-A Canine Truth
I know this dog right from my
childhood. I don’t know where he came from and who his parents are. But from
the day I met him, I was impressed by his smartness. He was a great relief to
our village. He would bark at anything he found suspicious. The coconut thieves
who played the despot of the land next to the temple had a tough time in his
presence. And those anti-socials, peeping Toms, who used to break the flower
pots, urinate on the donation box of the temple on their way back after the
late night show of a film.
My village felicitated this dog
once. Many gave long speeches praising his boldness and thanked him profusely
for his service to the village. It didn’t stop there. They decided to form a
service organization in his name. Those who called him a “stray dog” earlier,
rechristened him as “dog”. The organization added more and more members and
gradually it became popular. The members got together to decide the bylaws of
the society and the Do’s and Don’t’s were strictly laid out. A new building was
constructed for the organization collecting donation (forced contribution!)
from the villagers. The first anniversary of the organization was also
celebrated collecting fund from the villagers. Photos and newspaper reports
about the organization and the dog occupied the media. The dog was well tamed.
When a dog gets groomed, its bark
and movements change!
Those who sensed a change in the
dog’s activities, including me, developed a strange fear. The dog stopped
barking at things which were outside his jurisdiction and those that had
social, cultural and technical problems! He became quite selective about his
bark. Still, no one questioned him.
Whoever dared, got a bark and bite. I too, once.
Today he is not the dog we knew.
Five star standard food, travels by air conditioned car. Lots of assistants to
bathe him and groom him. You can see how people jostle to take his photograph
and autograph! Many houses are adorned with his framed photos. Last week there
was an interview with him on one of the TV channels. You should have seen how
eagerly people were glued to the screen. At the market place, people talked
about the interview for long. In his interview, he daringly admitted that he
wasn’t a teetotaler. And, one more thing………… he also boasted about having spent
time with bitches from various lands and of various breed. Oh! You must give it
to him for his profound knowledge in any field! Take for example, spirituality…
you can’t stop him. When asked about the old saying, “Every dog has a day”, he
completely agreed with it and added “not only day, night too!!”
When a stray dog becomes a dog, his
barking style changes!
The bark turns out to be more
melodious losing its indigenous roughness. You know, he was trained for many
months to bark melodiously. Those who remember his old bark can tell the
difference. Recently he brought out a CD album barking like old days. It was
quite hard for him to imitate his own lost bark. The CD became a success,
however. It bulged his wallet and bank accounts. He has also started his own TV
channel and a website. He condemns the young stray dogs as “idealists” and urges
them to think practically and become a good “dog”. Many among them who got
inspired by this joined his college and institutions to get diploma and degrees
to become “dog”s.
“When a stray dog becomes a dog, he loses his talent, the fire within and
the drive for selfless service”
a young dog who spoke thus is
missing till date. Not even his body is found. He used to sensitize all saying
that one shouldn’t fall prey to what the “dogs” 'dog'matise and these “dogs” are
a social nuisance and a sign of cultural deterioration and corruption. He gave
a clarion call for acting against injustice. Those who followed him used
“Beware of Dogs” as their slogan.
But gradually this too waned. Though
stray dogs were still around, their transformation into “dogs” happened sooner
and faster. Their barks quickly became melodious. They condemned the lone stray
dogs as “mad dogs”, ridiculed them in public and isolated them from social
circles. The films and literature of the “dogs” successfully created a
stereotype of stray dogs as anti-socials and impractical rebels.
Next week’s canine conference in
our village marks the occasion of the old dog’s birth anniversary. I don’t know
whether it is his tenth or twentieth or sixtieth!! The preparations are in full
swing. They have many cultural programmes like poem recitation, cinematic dance!!!
etc..
-By Santhosh Kumar Kana
-By Santhosh Kumar Kana
(This is pure fiction and has no resemblance to people or organisations. Any resemblance is purely coincidental)
