Puppy Love.

As you know, I am in a city now. Actually working here. Here the life is nice and i've made a few friends as well. One of them is a very beautiful and very nice girl from Brazil, named Barbara. Since the first day, I knew that she is brilliant and hard working, but the following incident brought to me something entirely different to my focus.

One day, in the afternoon, I was approaching the workplace and I saw this big commotion at the corner outside the clinic. I went and saw a very teary Barbara, and I was truly bewildered. What would make this seemingly strong and empowered woman cry?
I went to enquire more and I saw that she was clutching a very little and very sick stray puppy. Not to mention ugly.
She explained to me that she found him in a ditch and she just couldn't abandon him. He didn't seem to have any sibling or parents. A truely lonely soul left to die. She picked him and brought him to the clinic, where truly the raising of a dog was one thing that can get you fired. I thought of explaining this to her, but left that idea then and there.
Barbara went and brought some pedigree dog food puppies. But this puppy was even smaller for that. He hadn't weaned yet. She gave someone some money to get the dog milk daily. She said she couldn't take the dog to her homeland but wanted to do something for him as long as she was here. In a matter of days, the dog got better and was playing and prancing and doing all sorts of mischievous stuff a healthy and happy puppy is supposed to do.
In all of this happy-happy story, something was not right and someone was in a very difficult position.
Me.
Of course I am a dog lover and I wanted the best for the dog. But the problem was, if the office(a short walk away) found out that the place was harbouring and fugitive puppy, it was going to be my head under the axe (not a pretty picture.).
So I was pro adoption. Actually it was the only solution to the whole issue. Someone has to give the puppy another home. And fast.
We'd place the dog near the dog everyday evening so that some kid would take a fancy and take him in. Days passed. There were days when some boy would say he'll ask his parents and then we wont see the tail of him. We were getting a bit desperate.

Finally, yesterday a kid said if he can come a little after 4 after asking someone at home and take the dog. We shouted a very relieved "YES!". I had to leave shortly and didn't hear what happened then.

Today afternoon, like always, around 3, I said I am going to play with the dog. But then someone told me, "a boy yesterday took the dog home, you didn't hear?".
I was ecstatic. "Did anyone tell Barbara?"
"We didn't."
I ran off and told her the happy news.
"YAY!" She jumped in joy clapping hands, and swear to god, so did i. :-)
Finally, a happy ending! To all party concerned.
To the unnamed dog- Hello buddy, where ever you are, stay happy and healthy. I hope you have a loving family now, and a funny name too. And never forget Barbara, because angels work in mysterious ways.

Vishu Kaineettam!

Ah, Vishu.

You know all about it if you were reading this for an year or so. But if not, its a Farming related mallu festival which begins with a delightful view in morning to begin the season ominously, followed by getting(or giving) some pocket money to youngsters, and then a fab lunch and some tv time which can be replaced by an afternoon nap.

As usual I make the Kani, which looked awesome. (Go me!)

(Click on it to view in a bigger size.)

Then there was the Kaineettam, aka pocket money. Mom and dad gave me and i gave bro. So it was a marginal profit for me where as brother totally aced it. :(

Then came the sadya or the awesome feast. Mom made the dishes, i made the Kheer, which turned out better than usual. Since usual is good, better means, oh yeah!. ;) Lunch spent withOUT talking politics, thank you lord.

Then came the afternoon nap. You know how the dog has been sort of not-so chummy with me? I went and laid a mat in a side room and lied down with a book to read. After a while Rocky came, after his feast, and he sort of lied down next to my feet for the cool floor and the cool temperature inside. I didn't see this and when i turned, my leg hit him and he got up and went outside. Did i mentioned that he hates crackers? Well, neighbors burst something and he came back and after a while i too slept. With Rocky at my foot.

However nice it was, now my brother have an embarrassing picture of me and the dog, sleeping on the same side. :-/ Which i will never post anywhere. :|

Then came evening and the IPL. Yes, i watch IPL, but mainly the Knight Riders matches and from this season, the Kochi Tuskers matches. And last day there were one each. The first one, Knight Riders won comfortably. Then came the tuskers match. They haven't won anything till now and the opponents were Mumbai Indians, the mighty. They posed a mighty score, with a Sachin century, and what we did?? We won!! YAYYYY!!!! Totally my day. \m/

Feels like this year will be massive. Lets wait and see, shall we?

Have an awesome year ahead, you! Yes, you. Don't you know how amazing you make me feel by reading this blog? :)

Rickety Rocky

As you know, Rocky is my very handsome, rather temperamental, much loved German shepherd dog who is 4 years now. As our longest lasting dog, he is totally ingrained to our life. We don't leave him alone, even cancelling trips and visits.

The dog obviously love my mom. She is the one who gets him the food, so no surprises there.

He loves my brother like something crazy. He only sees him when he comes from hostel. And they have some sorority-brother thing going on. The dog is all over him when he is home. Rocky, who lives in the dog-house and rarely enter the house when he is out, is sneaking in when ever aQQui is home. Yeah, the dog loves him pretty fierce.

The dog almost hates dad. Well, dad is not the most dog-friendly person in the world. He don't do caress and massages. His general show of affections will leave you painful.

Then there is ME. Usually i come after Mom and Bro and waaaay above Dad. I guess i am not that fascinating. I get him snacks and chocolates when i go out. I sneak him biscuits and everything, so he likes me fine.

Or used to. Now i think he hates me.

It all started with the Summer. Its hot and sweaty and he scratches. And thus injures himself. Then this slowly grow and before it gets really out of control, someone has to find it and apply some medicine. The medicine is generally a flea repellent plus antiseptic. As you guessed, it burns when you apply it.

And in case of Rock, i do it. Me being in health care makes everyone think that i am the personal doc of the Dog.

Whenever dog gets any health issues its me who end up feeding him pills the size of USBs and apply whatever that needs applying. Do you still wonder why he hated me now?To the dog, i am synonymous with pain, burning, awfully shoveled tabs into his mouth, cheating him by covering the same tabs in stuff like jam....

This time the wound is fierce and he hates me as much. To a point he avoids me, runs in the opposite direction and generally not approaching me for petting. And he barks. At me. And looks really angry.

Well, i thought it was for the betterment of the dog and i would take one for the team. I know somewhere inside his brain he still got feelings for me. (GSDs are the 3rd most intelligent dog in the world.) But however much i am fine, it hurts so bad when he barks at me and avoids me. I never thought my dog's feelings would matter much, but it does.

You know what will hurt more? One of these days he is going to plan a surprise attack on me with improved guerrilla tricks and modern technology. And i would talk about it of i survive the ordeal.

Till then, Adios!

Keep yourself in the good grades of your dog.

He loves you, but he can overpower you in a flash.

Khandaani Baatein

You know, i never write much about the family. So i thought I'll remedy that today.

More than that, mom went over to my uncle's to see her mom, so i am missing her so so much. All the times when we are together, we are cross with each other. She doesn't like my laid back attitude, my state of singledom and you name it, she hates it. Sometimes i wonder if she ever loved me. But then there are times like this, where i miss her and wish that she was here, if only to scold me. And since she is gone, house work falls on the shoulders of moi, which is terrible. :P

******

I hate our mixer grinder. I am almost sure that it has a thing for me. Bad thing.

One of the first tips of kitchen the mixer taught me was never to grind anything hot. It was a very painful lesson.

The thing is, when ever i go to grind coconut, which is often if you are a keralite, the second i turn the key, the coconut start flying all over the place. I personally have no problem with flying coconut grind, but i hate cleaning.

******

In our house, there is two decks of cards. We play often, mostly rummy and recently poker too. I made the chips with some cardboard paper and Aqqui(the bro) hates them. He says it doesn't have much panache. Hmmph.

Our dad is a master player. However inebriated he is, i am almost sure that he knows whats in all our hands.

Mom plays for fun. She never leaves a game, even though her hand is hopeless.

I am an exceptional shuffler, which amazes most people. Even though i am well versed at cards, they hate me. Or why would they conspire to form unimaginative pairings en-route to me?

Then there is Aqqui. The black sheep. For long my parents were afraid to teach him this, for the fear of corrupting him. Then when they became sure that he is as boring as a sack of potatoes, they taught him. His famous rummy comments range from "I have a hand full of royals, with no relation between them," to "J is for Jackie? i thought that was Joker."

But he has exceptional luck and he remains the only one to have a hand-rummy on the house, which he proceeded to present while downing the 13th card. Get it?

But we all owe him serious cash. Which he is never going to get.

******

The dog is gay, i think. One day, someone brought a bitch in heat to do the nasty and Rocky almost killed her. He started barking like he saw the ghost and after an attempted attack, the owner took her to some other guy in need.

I think we should try bringing home a man-dog. What you think?

******

Mom makes this gorgeous mango pickles.

Great huh?

Too bad, none of us like mango pickles.

My friends, my brother's friends, neighbors... everyone go gaga over it and we are like 'meh' and this pisses her off.

And the next year, she makes more pickles.

******

My uncle is craaazy.

Seriously.

There are cases of mental illness in dad's family, which mom points out every time they argue. But uncle is mom's brother, and a very prominent doctor too. And i think dad should point to him some time. The guy has some serious issues behaviorally.

He once said my brother needed a better dressing. My brother. Who wont wear gold if it was not branded. :-/

He once smacked me on the shoulder at a wedding. Hard.

I smacked him right back.

It was painful!

May be i shouldn't criticize him much. What say?

******

My Grandma is weird. And almost 90.

Mom recently teased her, saying 'may be you should marry'.

Grandma said, 'Yeah, i can talk to and listen to someone."

She cant hear if a bomb went off near her ear.

******

If you read it so far, i applaud you.

I know it has been a boring post.

But i miss mom and the whole managing home thing is driving me crazy.

I am never getting married. Ever.

Need to sleep now if i want to wake up and finish work at a decent hour.

FML!

Liar Liar!

I admit i am a bad liar. I tend to stare, stumble and get stuck between speeches. Except when its about food. I can be pretty convincing when i lie about food.

Mom: Sree, who ate the jilebi in fridge?

Me: Gave it to rocky.

Mom: The spicy biscuit?

Me: Gave to rocky!

Mom: The bread?

Me: Rocky!

Mom: Molu, Rocky don't eat bread.

Me: Yeah, that's why he sniffed it and left it there. So i threw it away. Away!

Not bad, eh?

[Glossary: Molu- Pet name for daughter]

Dog Love

Today I saw MARLEY AND ME. I know its a bit late seeing this. Trust me, usually I dont miss such pep movies. I haven't seen terminator-the-last yet, but I dont want that with Chris Bale and without Arnold Shwatwashisname. But I do watch romcom aka Jennifer Aniston.
So, I read the excerpt of Marley and me earlier and found that a bit meh. Dog and couple, usual fun, blah blah blah. And I decided I am not watching that. Big mistake. If someone comes to flick me for that, i'll gladly place my head in any position you might want me to. So what I was telling was, I missed one of the best pet movies ever made over a rash decision. And today, I was bored and looking for something on tv and I happened upon Marley and me. It had started a few minutes ago, but I decided i'll see it anyhow.
First I thought this too would be one of those film in which the dog talks in gruff voices, acts goofy and saves some ass. You know, the kind of dogs we never have. The ones we have are adorable at times, trying otherwise, disobeying, too hungry and always climbing on body when you wear a new dress. Exactly like marlay. I laughed a lot. Remembered my old dogs, and Rocky, and cried a whole lot towards the end. Its terrible when your dog passes away. Been there. I wont wish that on anyone. Especially because no one gets why you are sad and crying so much. They go like- "Dog died?Thats sad. But why dont you get a new one?". No one gets it.
The whole movie was about a normal(he might seem crazy, but all my dogs were exact same) dog through the eyes of a normal dog owner. The film touches you somewhere deep. The same place that makes you cover the dog's tablets in jam and buys him chocolate when you are at the supermarket counter.
After credit roll, I regretted ever raising my voice at rocky and resisting his ploys to get me to play with him. All I wanted to do was go out, find him and give him a fierce hug and chase him when he runs around with my chappal. Motivated, I found him chewing on a new bone at the backyard. I went and nudged him and said 'hey Rock!'. My dog looked at me, in anger, fiercely protective of his bone(like i am gonna at it), and says 'Grrr..'.

Yeah. Thats about all the dog love I can get until that bone is history. :p

The Cat

I don't want to come out as an animal hater when i say i hate cats. But i guess wanting wring the neck of one and to throw one by its tails does not make me much nice too. (I swear i am better with dogs. Or anything that flies or walks on four legs. I hate fish. They are for eating.) I don't know where i get these cat hurting urges. Mom says its from the time one scratched me when i was 8. (Guess its dead now and i am not. Ha, you cat-bitch!)

So far this had been a non issue. I have known and liked people who in fact(to the horror!) owned cats. I made fun of them, insulted them and always told the cat is not cute. (No wonder some never keep in touch.) But, my closest ones are also not big fans of the four legged selfish masterminds who wants to take over the world. Especially in my family. While me and my bro do like the big ones, (tigers are not cats, damnit!) we always voted for dogs to be adopted and not cats. Thus we had Rocky, our GSD, not a monster named chucky or leo.( Damn i love the name Leo. Next dog. Period.)

I should have known that this domestic bliss would have a short life.

During the world cup, it happened.

Imagine the ugliest, unhealthiest cat you can image. Thats what happened.

At first when it trotted around the kitchen, we all thought it will die in 3 days maximum. Mom took pity on the monster and gave it a fair share of Rocky's milk. I was horrified to find it comfortably drinking milk near the firewood out back. Along with me, dad too registered his opposition to this new animal.

I should never have forgotten that the one thing me and mom share is our sovereign contempt for anything other family members think or want. Thus mom, also the queen bee and sole ruler of our home decided to keep the monster kitty. And named it SAKUMI. For the world cup mascot. Jeezus freaking Christ!

All these time, i thought either it will die, or we will chase it out of home. Or Rocky will do the job. We were shocked to find that his smelling is pretty lame for one of the-most-used-dog-breed-in-police. He knows mom is harboring hostage, he sniffs for it and never ever went close to its hiding. Shameless doggie! Now there goes my plans of him joining CIA! Hmmph

And once it had established rapport with mom, (mom calls, it purrs. How disgusting!) it turned on me. I knew it would. One day i discovered that my room smelled of urine. And later of poop. I found cat shit in two different places and one on a cloth, which i dont own now. Of the whole house and backyard and all, the monster had to shit in my room. My room!

Consider this as a statutory warning. Cats are evil. They select their opponents, the plan the attack in minute detail and they carry that out with precision. They are watching us. I even doubt this cat is a reincarnation of you-know-which-cat. To my everlasting dread, its getting healthy now. And fearless as it roams the hall and sits on the window sill.

Any way, i am forced to lock my door and windows now.

I am safe.

Until the Cat forges the key.

For The Helpless Cub

God knows i am not the most charity minded person alive. And also that i don't use my blog for the purpose. But some sights just move you too much and you feel so helpless that you want to cry. And if such profound moments of sanity does not make you charitable, may be nothing ever will.

I had one of those moments when i saw this video in TV.

(courtesy:aircel and www.saveourtigers.com)

It is pathetic that one day, mostly in near future, we would be telling our next generation how a tiger used to looked like. How magnificent an animal it was. How graceful and proud it walked. How it was in abundance. How cute the cubs looked. And how it was our NATIONAL ANIMAL. And how we looked on carelessly as it was being poached and killed one by one. And how we lost a heritage and legacy.

If you feel a heartbeat for the plight of the last of them who are left to be hunted down, join hands with www.saveourtigers.com and help their cause. Roar for them. Spread word. FaceBook it. Blog about it. Tweet it(god knows you tweet too much). And just show you care.

Lets Save This Cub!

MY Lysander!

Today i am gonna write about my roomie for some time, Lysander the lizard(named after the midsummer night's dream character). Yes, he is a lizard, the off white one that descends from the great dinosaurs(a fact which Lysander is very proud of) and he lives under the tube light. I don't know when he came around here and i started noticing him in my random boring days of staring at the tube when i was supposed to be studying. Well, seems he was long there.

[Note from Mom-We are not a pest infested family. This girl is set out to destroy the family name. Sheesh!]

Actually Lysander is the only lizard here. I somehow find it very hard o gt rid of him. Besides, he has his uses.

So, some random facts about Lysander he Lizard

1.He is FAST. I mean really fast. If there was a Lizards Olympics, Lysander would be the Bolt guy. Only make sure that at the end of 100 metres, there is food.

2.Lysander likes to eat slow. Stares at food a lot.

3.Lysandr doesn't like sun. He is like Edward Cullen in that case. ;)

4.He, after food, birdwatches a lot. And that's me :D (Poor guy. Didnt end up in Piggy Chop's room)

5.Lazy Lysander. Besides food catching, he is pretty sedentary.

6. He is also night person. Insomniac. Like me. So we share nights.

7.He looks really happy when i trip and fall. Really. If in day time, he looks out of his tube house.

8.He is the easiest roomie alive. As he pretty much leave me alone. The only shit i have to suffer from him is his original shit.

9.He defends me a lot. My hero. Even though its against the little monsoon insects who comes in and disturbs the hell out of me.

10. When i talk to him, he listens. (Who am i kidding. Am a bit loony :D)

So, guys! one big cheer to Lysander!

Life Happening in Between Meaningless Posts.

1. Rock is sick. By the way, rock is my dog. The very best GSD ever.

2.I start to understand that i repel suitors. With effort. Seems i need a therapist to work on these issues.

3. Rude Boy is busy this week. So i am free and regretting it. I started trusting him. Not the trust were you give-away-phone-number-to-strangers trust, but the trust were you start to think that this guy means what he says and he would never deceive or lie to me sort of trust. And God, what a relief is to trust the ones you hold dear!! (I am a bit of psycho. I love a lot of people and trust 3 or 4, the maximum).

4.Why people use peel-offs? I usually never use those, and the one i recently bought makes my face feel blistered and hot after the peeling. The whole time Dad stares at me ooh-aah-ing and cursing. Probably thinking that finally his girl has gone masochist.

5.When you make a habit of staying up till 4 in the morning, its actually tough to reverse the clock and sleep at 11. Pox on you RB!

6.The last Sunday, i had to attend an engagement and a seminar. Why would i miss it? Because till 5 O'clock in evening, i believed it was actually Saturday :|

7.Why i would feel all jealous and resentment towards my life when others go to foreign countries and then reject an offer to go out on less than palatable grounds? Am i scared or silly homebody?

8.Prianka Chopra going out with Gerard Butler??? X-( i started liking her recently.

9.Isn't splitsvilla couple Vishal and Shradha's new show in MTV ridiculous? i liked those two. But the show sucks. :|

10.Even though i am happy about my friends reading my blogs (and shame on those who never add comments) sometimes i feel that i would have liked this anonymous. 

11. If had anymore time and a good Internet connection(airtel should be shot dead!) i would start a book review blog. Not to develop my book review skills, but to remember those i have read and those i haven't.

11 is an odd number. But nothing more to say.

Carry on Jaani..

My new friend... Bow Wow.. Part 1

Before beginning this post, you must know that i am crazy about dogs. I love everything about them, from the charm to the idiocy and the loyalty to light skirt-ness. And Every single one of them.

So, the main road from where i get my cab every day, my apartment is about 10 minutes walk. When i walk with H, we both comment on everything under the sun. And usually Tommy escort us to road. Tommy is our landlord's dog, who is loyal but disobedient. On this way, there is a home, which is uninhabited, and no, this is not a haunted house, as the house is quite modern and too small to interest any ghosts. Also in this house is 3 dogs. 2 GSD boys (German shepherd dog, aka, Alsatian) and a Labrador girl. Everyday, on our walks, they start barking matches with Tommy and I, who has a very sweet GSD (rocky is his name) at home, i never gave much thought on them, other than comparing them with rocky on who had more height and fur. 

When i say these dogs live in a house which is lonely, it doesn't mean the people there goes to office everyday or is on holidays. The house is not lived in for more than 1 year and someone feeds the dogs everyday. And the Gate is Locked.

Thus one day i was returning home alone, i came upon the house. Then i saw this big GSD dog, near the gate, limping. It was his left front paw, which was hurt. He looked very sad and very much in pain, I was torn between going to him to be barked at and going my own way to wonder about him later. So, taking all the dare i could muster, i went to the gate and said in my most tender voice, hello. He first looked at me, and slowly came near the gate. By then, my only hope was that i could run fast if he barked at me, avoiding my true intentions. Then, The Very Brave Small Town Girl, risking the fate of looking like a fool taking to a dog across a gate, asked him how he is and whether its paining too much. His doubtful dark eyes turned friendly and sad and he slowly extended his paw towards me. I patted him for a while and he started to moan, which i think is because of his having got someone finally who would listen to him. I comforted him by being there as much as i can, with the stares from passer by's and children going home after school. As i cant stay there on the wrong side of a gate for more than 15 minutes, i walked home. 

On the way i thought why would a proud and not too friendly dog like a GSD would come so close to me with the slightest of the invitations. Why no one is taking him to the Doc? Why is he sad?Why would you leave a perfectly lovely dog alone? When you move your home, would you leave a child back? Isnt a Dog special? What he must be feeling at his owners? Is it only the pain? The poor guy would have been so lonely and depressed, sad that he doesn't have someone to love, doesn't have a child to play with, or a M'am to tease, some one to run around with, something to chase, some one to talk to him if he misbehaved, someone to order him around..

 And as i thought about him, i came to know how worthless your life would be if you have no one to love. And i cried all the way home.