It's a dog's life

Chapter 4 - Land Land everywhere but not a grain of sand to play

2010-08-09T19:45:00.001-07:00

Chewing was for sissies. I was growing up and growing up like a real dog. I loved to bite, the harder something was to bite the better it was. From blue pen caps to slippers, from soft toys to the little girl's clothes, I just loved to chew. My food didn't give me a lot of opportunity to exercise my carnivorous desires and everyone quickly sensed it (or should I give myself credit for dropping the hint?). Soon they started giving me a long roll - crispy and tasty. So good that I voraciously devoured it in a matter of seconds even if it sometime choked me.

Though I loved eating my food, I used to always insist that the little girl should sit with me when I ate. She was the only one who used to completely concentrate on me eating my food, however long I took, and I loved the attention. One fine day, when I was demanding more attention, the girl stood up and left. The effrontery shocked me, but I was more worried that I overdid it and she won't come back. My doubts lasted only a few seconds when she came back with a long roll in her hand. My eyes lit up and I smacked my tongue in delight as she put it near me. Before I could snap at it, she took it near the milk. I still aimed for the roll, but she tightly clutched on it with a finger pointing at the milk. Hrrrrrmmmph... The negotiation was on. I quickly gobbled up a few mouthfuls of milk and confronted her for my reward. Grudgingly, she held out the tail end of the roll for me. I snatched as much of a bite as I could and hurriedly ate it. Once again she repeated the exercise and I was growing tired of the negotiation. So the next time she held out my milestone achievement reward, I seized the opportunity and tugged the whole roll with all my might. I could feel it slip from her hand and quickly grabbed the rest of it. I let out a menacing cry of victory as she tried to snatch my prized possession away from me and ate it up fast. She let out a huge sigh and held out one more roll and did not give it up until I finished eating. Though I won the clash of the titans, she had more patience than I always did. She could sit there by my side for hours if I were willing to fuss, so if I could not run away from her clutching grip, I usually ate my food for fear of boredom. Our negotiation patterns always changed. Sometimes, I could get away easy but invariably not. One day, she broke up the roll into small pieces and mixed it in my food giving me little scope for negotiation until I cleverly ate up only part of my food which had a substantial quantity of the roll. Score. She then had to mix more roll into my food. As long as I got my attention and my roll, I was a content little puppy.

I was running around in the house one day, when suddenly the whole family started taking out things - a mat, a bag of clothes, a bottle of water and hey, they took my water cup. They then scooped me in their hands and put me into a big vehicle. The man in the house turned something and I heard a rumbling sound (the same one I heard everyday when the man went out). Then suddenly we all started moving even though my legs were not. I was getting dizzy with excitement as I saw the vehicle moving out of the gate - After I had entered the house, I had not gone out of the gate. There were so many things to do in the house and the garden, that barring my occasional curiosity when I put my nose out the main gate grills, I had no idea of the world outside. I jumped on to the boy's lap and cautiously put my head out as a gale of wind blew my ears. And the cool wind was brushing across my face as long as the vehicle was moving. I was so excited, that not even for a moment I took my head out of the window of freedom. I could see other such vehicles, some which were open and with people sitting outside. I could see more people walking on the road and even spot a few dogs like me. The vehicle moved up sometimes, went down some other times, but it always seemed to be going somewhere. Then we finally reached a place where I could smell something strong. I started sniffing the air trying to register it and we were moving closer to the smell. The wind was different now because it was blowing even when the car stopped. Everybody opened the door and the man took me in his hands and let me down. I went berserk looking around me.

I have never seen such a big place. Ever! There was sand all around me, as far as my eyes could see. And the breeze was so good. I started running around everywhere as the boy held on to my chain and ran with me. I went left and then thought I might miss something to my right and then wanted to find out what was ahead of me. It was bliss. The boy now tugged me in a different direction and I was more than happy to explore anything. I ran to see everybody else had sat down on the mat and were chatting. What did they want me to do? I can sit at home not here. But with no one to run with me and a little parched from all the activity I sat down to drink water. Suddenly, I don't know what possessed me, but I started digging. What was I expecting to find? I have no idea but I started digging ferociously with my front paws pushing the sand behind. When the sand obstructed my hind legs, I moved forwards and pushed it with my hind legs. I was learning a lot - the sand was wet and it was not as loose as the top surface though it was less coarse. I continued digging my trench all around the mat till the sun went down.

When I got tired I sat down on the wet sand. To my annoyance, every once in a while, some person came with a box or basket towards my territory. Didn't I just mark my territory? I got so annoyed that I pounced, barked and chased them away. My family quickly patted me and they probably liked me protecting them from strangers. After a while, the man took me in his arms and everybody started walking somewhere. I could hear something rumble - rumble louder than my stomach. Probably there was a big dog I was going to see. We walked on more and more sand before I could see rolling water, splashing back and forth. The family put me down and took me near the water. The sand was soaked wet here and suddenly something was coming towards me. It would not stop even if I moved backwards and suddenly the cold water engulfed me. Startled I ran back and I guess even the water got startled as it receded back. Once again I was cajoled to move closer and suddenly the water started attacking me. I hated getting wet and hated getting wet with cold water. I ran back again but the water chased my guts out. Ok, it was time to make peace. I decided to let the water have its territory and not go near it as long as I had all the dry sand to me. Mentally making my pact, I ran back to the sand.

Soon after Ceiloo got accustomed to our house, he started teething. We had to adapt quickly to his growing desire to bite everything. No more could we carelessly throw pens around on the couch, leave toothrushes in the lower shelves, or leave hawaii slippers outside the show rack. Every morning we learnt a lesson of what other thing had to be hidden and how we could puppy proof the house. The ordeal was more pronounced for me, as he loved to tug my Salwar bottom as I got ready for school in the morning. In my hurry to catch the bus, I used to often drag a rapidly growing stronger puppy pulling my leg. I used to fondly think he wanted me to be home with him even when my pants snapped under the canine force.

To enable his teething process, we found some beef rolls in Nilgiris and some chew bones at the vet. The rolls were an instant success. Ceiloo loved them so much that we decided to use it for positive reinforcement. However, our astute pet repeatedly taught us that there was only limited scope for us to enforce anything on him.

Since Ceiloo was still a young puppy, we did not take him out for walks. our large garden gave him ample space to exercise though he felt a compelling need to pee and poop inside the house. Toilet training was a more arduous task than just leaving him in the garden and needs a chapter of mention by itself.

Our family loved to go to the beach and enjoy the cool breeze that gave us some respite from the scorching afternoons in Chennai. Our newest family member had to a part of this docile party. Ceiloo's first beach party got us as excited as he did - from enjoying the drive in the car to running wild the vastness of the beach, we could swear he was the happiest in this place. Much to our astonishment his German instincts of chasing badgers kicked in as he dug the sands of Marina all evening, taking his breaks only to chase away the urchins who sold snacks in the beach. Having seen animals naturally swimming the rivers on National Geographic and Animal Planet, we thought Ceiloo would love the water too. However the tempest of the Bay of Bengal did not match that of Ceiloo and he quickly seeked the comfort of the dryness of the sand. After his first exciting adventure, we came home in another eventful car ride for Ceiloo with a memorable chapter in our lives. After drinking water in plenty, Ceiloo realized his fatigue and retired almost immediately to more dreams about the sand and his next visit to the beach.

Chapter 3 - Hide and Seek

2010-08-09T19:44:00.001-07:00

For some reason, every time people in the house look into my eyes, I hear them say two syllables "See-lu". I hear it so often that sometimes I prick up my ears when I hear "See-lu". Once I start rolling my eyes to that sound, I hear more cooing toned sounds - many more that what I can keep track of. I had to develop another strategy to stay smart and I started following the tone of their voices. I love the fact that it always sounds softer and warmer when I am addressed.

Life was not a bed of roses and I mean literally "not a bed of roses". I loved the comfort of the soft mattress and pillows in the nights and was determined to sleep that way all the time. It was easier in the nights, when I used to hurriedly sneak into the room after drinking my milk. It was much harder in the day time when no one was using the bed. I was too short and a few failed attempts to jump over taught me better. Resigning to fate, I used to sleep restlessly on the carpet during the day until luck shone on me. With not much to do in the hotter hours of the afternoon, I was day dreaming when I hear a loud noise. I ran into the room and lo behold!! The bed had magically fallen down on two of its legs. As everyone else rushed into the room, I nimbly started climbing the bed. I could not lie down on a sloping surface but was quickly able to jump to the other bed now. As the people around watched me in amusement, I gave them a smuck look and closed my eyes tight before they pulled me down.

With a broken bed, they removed the mattress and rolled it up every morning. And one fine day, my discomfort with the heat of the day was also quenched by the skies opening up to my prayers. Not realizing I was getting finicky, after two days of downpour, I started complaining about the cold. In the nights, I could snuggle under the warmth of layers of blanket. In the mornings I went around the house in pursuit of layers of clothes until I found the rolled up mattress. Being tiny enough, I squeezed through the narrow opening into the darkness of comfort. Life can just be almost perfect when the semi sound proof cushions are coupled with warmth, darkness. Yes, I said almost. Despite the surrounding sound proof mattress, I started hearing hurried footsteps all around the room. I heard a muffled cry for "See-lu" once in a while and dutifully pricked my ears before settling into my sleep. And then the scooter started and I heard the spluttering engine leave the gates. I was contemplating to step out and look at the action, but my inexorable legs won the battle. The kids started scrambling around the room and I could see them bending low and looking under the bed and shelves. They seemed to know every place that I had treaded upon except this new found haven. Score! This game went on for a bit as I watched in amusement.

And then I saw the sari blocking the light into the mattress. Slowly someone unrolled the mattress from the top and the mom of the house let out a shriek of relief. Tears were running down her eyes as she scooped me into her arms and kissed me plentifully. I didn't complain realizing that she was pretty upset. After showering some love, she let me down - not on the floor but on the bed. I was elated as I saw them opening all the shelves which had clothes in the lowest shelf. For no apparent reason, the doors to my demands opened up.

Ceiloo had been home for a few weeks when one of the rickety cots that made up my parent's bed collapsed. Sentiments of paternal possession and mentalities of "fix and use" resulted in the collapsed bed being as is while the carpenter took his sweet little time to attend to it. Ceiloo masterfully used this time to maximize his comfort like he alwayd did in numerous other circumstances.

One fine morning, Amma found Ceiloo missing and there was havoc in the house. With Appa, Arvi and Venkatesh were driving in the streets of Kodambakkam in search of a tiny little dachshund, me and Amma were turning the house upside down in the quest of our most adorable family member. Admidst tears when Amma found him cuddled up in the mattress she realized that her initial nonchalance towards animals had been shattered the moment Ceiloo entered our lives.

Chapter 2 - The household becomes my family

2008-08-19T17:35:00.000-07:00

The early days were a lot of fun. The new house was much bigger and had a huge garden around too. I got hungry every second moment and was being fed constantly. There were times when I puked, had a bad stomach and I could see the whole house running behind me to remove the mess I left behind. Didn't I feel royal?

For the first few days, I decided to cautiously observe everyone in the house. There was a tall man in the house with a gruff voice who commanded respect. There was the lady who had picked me up on the first day. I loved cuddling near her for her warmth and I had no idea that we were going to develop this unique relationship. The boy was a lot of fun, he was very active and energetic but handled me a little roughly. The young girl was childish. She was the easiest to cajole and tease too. Initially, I was made to sleep alone and in the wee hours of the morning when I got hungry I whimpered near the doors where the others slept. Almost immediately, the lady came out and gave me something to eat. My first meal in the morning was an amazingly tasty dish - white outside and yellow inside. After eating it, I found a nice spot near the stairs to relieve myself. Soon after that everybody woke up and the house got really busy with the kids changing to the same kind of clothes in the morning, hurriedly eating "their tasteless breakfast" in the morning and running off outdoors. The tall man then dressed up and went out too. I spent the day with the lady in the house. She did not go out much in the mornings or afternoons and spent most of the day moving things around in the house and in a really hot room. When she was done working in the hot place, a nice smell filled the air around me. And of course she cleaned up after me and gave me milk right after her work in the morning. The kids came back home soon after that. They threw their things all around the house, talked heatedly and troubled me. The girl gave me some white thing (which I later discovered was rice and milk) and then both the kids went inside the room with a book.

Once this peak activity subsided, the lady usually took a small nap in the afternoon (much shorter than what I like to take take). This was when a younger woman who was shabbily dressed with a huge belly, came home and slept in the front room of the house. I knew there was something as tiny as me inside her stomach and used to huddle close to her in the afternoon. Sometimes I felt the little thing kick me and it was a nice feeling to sleep close to it. Later in the evening, the little girl gave me something to eat which made my stomach as big as the woman having something inside. The buy then chased me and I deftly evaded him as I swiftly moved under the tables and chairs.

As the heat of the day subsided and it became dark, my master came home. The whole family played around with one small device pointing it in the air towards a much larger thing that always produced a cacophony. Then the family ate and I decided it was better to be in the room where they were than being alone elsewhere and usually slept under the dining table. I was given some bread and milk in the night before everyone slept leaving me alone in the night. Initially they left me behind in the main hall and locked themselves in the two rooms that had a big piece of furniture. I didn't mind being alone until that fateful day....

It was raining all day and the whole place was much colder than what it normally was. The earth outdoors smelt different. After I had my bread and milk, everyone went to retire and so did I. I closed my eyes after finding a warm spot and slept almost immediately. I have no idea how long I slept but a sudden jolt woke me up. I was scared. This was not normal. No one was around me. Did something happen to everyone else? It was dark and I didn't know where to go. Just as I was calming myself again, I saw a sudden streak of light and I knew where the door of my master was. Thanking my stars that I could find my way, I cautiously treaded towards the door. I was not even half way through and I heard that ominous sound again. My heart jumped and I whimpered again. If it was an enemy I could see, I had learnt from my mom how to attack. But who was this? I howled in the night and scrambled near the door and scratched it. I heard no movement inside but decided to press my nose to the door and sit tight. It was hardly a few minutes before I heard it again. This time I was prepared and had tried to find the direction of the sound but it was from everywhere around me. I was agitated and cried in the dark. Fear is awful when it strikes you off guard and alone. My heart pounding, my ears alert, my eyes searching in the darkness, I cried and cried. Suddenly the door opened and the man scooped me into his arms. I shivered at his touch fearing he had made the noise. He held me closer and pressed his lips on my forehead. It was the most beautiful gesture I have ever felt and I cooed softly as a blanket of comfort spread through me. I could not stop trembling even as the lady patted me on my head and back. I quickly snuggled my way between her hands and dug my face into her arms. I did not want to hear anything but just be with them. The man and the woman put a warm blanket over me and hugged me tight as they slept. I heard the same sound again and though my body shivered involuntarily I felt more at peace in their hands. It was at this moment that I knew this was my home and they were my parents. I slept soundly with my family in my house that night.

A few weeks soon after Ceiloo came, he became the family's lifeline. Fitting his schedule into ours was the most pleasurable time we had. As a growing puppy he was a voracious eater and extremely active. We each took turns in taking care of him and often laughed and joked about the burdens of pet raising. Ceiloo squeezed his way into our orthodox household making us break every rule that the family had upheld and not compromised on before. He first paved his way into my parents bed on that rainy day and has always slept on the bed ever since. Being the cunning attention seeker, he eventually would not let my parent sleep together, spreading his four feet body horizontally between my parents.

Chapter 1 - Home Sweet Home

2008-08-08T00:29:00.001-07:00

The cold hands reached out for me and I shivered and squirmed as I was picked up. Shortly after, I was taken out - the bright light hit my eyes and there were so many different noises around me that I couldn't identify with. Not to forget the multitude of smells around me - I was trying to sniff around and register them, in vain. I finally reached a house that looked like the one I came from and my feet felt the smooth floor. I didn't know what to do but could feel a many pairs of eyes watching every move of mine. I was lost and confounded and decided to not to bring too much attention to myself though I knew I was the focus of everyone around. I slowly moved around the room, sniffing the ground. It smelt different but was at least consistent. I found the perfect spot and sat down to relieve myself. I was messy and hadn't yet learnt to raise a leg and pee like my mom. I heard some noises behind me and I quickly ran away from the place. As people were bending over and inspecting the spot I chose, I found another room. I quickly ran in there and I could here a lot of commotion in the other room. I felt scared and insecure. My eyes searched for a place to hide and I found it. There was a long piece of furniture and I quickly ran under it. I crouched there and I was quite confident no one would find me. They were shouting something and I saw a pair of legs stop near me and bend down. Oops the cat was out of the bag. Oops again, the dog was out the bag. I didn't want to go out and just stayed in there. When a pair of hand tried to scoop me out, I heard myself whimpering. The hands were immediately taken out. I waited there not knowing what I was waiting for. I was feeling sleepy but couldn't sleep with people constantly hovering around my den. Siggghh and I let my eyes droop a little. Suddenly I heard two other distinct voices - a low pitched gruffy voice and a slightly higher pitched voice. It was accompanied by strident footsteps. (If I knew what is Doppler effect I could have explained it better). The footsteps came to a halt near my lair. I was on vigil again and the next instant two pairs of eyes were staring at me. I stared back. They seemed excited and chirpy about something and were repeatedly making some noise. I kept looking at them intensely and then they got up and left. I was hungry but didn't know where my mom was or where to look for food. I whimpered and settled down again. In a flash, one of the two people sat down beside the furniture. There was a bowl of milk (it smelt a little different) and she kept saying something again and again. I was scared to go out and hung on to my position. And she sat there and kept looking at me. I hoped she would get tired or bored and move away but she seemed persistent. We both looked at each other in what seemed to be eternal anticipation that the other person would stop lingering around the same place. I looked at her again and she looked smaller than the others. She also seemed sober and I decided to take a chance. Slowly I moved towards her as her hands reached out for me. I went up to her with my head down and she stroked the back of my neck. I looked at the bowl of milk and she brought it closer to me. I smelt it and slurped the milk a little bit. It tasted different but I liked it. The girl stroked my back now. I drank some more milk and realized I was starving. I stopped bothering about people around me and when I finished the bowl I felt three hands all over me. I looked up and the three people didn't seem to mean any harm. They started stroking me and it felt great. A heavy meal and lots of pampering is all I needed at that moment. I let them play with me but they didn't seem to stop. I finally looked up again, smacked my lips and went back to my den and fell asleep. I felt safe, happy and pampered here - my new home.

Ceiloo came home on March 19th 1996. I remember every moment of the day - it was a Tuesday and I had my annual Science exam. I finished the exam and rushed home early because I knew Ceiloo would be at home. Venkatesh and my mom had picked him up earlier in the day (his parents Tyson and Tilly lived four blocks down our road) and had brought him home. After coming home, Ceiloo ran under the sofa and refused to come out. Me and my brother kept watching him under the sofa for a long time. Then I sat beside the sofa with a bowl of milk for almost half an hour before he came out voluntarily. He drank his first meal at my house with me beside him and with that we established our tryst for a lifetime. I have never known him to eat by himself or with anybody else as he does when I am around.