A Holiday well spent 26th jan

Both of us have a dog each -

I have Sam - she's a mongrel,Doesnt know a thing about how life on the street can be,I took her in from a friend's place but yes..looks like a 'stray' or beedi nayi as popularly known.

Jaysal has Poopey, a pom ( not considered a stray), but picked off from the street in a very very bad condition . He tried getting poopey adopted but they were meant to be with each other. If you've seen them together, you'll know what I'm talking about.

and Now we both have Rocky. On that note I'd like to Thank God that both our parents don't follow my blog. I am sure they wouldn't care to read the rest of my post. I can almost hear my mom yell. :)

Rocky is our pet at CUPA. For those of us who love pets, but cant really adopt one because of constraints - time, finance, permission, logistics.....blah blah, there is still a way to come around and still have a pet. All it requires from us is a monthly contribution of Rs.500.00/- per animal and a little bit of time. Once you have "adopted" the animal, you can spend time, whenever you are free with him/her. You will be kept updated on all his/her activities and health status.

It made perfect sense to us. We did face a major problem in choosing one, because they all are so adorable. In the end we had to and we picked Rocky. Now rocky has a small problem with his hind legs and doesn't walk around like one would expect from a healthy dog. But sympathy was not the reason we picked him. Mind you,He's a happy little brat. He looks happier than most normal dogs. We picked him because he was the first one to approach us as soon we entered and I love his whiskers. Don't ask me why, but yeah I picked him for his whiskers.

Sometimes you don't have a particular reason and you make this instant connection. When we visit Rocky, he probably spends just 5 minutes with us, but it really doesn't matter. Its nice to see him happy and taken care of, which is the case with all the animals in CUPA. They don't make a sorry picture. We have a splendid time with all the others at CUPA. The puppy enclosure almost makes me feel like picking one and taking it home. We had to fight the urge yesterday.

Why I wrote this note was to share with you all on how easy it is to have a pet.How easy it is to make a tail wag.

The whole experience was therapeutic to say the least.

For those of you who love pets, but cant keep them for any any any reason, I'd really recommend.

500 bucks is a small price to pay for what you get in return.

You can drop in between 10:30 and 5:00 PM at CUPA, veterinary college campus, Hebbal.

The full circle.

I was tempted to name my post" what goes around comes around". But I will try and be less judgmental about people who are already judgmental about me & my beliefs. Newspapers bombard us with reports of dogs mauling people ( mostly children) and I hate to read those reports. What saddens me first is that of a poor defenceless child that has his/her life snuffed out in a cruel way. and then the frenzy takes over. "Kill all stray dogs". "What would these silly animal activists do if their own child was mauled?" " How can you love animals more than human beings?"

It's the same old problem with us human beings. We create a problem and then we look around to the next mute defenceless creature that can be easily blamed and then we go all out and destroy the cause of the problem, the cause that we perceive as the cause.

As a student of health sciences, we were always taught - for any disease, treat the cause. Symptomatic relief is temporary. Always treat the cause.

By killing dogs randomly just after a mauling report, we are not solving the problem. We are just giving 'symptomatic relief' and we are also committing a grave sin if you ask me.

My logic can be questioned again. So if butchers throw meat are we increasing the numbers? maybe not directly ...but sure it is attracting the attention of a group of dogs who probably might not congregate if the meat wasn't there in the first place.

We will see more reports of children killed by 'strays'.... more reports of poisoned dogs, dogs battered by a mob, dragged around on vehicles..... I even had a friend suggest an air gun as a method to chase away the dogs.

My solution to this so called dog 'menace'

Solution 1 - Be kind to animals.

Solution 2 - Promote civic sense & basic hygiene in your area

Solution 3 - Adopt a stray. I have one & trust me I love it as much as anybody who has spent a fortune on their pug would.

Maybe it's time to look in the mirror and take account of the role we play in the tragedies of our own lives. It's time to find solutions... the right kind. :)

A request to my meat eating friends

Nope, before you cringe.. I'm not asking you to give up meat. Making healthy choices is upto you. I'm not even going to start with the rainforests, cardiovascular diseases or good ol'd simple ethics. Nope. Just as you expect me to respect your choice of eating meat, I request you to respect my choice of not eating meat. Just like you wouldn't want to hear me harp on healthier alternatives to meat, similarly I wouldn't like to listen to what I'm missing out on. I don't care if the chicken sate you ate was something to die for. I don't care if you think that my vegetarian cooking doesn't really count. You see I need to cater to my family which is largely vegetarian. If I make a Chicken roll, it really wouldn't count for them either. We decide to go out because we want to catch up...not because we need to convince each other about the food choices we make. I might not approve of meat eating but I have the bloody sense to keep it to myself. When a vegetarian makes a big deal of meat eating he/she is branded as extreme but why is it really Okay for a meat eater to criticize vegetarianism without being branded????I have no issues with anybody's choice It's a free country.

So the next time you eat your chicken sate, please let me eat my gobi in peace. Thank you.