and initially they were skeptical but then slowly started eating it and then devoured it quick. Then they circled around me and I pet them. Since that day, I don’t carry the stick, nor the food, but the dogs are now friendly and come to get pets. I once again befriended who I was afraid of. I am so happy to be friends with the doggie gang and I hope they don’t trouble any new person on the street again.
p.s I also have a story about a rat, but that’s for another blog 🙂
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